Hi Hoe Hi Hoe, It's off to work I go

Tomorrow is the first day that I'm due back at work. It's about 75% back to normal. I'm still having the dizzy spells but rarely now and I've stopped having the shaking spells, thankfully. I still have a cough but I will live. So tomorrow I find out if I can be a nurse again.

You never realize how much you value health until you're sick, and boy do I miss being healthy! I miss going to work though. Being sick has certainly put a dent in my finances, I've been out of work for like 3 weeks now. I don't work full time and therefore do not get sick pay - rather a bummers for me! I'll survive, bummers it has to be on savings considering we don't have a whole lot at the moment!

I guess even if I'm not feeling the best tomorrow I'll have to suck it up and go anyways. Especially since I have a vacation that I want to go on and can't if we don't have the money for it! Pray that I can make it through, I don't want to have to come home sick cuz then my co workers have to work short - the hospital won't replace a nurse if it's in the middle of a shift, only if it's like before an hour after the shift starts.

So Hi Hoe Hi Hoe, It's off to work I go....

Trying to recover

I've been home for a day now and while it's nice to be home, it's exactly what I thought it would be like... where the family thinks that just because I'm no longer in the hospital, it equals not sick, thereby all better.

I will make it crystal clear that that is NOT how things are! I'm dizzy all the time, which in turn makes me nauseous. It really sucks, and knocks me on my butt when it happens. I get all diaphoretic and feel like I could just pass out and fall on my head.

Last week my MIL got hurt at work - something fell on her and it hurt her back and neck. Now, I'm not one to say that you aren't in pain since pain is subjective - we all deal with it in our own way. But today she had the nerve to tell me that because she manages to do things around the house and she's "sick", then by that logic, so should I be. WTH!!!! It's like comparing apples to oranges...

I honestly feel like I shouldn't be at home right now - I don't feel well. I feel like I'm going through withdrawls or something. I don't know if this is a SE of the prednisone since I've never been on it before but I know that I'm certainly not well enough to go back to work and therefore not well enough to do work around this house - not enough that anyone around here would take notice of anyways.

I really wish hubby had a job in his field so that we could move out - I'm absolutely fed up of the treatment that I receive living here. UGH!!!!

I need to get better quick so that I can go back to work so that I can save some money so that I can finish school faster and get a house of my own!!!!!!!!

Discharge papers received

So by the power received by the doctor in my hospital, I have been told to go home... tomorrow that is. Dizziness in crazy intensity is occuring - new symptom for me... but Dr doesn't really care.

I'm being put on prednisone to hopefully help alleviate or cure the symptoms I'm experiencing. The Dr consulted the neurologist on what to do for me - I think I've stumped them with what's going on with me. Hell, I'm stumped so why shouldn't they be?!

I'm not exactly looking forward to going home - I don't quite feel ready for it. My body feels "off" and still not back to normal and therefore I don't feel ready to leave here. Especially to take care of little tyke.

I had my first shower in like 5 days, I know ewwww gross right.... well I assure you, if I could stand upright for longer than a bathroom pee break, I would be having one!!! Almost fell over today when I was heading back to my room I was sooooo dizzy. But hey, that doesn't seem to matter to anyone until I actually FALL. Ridiculous really. Felt good to have a shower, at least I look like a proper human being now, and I don't stink at least (not that I did before, thank goodness for the invention of anti perspirant and toothpaste!).

The ONLY thing I'm looking forward to is that I can see my family - my hubby and my baby girl. Even though my little tyke is a handful (being almost 3 will do that!), I miss her dearly and love her to bits and pieces. Hubby seems to have actually missed my absence. Tho I suppose when the caregiver of the little one leaves, that makes more responsibility for him right?! So I don't really blame him for missing me :P Even tho I say that, I know that he misses me because he loves me - as I love him. He's my rock... just wish he would have spent more time with me while I've been in hospital - I've been really lonely considering he's spent VERY little time being with me. A couple of dinners here and there is about all. It hurts my feelings but what can I do? And I know that one might say that he has the responsibility of taking care of little tyke... well considering we live with his family, that's not necessarily a requirement since he can ask them to watch her while he comes to me. He has brought her with him a couple of times - I know that little tyke certainly misses me. When she's seen me, I still had the IV and so she was quite apprehensive about touching me cause I had a "boo boo".... VERY sweet and VERY innocent.

I also miss my own bed - tho I do like the electric aspect to the hospital bed - quite convenient at times!!! Certainly makes one more lazy when getting out of bed!

Long story short - I leave tomorrow AM, I'll know more about follow up then. I know that the Dr is giving me at least til Tuesday to recuperate and should I need more time then I have to see my family Dr. I guess that will have to do, it's not like they're giving me another choice in the matter!

I need to be fixed

Well I'm still in the hospital.... it's been 6 days now, and still no end in sight. I've been attached to an IV for 3 days now, KCL 20mmol NS @100mL/hr, being that my potassium was low (probably because they put so much NS through me - like 3000mL), and they wanted to give me as much fluid as possible.

As I mentioned in my previous post - the belief was that it was either meningitis or encephalitis. Well it turns out that it's neither. At least that's according to my LP, CT and subequent MRI. All of them turned out to be normal. Well technically my LP had a cell count of 4 but anything below 6 is normal. So who knows.

The neurologist believes that I have a viral migraine - that I had a virus that "bugged" my brain and the migraine was the end result. Or that I had meningitis but since I took so long to go to the hospital and see someone and find out what was wrong. The problem is is that it doesn't want to go away. It's pretty bad that I can't be upright any longer than a bathroom break without the migraine hitting me like a sack of bricks. Holy shit does it hurt!

