Doc

Too exhausted to write much, but the CAT scan came back clear. No tumors. Hydrocodone definitely dulls his pain but he’s totally stoned at the same time, so it’s not much of a solution. Good news is, going to the ER got him some sort of emergency referral to Dr. Black, the headache neurologist who’s “booked up” until 2008. Going to call him tomorrow and see when he can see Doc. Had good experiences at the hospital. Doc felt like this time (his 4th time in the ER for headaches, the other 3 were before I met him) people were taking him seriously and not just saying “you have a headache, take some tylenol” and sending him home. Doctors seemed concerned, wanted CAT scan done. Several different people asked him who his neurologist was and seemed surprised that he didn’t have one, so rather than a “do you want to see a neurologist about your problem?” attitude, it was more like “um, sir, someone in your condition NEEDS to be seeing a neurologist.” That was definitely a positive experience for him. The nurse who gave Doc the pain shot and who checked us out at the end was so nice and so concerned about him, she seemed very sincere and caring. I didn’t get her name. When we initially got to the hospital and had to park a few blocks from the ER in the only parking we could find, a hospital worker pulled alongside us in his truck and offered us a ride up to the ER, which we took. VERY good hospital experiences this time. Of course, we haven’t yet gotten the bill.

At E.R. Getting CAT scan. More later.

Tonight it got to me a little. I was doing okay today, mostly, until just now. I went to work, talked to Doc a couple times about the headache stuff (and he’s having a really bad day, which is emotionally stressful for us both), we went to see our new financial guy who is going to make it so we don’t have to expend frustrated brain power on our investment strategies, and then I promised Doc I’d cook spaghetti tonight when we got home. After fighting traffic across town at 5, we talked on the phone to Dr. Aronoff’s nurse, who told us that the options were to take a different painkiller or, if it was worrying Doc, to go to the ER. Can someone please tell me exactly how WE are supposed to know if we should be worried? Isn’t that what the doctor is supposed to use his years of medical training to determine?! I think an eleven day long headache is pretty fucking worrisome, but for a doctor to tell us to go to the ER to get a brain scan if WE think it’s something to worry about… I just don’t understand that reasoning. Anyway, that was extremely frustrating, and then I had a conference call with Arushi and the book author about the book cover designs (which went well, by the way), and after spending another hour searching fruitlessly for the perfect stock photography image that the client wants for the book cover, I realized that I was just Completely. Out. Of. Energy. And when I told Doc that I didn’t think I could follow through on my promise to make spaghetti for dinner, I broke down and started crying. And then Arushi read my previous blog post and called to check on me, and […]

I’m extremely worried about Doc. He’s had a rather intense headache (not sure if it’s cluster, he says it’s on the wrong side and feels more like a migraine with light sensitivity and all that) for eleven days straight with no break. For the past couple of days it was slowly getting less intense, but as of yesterday it’s getting worse again. Last night he came to bed at 3:30 a.m. and, as he said, barely felt human. He was whimpering in pain, he couldn’t go completely to sleep yet he couldn’t stay completely awake. I could barely understand his speech. I’m worried that something has happened, physically, in his brain. I don’t know what exactly, but I think someone needs to take some scans or something to see if they can figure out what’s going on. In addition to the 24-hours-a-day pain, he’s been experiencing double vision and light sensitivity. The thought that something might be growing/breaking/bursting in there is freaking me right the fuck out. His doctor was out of town last week and his office called in a prescription for him, which of course did almost nothing, and certainly didn’t treat the CAUSE of the headaches, whatever it may be. It was basically just Tylenol with barbituates, so it dulled the pain a little but made him feel “stupid” and zombie like. His sleep doctor recommended he call a local neurologist, who turned out to be Stuart Black, a world renowned headache specialist. Of course, Dr. Black doesn’t have any appointments until August 2008 (yes, that is a year from now) and the other doctor in his practice is booked up for the next 3 weeks. What is a person who is in acute chronic pain like this supposed to do in the meantime? What if something […]