Monday, January 07, 2008
i had another doctor's appointment today, at the pain clinic. it was a reasonably good appointment, some things i was hoping to figure out got worked out, and a couple of things got worked out in a way i'm not entirely fond of.but coming away from it, i find myself disappointed, frustrated and sad. frustrated is mostly b/c i now have *another* doctor to see; they want me to see their in-house psychologist. blech. i saw one of their psychologists last year, and she felt like she had taught me all she could, etc....
but i think that i'm frustrated and sad for reasons i don't entirely understand. do i still subconsciously think that the doctors are going to FIX this whole thing one day? that i'll go to an appointment and they'll have figured it all out? i don't know. it's the kind of thing you hope for, but know that it's probably unreasonable. my doctors seem to feel like any improvements we see are going to be incremental. i think my pain clinic doc may feel like i need to learn to deal with my pain better, as it may be around the rest of my life.
i just have got to believe that we will cut down on the frequency....
to all my migraine and headache friends out there: have any of you been to the diamond headache clinic (in chicago?) if so, tell me all about it.
Labels: doctors, migraines, pain, pain clinic
link | posted by Emily at 7:40 PM
Wednesday, January 02, 2008
Happy New Year!welcome 2008. i just got home from a neurologist appointment. the funny thing is, i'm in Pennsylvania. Sooooo this was a one-time appointment. i was hoping for an outside perspective, and was happy with how it went.
he (the doctor) did a full neurological exam, and we went over the entire history of my headaches. then he said, 'you have a complicated problem, and there is no easy answer.'
i'm getting better at hearing that, and didn't start crying. impressive, right?
he said that if i were his daughter, he'd send me to a headache clinic. that i'd be able to have behavioral therapies there, including biofeedback and such, and they are equipped to handle this kind of thing.
so while i'm not one for making resolutions at the new year (i'd rather make changes as i see i need them, not all at once), my hope is for a turnaround with pain this year. even if things just start heading the other direction, that would be great.
it is hard to imagine spending so much money on this kind of thing - that has no guarantees of working. but i need to remind myself of HOW MUCH i want to be better. and if money will get that done, then so be it.
any new year's resolutions you'd like to share?
Labels: doctors, headaches, migraines, New Year, pain
link | posted by Emily at 9:59 AM
Tuesday, July 24, 2007
i've been neglecting my dear blog lately.i'm about 3 doctor's appointments behind. without further ado....
1 - GP who's been helping me w/my acne. she gave me another combination of things to try, as well as a referral to a dermatologist. you can only IMAGINE how much i want another specialist to see. :) yeah, not much. but this latest face concoction seems promising. we'll see.
2 - neurologist. this appointment was the impetus of my deciding to switch neurologists. as usual, it didn't go well. as usual, he seemed out of ideas and went on to explain that he saw many headache patients, etc., etc., and that when the medications don't work, it becomes clear that they aren't normal headaches or migraines. instead, something emotional is causing them. we've been over this several times before. i even went to see the pain psychologist -- for several months. i told him that, and that she (the pain psychologist) didn't feel like there were any emotional/psychologist issues that were causing or contributing to my migraines. his response? well, sometimes the issue can be so deep down, you don't even know what it is.
sigh.
i did get two useful things out of the appointment -- first was a prescription for another preventative drug - lamictal. even though he feels it's useless to try, i have continued to push him, and he humors me. also a referral to the sleep clinic. i don't know that it'll help, but it can't hurt. even if sleep isn't a contributing factor to my migraines, it would be great to get some suggestions and ideas for better sleep. but who knows, maybe sleep problems *are* contributing to or causing these migraines.
3 - the pain clinic. this went well. sadly, one of the fellows who's been seeing me had his last week and will be going out on his own (private practice). but this appointment went well, we're trying a new long-acting painkiller. so far it's going well -- the only side effect i've noticed has been some drowsiness between doses. it works pretty well, but could be better. there is still some time in between doses where the pain returns fully. but there's more time that's nearly pain free, so that is fabulous. :)
if you've made it to the end of this loooong post, you deserve a star on your forehead, really.
thanks for reading. :)
Labels: doctors, headaches pain clinic, neurologists, nonsense
link | posted by Emily at 11:04 PM
Friday, April 06, 2007
another day, another fish
gill died yesterday.in the morning, i noticed wasn't his usual perky self - he was just sitting at the bottom of the tank, not moving a whole lot. so i thought all day about what he needs/why he's sick or whatever, and then when i get home last night, he's dead. :( i wasn't fast enough to actually do anything.
so that is sad. mostly i feel irresponsible. can't even keep a fish alive.
i had a pelvic ultrasound today. that was kind of weird. because you see those pictures, black and white and grainy, and there's always a baby in there! no baby in my uterus. they're just looking to make sure nothing is physically wrong with the equipment. i have bad menstrual cramps. so that was somewhat weird.
then i went shopping with my sister, the Edge. i know she's mentioned her fashion disability before, but people, i'm here to tell you. what the problem is, is that she hates everything.
no just kidding. she found some great stuff - not what we came for, but then that's how shopping is. for instance.....
i wasn't looking for anything. and during my perusals of the clearance racks i found a brown leather jacket for $42. marked down from 140. wow. pictures soon to follow.
Labels: deals, doctors, shopping
link | posted by Emily at 5:19 PM
Thursday, February 22, 2007
here is my blog's word cloud. interesting.it's doctor venting time.
so nearly 3 weeks ago, i called my neurologist. he had ASKED ME to call him when i was done w/my med trial. **sigh** you can see where this is going, right? well it took a week and a half to get him on the phone. he was busy. fine, fine -- i don't think i'm unreasonable, i'm just in pain and want you to return my phone calls, darnit! so he calls back. i tell him how the trial went (no help whatsoever). he says he'll have to 'look at my chart and call me back'. what?! why on earth are you calling me now w/o looking at my chart? ridiculous. so i call back today, b/c it's been at least another week since that gem of a phone call, and ask his assistant to page him for me.
so my neuro calls me back today. gets on the phone and asks if i had been taking the baby aspirin with the verapamil. like i'm out to sabotage this or something. of course not. i took the baby aspirin. he seems surprised by this, and then says that since we've 'tried everything dr. (migraine expert) suggested, i will send you back for another consultation with her.'
at this point, i'm thinking dude, you never even looked at my chart did you? unreal.
i tell him that dr. migraine expert actually had another suggestion, involving CoQ10 and a few other vitamins/minerals. my neuro (the guy i'm on the phone with) says, 'let me go look at your chart, hold on just a minute.'
you have got to be kidding.
this guy doesn't even remember from one appointment to the next (with me sitting in front of him) who i am or that i have DAILY HEADACHES. he thinks he can call patients back w/o looking at their charts?!!?!? winging it? so ridiculous.
he gets back on the line, says, 'yes i see her recommendation w/the CoQ10. i don't use that as a migraine preventative, so i'll need to have my assistant call her office for the dosages to use. my assistant will call you back.'
so if i were dealing with this nonsense and had some adequate pain control, that'd be one thing. but the meds they're giving me aren't preventing the headaches, and i only have one abortive that really helps! people, do i have to beg? just help me!
Labels: doctors, frustration, headaches, migraines, neurologists, pain
link | posted by Emily at 4:40 PM
