Headache Hindsight Meltdown

Disclaimer: I had brain fog while writing this post. Please excuse any rambling or incoherent sentences.

It's taken me a little more than a week, but I've mostly processed what happened to me the Sunday I arrived in California. (See The Worst Headache of My Life for background info.)

Immediately after the experience I went into some sort of denial, brushing off the headache as a one-time deal. It was just a really bad migraine. Nothing to worry about, right? However, as things began to sink in, I started to realize that what happened could have had a much more serious outcome.

Not to be dramatic, but having such a severe headache could have been a symptom of all sorts of horrific brain events that I'm not going to go into. All you have to do is google "worst headache of my life" and see all the gruesome possibilities. I am fortunate that my headache turned out not to be as a result of a more serious and more immediate problem. Of course, I did not know that at the time.

In hindsight, I realize that I should have called 911 and gone to the hospital. If my husband or anyone I knew were having such an incapacitating headache and were not able to move or think straight and started vomiting as I did, I would have called an ambulance without hesitation. Unfortunately, I was alone and not thinking well, so I did not make the best choice.

I got all this wonderful hindsight about last week's headache experience yesterday. Unfortunately, it took another migraine to knock sense into me. I started to get another bad headache as I was flying back home from California yesterday. By the time I collected my luggage and got to my car, my head was pounding and I was feeling nauseated. I immediately took medication for my headache.

My head started to feel better after about an hour and the pain never reached an intolerable level, but the experience scared me because it was so similar to the last time -- getting a headache while flying that only got worse after landing.

When I got home to my husband, Kenny, I started crying. All the stress of my experience and being away from home hit me at once. He held my hand and let me cry. I had a meltdown.

My husband insisted that I call the doctor an make an appointment to get checked out. Since it was a Sunday I couldn't call to make an appointment at that time, but Kenny wrote a reminder on a post-it note for me to call. I called today an got an appointment for next Monday.

I fly quite a bit and have not had problems in the past. However, I seem to have developed a headache problem related to flying. I have another flight tomorrow. This time my husband is coming with me. We are traveling to Washington, DC for our participation in the Georgetown CFS study.

I am excited about this trip because it means participating in real CFS research, but I'm nervous about the possibility of getting another major migraine after we land. On the upside, I will be with family. My husband is coming with me, and my parents live in Washington, DC.

Today's Activities: work. Today's Most Annoying Symptoms: headache, exhaustion, pain in right arm.

Mood (10 is best): 6
Energy (10 is best): 3
Physical Discomfort (10 is worst): 4

Weekend Trip & Quick Update

I've been super busy preparing to leave town this weekend. Kenny and I are going to visit family in North Dakota for the weekend (a whirlwind trip!), so I haven't had much time to write. I just want to give a quick update on the research opportunities I'm trying to pursue.

I've received the informed consent documents from the Georgetown University CFS study. The next step is a preliminary phone interview. If they're satisfied with what they hear, I'll be invited to Washington, DC for the actual research testing. There is a $400 stipend that comes with the completion of the research study, so this will help with my airfare. I also have family in DC, which is why I'm not worried about heading out there on my own.

I will be out of town for the weekend, and I don't know if I'll have time to get online. I may be too busy spending time with family or napping...

I'm just hoping I don't crash. I've finally started to get back to my normal state of tired (as opposed to extreme exhaustion).

Today's Activities: work & packing for trip. Today's Most Annoying Symptoms: exhaustion, mild headache, asthma attack, diarrhea; active eczema on left and right underarms, and right ankle.

Mood (10 is best): 7
Energy (10 is best): 4
Physical Discomfort (10 is worst): 4