Also, the MRP (most responsible physician) for me took the morphine away 2 days ago - she believed that I was possibly getting a rebound headache from the morphine. So pain was to be my constant companion. At least I had Toradol - until the next MRP took THAT away, with the belief that it wasn't helping so why take it. Ya, nice thought UNTIL I experienced the migraine without it... normally when I'm laying flat I can manage the migraine... well without the Toradol, it was like I was sitting or standing upright. The pain SUCKED!!!! I still don't have the Toradol, but I'm being given Motrin - it only JUST barely takes the edge off. Not really though, but trying the positive thinking.

This morning a new symptom - dizziness.... while laying flat!!! And it wasn't like I was turning my head, getting up, or doing anything AT ALL... I was laying down doing NOTHING!!!

So now I have no idea what's causing this. It sucks! I miss being at home with my family, I miss my husband and my daughter... and I know that they miss me as well.

About the dizziness, the MRP asked to have my VS taken again - they haven't changed from my original set this AM so it's not like it's from HTN or hyptension. I don't know what could have happened to cause this symptom but it's not going away - at least not yet. The MRP still hasn't come to see me since the original visit, maybe she's looking into talking to the neurologist to find out what COULD be causing it.

I guess time will tell. Hopefully I get off the IV - I've heard that my potassium is back to normal and the fluids don't seem to be improving my migraine situation. Guess we'll see about that as well.

eenie meenie minie moe

So I ended up at the hospital afterall... turns out I have the symptoms associated with meningitis or encephalitis - but which one is it... hence the title.

By the time I was fed up with meds not helping my pain, I hightailed it to the hospital. Though by then my fever had broke, or was in the process of breaking thanks to tylenol and motrin being used interchangably throughout the day, when I was FINALLY triaged it was 37.8. So when I finally saw a Dr, this is what occured.

First I had blood work done and my urine sample taken. They wanted to see if I had a chest infection or something else.

Then I had a chest x-ray done, that was clear.

Had a head CT done, that was clear.

Blood work and urine sample came back clear.

Lastly I had a lumbar puncture (PAINFUL btw, helped take my mind off the migraine - thankfully I had just received some morphine before the LP so it wasn't quite as bad but DEFINATELY hurt!).... but even THAT came back clear.

So ya, Dr doesn't know what's going on with me. My symptoms are consistent with the two - I did have a high fever before, that's now gone but the migraine and positional issues still remain. As do nausea and vomitting as well as photophobia.

I'm out of the hospital for the moment - was in since thurs evening. Pretty much the Dr wants me to go to my workplace now and be admitted there because the other hospital in my city doesn't have an MRI machine and neurologists only work at the sister hospital and there's a waitlist to see them. At least if I go to my hospital, there's both there at hand.

I'm on SR morphine - not really helping - trying to remain as supine as possible. Pretty sure I'm heading to my hospital in the AM. I would go now but I just want to sleep in my OWN bed, just once. Unless this migraine goes away tonight, tho that's highly unlikely since it's lasted for 6 days now.... sooooo frustrating.

Hopefully one of the neurologists at my hospital can actually help. Here's hoping anyways!!!

Meningitis (in the back of my head) or just a migraine?

The last couple of days have been difficult to get through. I went to the Dr's yesterday to get a sick note as I called in sick last week - still not 100% but enough to go back. I'm fighting a throat infection thingy, with a bit of a cough and I feel it's going into my left ear - when the Dr looked in my ear, she said it was clear. She did, however, say that my throat was reddened.

So I went to work yesterday and developed a headache while at work - took some Motrin around 1900 hrs and went on my merry way - working/fighting through the pain. The Motrin didn't get rid of the headache but at least took the edge off so that I could still focus on what I needed to do. Being in the DRY DRY hospital didn't help my throat either, was coughing quite a bit, think it might have irritated it more and also could have increased my ICP, not helping the headache situation.

By the time I came home the headache was starting to increase again, so I took some more Motrin and my other nightime pills and climbed into bed (approx. 0030 hrs). When I woke up, HOLY BATMAN was my head killing me! I felt sick, sick, sick. I took some motrin and stayed in my bed, figuring that I just needed some more rest or something. But a couple of hours later I felt like I was febrile. Checked my temp, and sure enough I'm sitting at 40.1 C - remember that I had already taken Motrin... So I take some tylenol headache - which has ES tylenol AND caffeine... should have helped my fever AND my headache BUT IT DIDN'T help ONE BIT! Didn't even really touch the pain.

Two hours later I couldn't take the pain anymore so I went back to the Dr. She checked my temp - yep still had a 38.0 temp. Because I'm allergic to codeine, demerol, and percocet, there wasn't a whole lot she could wanted to do about giving me something to relieve the pain... but she gave me a migraine medication.

When I went to pick up this med - for EIGHT doses, it cost me $147.47!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HOLY EXPENSIVE! I almost crapped my pants! But honestly, I would have paid anything to make the headache go away.

The first dose didn't do a thing for the pain, two hours later I took the second dose (and now I can't have anymore for 24 hrs!) and it took another 3 hours for ANY pain relief. On a scale of 1-10, I'd put it at a 6ish... but the pain gets worse when I sit up or stand up. SUCKY! Which on that scale is like an 11 when higher than a supine position.

I hope I get better quick cuz I don't want to have to go to the hospital, I am at one enough because of my job, I know how things roll there and things take FOREVER to get done!!!!