My Month of "hell"

I know I haven't been blogging lately, and I am so sorry for the lack of attention. I do have a reason, though you be the judge of it being a "good" reason.

So here goes nothin!

We have to go back, way back, to December of 2012. I woke up one day with this splitting headache. I felt like I was going to die. At this point I was training for the Colfax half, so I was trying to get some miles in, but this headache landed me on the couch for days.

After a week of this, my mind started to get foggy, I couldn't concentrate, I felt lost all the time, it was hard to just put a thought together. I decided to go see my doctor, he ordered a CT scan. Everything came back clean and good however my symptoms seemed to progress. I reached a point where I stopped driving. I was still trying to run, but the next day I would be down and out for the count. I was put on the waiting list to see a Neurologist.

I was put on several different types of medications, some made me blow up like a puffer fish, others made me lose all appetite.

Finally, the beginning in May, just a week before my Half, I see my Neurologist and he notices that I'm "off". The feeling in my legs are off, my balance is off, he can see swelling behind my eyes.

Well, he instantly admits me to the Hospital with a very evil dosage of DHE. 5 rounds for 3 days of this vile stuff that cause me the become violently ill, nothing worked. So we tried it again... 5 rounds for 3 days, by this point I am in tears.

What's next? well the next logical thing of course...

A spinal tap!

Yep!

One of my biggest fears, spinal taps. Having lost a mother to Leukemia (this is how you find out you have the cancer), I was shaking the whole time, the room started spinning at a point, and I know the tech was trying to talk to me to get me to relax but there was no way. I was a lone, scared and just spend 2 weeks hooked up to the vile D.H.E.

I'm the lucky person that he can't get fluid the first try, so with a needle sticking out my back, he leaves me on the table, walks OUT OF THE ROOM, and finds another needle to restick me. Mind you these long needles are IN BETWEEN MY SPINE.

Just typing this makes me want to cry. I hated every second of it. I am finally wheeled off to recovery where you lay flat and don't move for an hour.

The next day I sit up and I'm one of those 20% chance of a Post-LP headache. YAY lucky me! I'm rushed to the ER. What is this headeache? I'm glad you asked. Basically the fluid where you brain is doesn't stay filled so your brain bounces around. Very painful. I couldn't even hold my head up without excruciating pain.

To fix this, they do what is called a "blood patch". Basically an epidural but they are putting YOUR blood back in to patch that whole, like 10 cc of blood.

Thank goodness for pain meds!

So needless to say I did NOT run the colfax half, I was having a spinal tap instead.

Besides numerous busted veins, long nights alone in a hospital and facing fears, I'm finally feeling better.

I do believe I'm on the road to recovery. We still don't know what is wrong with me. I seem to be responding well to my current medications, I still get headaches  but nothing like before. I go back on the 15th to see if the swelling is still there and see what happens from there.

But I'm still training for the Rock N Roll Full Marathon and I'm almost on Month 2 of Insanity. I think I've had enough set backs, time to go forward!

From my fab friend Amanda after my spinal tap