Thursday, December 3, 2009

migraines and owls oh my

my husband suffers from complicated migraine syndrome.


The term "complicated migraine" is no longer used. It commonly referred to attacks of prolonged aura symptoms that could last hours to days or opthalmoplegic migraine where patients developed a partial or complete paralysis of the nerves that are needed for eye movement.




Other unusual types of migraine with aura include hemiplegic migraine and basilar type migraine. Familial hemiplegic migraine can be inherited and has been linked to one of several chromosomes. During attacks, patients develop stroke-like symptoms with sensory and/or loss of strength of muscles. Rarely, this type of migraine occurs without a family history. In basilar-type migraine, patients have migraine aura with neurological symptoms related to the base of the brain called the brainstem, including dizziness, hearing changes and visual disturbance. Unlike migraine with typical aura where numbness can occur on one side of the body, in this form both sides are affected. Sometimes, patients will loose consciousness or pass out with these headaches.




Another form of migraine is retinal migraine where the patient's visual symptoms occur in only one eye, stemming from the retina itself versus the portion of the brain involved in vision, as is the case for the typical migraine aura.




Migraine can also be associated with serious results such as aura lasting longer than a week with or without brain infarction (stroke), and migraine-triggered seizures.




Patients with these types of unusual migraines should be evaluated and treated by a specialist. Because the cause of these migraine types is not fully understood, patients with these symptoms should not use triptans for acute treatment.


on march 4th of last year, my husband was driving to a meeting in LA. as he was driving he started feeling tingling in his hands that led to his feet and his face. he pulled over and called his mom who is a nurse. she called the paramedics. they called me. they told me that it looked like my husband had had a stroke and that his brain wasn't working correctly. i freaked out. they told me which hospital to go to. i called friends and neighbors who watched the kids and took me to the hospital. i thought he was going to be dead or brain dead. it was the scariest time of my life. i got to the hospital and they had told me that it seemed as if my husband either had tourettes or was highly intoxicated because of the crazy way he was acting and speaking. they put him in the ICU for three days as a neuro patient. during that time they ran test after test to see what was wrong. they couldn't find anything. they finally told us that he suffers from complicated migraine syndrome. 
complicated migraines do not run in his family. however, normal migraines do. he has had a constant headache since that day.... it is now nine months later and he still has it.... every. single. day. we have had to take him to the ER about five more times due to an "episode" or "attack" and last night was one of them. 
my sweet husband planned a date night for me last night. we hadn't been on one in quite a while... that's what happens when you have three kids.... he got babysitters (our good friends adam and alisha) and he took me to sushi. we were planning on seeing a movie but during dinner his head got really bad so we came home. he went to bed early and woke me up at 4am this morning. i got the kids up around 5am and we all went to the hospital. they gave him drugs through an IV and monitored his blood pressure. he slept. i went home and got the kids ready for school. the hospital discharged him and now we are home. he is still in so much pain but trying to sleep it off. i pray every day that the Lord would take this headache from Dan... but for some reason He is allowing this trial to happen in our lives. God is the Ultimate Healer and i know that some day He will relieve Dan of his pain. i just pray it's sooner rather than later. i hate seeing my husband in so much pain day after day. 
thanks for reading. your prayers are appreciated.


on a lighter note, yesterday i spent some time making owls inspired by some i saw at anthropologie the other day... i'll post pics of them later but for now here is a pic of my inspiration. 







xo,
kass

13 comments:

Keely said...

The excitement of a date was too much for him..you probably got all seksi..he couldn't handle it..triggered his headache..Or Not!

Kassi said...

pretty much an or not. haha

Unknown said...

I think it's great that you took time to write this down. If you haven't done so already, now you have a concise record of what happened. A fellow teacher thinks that Daniel's in such straits because of all his previous concussions. Maybe he has scar tissue or something...Anyway, I hope he's feeling better and that you are too. Love, mom

Kassi said...

i should probably write it down in a journal. i don't know why i wrote it all on here... pretty boring stuff for my readers to read... especially if they don't know dan. oh well. dan and tay were sleeping and i couldn't so i wrote. i am so tired but my headache isn't on the verge of a migraine anymore. i have no idea why i feel so darn hungry all day long though. ugh. love you too mom.

oh, and i agree with your teacher friend... i think it's that along with a lot of other stuff... stress, bad eating habits and his nicotine addiction to name a few... i need to get my man healthy! but we've known that for a long time....

mmg

Lauren @The Little Things We Do.... said...

not boring to read!

thank you so much for sharing this prayer request and allowing us to bless you with prayers....since it's the only thing we can really do from afar, although it's a pretty great thing to be able to do for you.

how is dan feeling now? you've been in my thoughts and prayers all day. hope tayli and you got that nap!

marisa said...

i'm so sorry about all this. you and your husband are definitely in my prayers sweet girl.

Kassi said...

thanks marisa and lauren!

dan has been asleep, literally, all day long. he woke up for about twenty minutes at 3:30 and ate some toast and then woke up again around 6:00 and ate half a chicken burrito i made him. he's asleep once again. i just hope he wakes up tomorrow and feels better.

tayli did sleep - praise God - but i couldn't... i tried though.

i really appreciate the prayers guys. i have been feeling pretty hopeless today.... and i'm just not understanding why God hasn't healed dan or AT LEAST led us to the right doctor who can help him and give him a medicine that actually works. i know we are called to be thankful in times of trial but it is soooooo hard right now. i know i'm just all emo because i'm tired but i am so over this. i just want my husband back! nine months is just too long. okay, enough rambling..... sorry.

marisa said...

this is the very thing i struggle with most. it's so hard to understand why we (and those we love) go through the trials we do. i'll continue to pray for him, and that you find some answers soon! i'll also pray for your strength and that you can keep up your amazing faith and beautiful spirit kassi.

xoxo

Kassi said...

aw, marisa. i would love to get together with you sometime... maybe you, me and marina for an alta date? it would be nice to get to know you outside of blogging. you words were just what i needed. thank you so much!
xox

marisa said...

i'd love that! and i love alta too! let's make a date :)

Kassi said...

let's do it!
by the way, i sent you the pic to make a button... i hope i sent it to the right email address...

Suzanna said...

How frustrating! I've been there before, asking God why he can't just take it all away- right that moment-just take it away and ease the pain. As awful as things get, He will carry you guys through this and make good of it in the end. I just stumbled on your blog today, but I will definitely be praying for you and your family!

Kassi said...

thank you so much suzanna! God is good and no matter how much this sucks i try to remember to be thankful for the trials He gives us... and to remember that He doesn't give us more than we can handle. thank you so much for your prayers!

glad you stumbled upon my little blog. i look forward to getting to know you!