E.R. Trip :(

Well, turns out that it's a REALLY, REALLY good thing I stayed home from work on Friday to be with Dan.

We got home from Urgent Care around noon-thirty on Friday. Dan took a vicodin and went to sleep. He woke up at around 4:45 and was obviously NOT doing well. The pain was much worse. I was asking him what he wanted to do - if we should go back to Urgent Care? To the hospital? About thirty seconds after he decided we needed to go to the Emergency Room, he was in the bathroom throwing up. I immediately ran in to be with him and he kept saying, "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." It horrible - I was so helpless and scared. (Because the doctor at Urgent Care told us, "If there's vomiting, be sure to go to the hospital.") So when Dan was done in the bathroom, I sprang into action.

I called his parents, and despite trying to be brave, started crying as I actually said the words, "I'm taking Dan to the Emergency Room." I'm sure no wife in the world ever wants to have to say that out loud. They jumped into supportive in-law mode and were at my side in the blink of an eye. We drove to their house and they were in the car, ready to roll. They followed us to the Emergency Room and waited with me while Dan got checked in and waited for a doctor.

When Dan was called back, his parents left. (And I'm eternally grateful that they were so ready to help me - at suppertime, no less!) We went into a patient room and Dan put a gown on and laid down, with is hat over his face, waiting for some kind of relief from his pain. A nurse came in and gave him three medicines through an I.V. - two to kind of sedate and calm him down, and one for the pain. Within seconds he was drowsy, but all through the I.V. said the pain medicine was doing NOTHING.

The doctor came in, and me being the control freak I am, proceeded to give a very detailed list of every medical event since last Tuesday, when I got home from my trip. Thankfully, the doctor ordered blood work and CAT scan of Dan's head. (I embarrassingly admitted to the doctor that I was afraid Dan had a brain tumor - so I'm really glad they did the scan, just to make sure everything was okay.)

A few minutes after we saw the doctor (well...a few minutes after I saw the doctor...I'm pretty sure Dan remembers very little of all this), a lady from Radiology came in to take Dan for his scan. I took about ten minutes, then they wheeled him back into the room.

Shortly after that, his I.V. ran out, along with his "calming" medicines. Let me tell you - I've never been more concerned for Dan in my life. (Afterward, the doctor told me that his behavior was a side affect of coming off of the meds, but at the time, I had no idea.) Dan suddenly (and I mean SUDDENLY) got VERY anxious, restless and antsy. He said he just needed to get up and walk around, but couldn't do it. He started waving his arms in anxiety, whipping his I.V. cord all over. His face and neck were dripping sweat and he was on the verge of a panic attack. I had pressed the call button, but apparently the nurses were in the middle of switching shifts and nobody came. So here I am, by myself with Dan, who seems to be on the verge of a breakdown. All I could do was stand beside him as he clutched my arm to himself saying, "What's wrong with me? I don't want to go home like this." It. Was. Awful. I finally thought to get some paper towels and put them under cold water and just wipe his head and neck with them. That seemed to help, but was obviously still VERY uncomfortable, because he was gripping my hand painfully tight.

Finally, the new nurse came in and gave him a much more powerful pain medicine through I.V. Within ten seconds, Dan's grip on my hand loosened and he was giving a very weak, drugged up "thumbs up" for how awesome the medicine was. Groggily, he told me it was bringing his pain from about an 8 to a 5 (on a scale of 1-10).

During Dan's out-of-it time, the doctor came back in and told me the CAT scan and blood work all came back normal. There was no infection, no sinus inflammation (and no tumor). So, good news! But unfortunately, he said that since there was no illness to treat, all we can do is treat the pain. Basically he said that it seems to be an isolated, non-specific super, super, super bad migraine. Bummer. So, he said to continue taking the vicodin that the Urgent Care doctor prescribed. I was given information to call a doctor at the hospital for a follow-up on Monday.

We came home, Dan took two vicodin and slept. Hard. Saturday was good - we ventured out to Meijer and went to Dan's parents' house for supper and Christmas with Jessie and Ramon. Dan seemed to perk up, enjoy himself and even ate a good meal! (His appetite has been ZERO since last Wednesday.)

Jump forward to this morning. Not so great. Dan woke up at about 8:30 and took some Excedrin Migraine and went back to sleep for a few hours. We got up and ready to go to his grandma's 92nd birthday party, and on the drive there, he started to go downhill. We stopped at Costco and got the birthday cake and Dan waited in the car. By the time we got to the party, Dan was dragging and I could tell. He took two more vicodin (with only orange juice in his stomach - MISTAKE). His cousin, Jen, has had a history of migraines and offered us some advice, and pretty much said, "Dan you look horrible, go home." So we did.

We got home, and as Dan was getting ready to put on comfy clothes and rest...here comes the orange juice. Poor guy :( He said throwing up immediately helped his head feel better. (Not completely, but some.) So now he's resting, with an ice pack at the base of his neck to hopefully slow the blood flow to his head and help decrease the headache.

I'm so upset. I feel vulnerable because I'm not a doctor and have NO idea of what to do. But here's the information that I'm mentally gathering and sifting through:
-Dan had a CAT scan AND blood work on Friday night (less than 48 hours ago) and there was no major concerns
-I'm pretty sure the vomiting today was due to 1) his migraine and 2) taking vicodin on an empty stomach
-Message boards ALL over the internet have reports of migraine sufferers saying they've experience vomiting during a migraine and it's given them almost immediate relief (Some nay-sayers highly recommend seeing a neurologist if this happens - but like I said - I got a CAT scan on Friday and all was normal)
-There was no vomiting at ALL until he began taking vicodin
-He's been sleeping a LOT, and that concerns me, but he's also VERY drugged up

So after Dan fell asleep, I cried a LOT and prayed about what I should do. I don't know if we're supposed to go back to the Emergency Room? If he's just supposed to ride it out? He missed 2 1/2 days of work last week, and that can't go on forever. I'm feeling VERY helpless right now. I know I need to be the confident, brave wife and leader of this circumstance right now, but I'm feeling really scared.

So I think what I'm going to do is this. Today, when Dan wakes up, he won't get any more medicine. He's been taking Excedrin Migraine and Vicodin on and off since Friday morning. I do NOT like the idea of so many powerful drugs being his system. I feel like that can't be good for him and for his body to get back to normally functioning, he needs to be NORMAL, not drugged. (Also, Jen told us that sometimes vicodin GIVES her headaches because of the strength.) Dan's been requesting heating packs on his forehead/neck. I've read though, that ice packs at the base of the neck help limit the blood flow to the brain and decrease the pressure/throbbing. So we're going to try ice instead of heat.

I think those changes should hold him over until I can call the doctor tomorrow for the follow-up. I'm just PRAYING (very hard and fervently) that Dan will feel well enough to get up and go to work tomorrow. I'm very reluctant to leave him here alone while I go to work. So if you read this today, please pray that Dan's pain will be eased and this headache will break and just leave the poor guy alone.

My life has been in chaos since I left for my trip. With my travel plans being messed up and being EXHAUSTED when I got home...I haven't had a routine or felt settled really since 2012 started. I'm keeping up the strength to take care of Dan, but as soon as he's better I have a feeling that I'm going to emotionally crash for a few hours...