The Vi.M.

Oh, Heidi. Sweet, naive Heidi. The Heidi of the one simple E.R. trip of the last post. That was written one week ago today. Oh-so-much has happened since then...

Sunday night:
Dan was taking a nap while I wrote the last post, last Sunday afternoon. He woke up, not feeling well. I remember some vomiting, and then Dan wanted to move to our bedroom closet to lay down, since the door closed and it could be completely dark. I helped him to the closet, go him laid down and was letting him rest. Meanwhile, I called his mom to update her on Dan's status. When I got off the phone, I went to check on Dan and said, "How ya doing in there?" His answer? "Not good. Can we go to the hospital?" Oh boy.

So we drove to the Emergency Room with its CROWDED Sunday night waiting room. It definitely was not an awesome experience. We waited about an hour for a room while Dan was in agony. Once we were in the room, a doctor came in for about three minutes. Dan was laying on the table (with a splitting migraine and sensitive to light), and the doctor goes, "Let me see your eyes" and without even dimming the harsh, florescent lights, pulls Dan's eye mask up and makes him open his eyes into the brightness. I could've pounced on him verbally.

In the end, a nurse came in and gave Dan pain medicine. But instead of doing it through an I.V. like they did on Friday night, they gave him a shot in the hip, which he said did NOTHING for the pain. While the nurse was answering some of my questions, THREE other nurses came in and said to her, "Are you almost done with this room? We need this bed." Wow. In the end, the nurse basically said, "Since it's the same headache as his last visit, we're not going to run anymore tests. It's just a migraine."

So we left.

Monday
Monday morning, I knew this "migraine" wasn't going anywhere until we got some answers. I had Dan's dad come over to be with him while I drove to Dan's work to talk to his boss and to my work to talk to my boss. While I was at my office (and had access to a fax machine), I switched Dan's Primary Care Physician to his new E.R. appointment PCP. That way, all of his information would be in one relevant place. All went smoothly, and the SUPER helpful lady on the phone at Metro Health Wayland was able to get Dan an appointment for 2:45 that same afternoon. Woo hoo!

Monday afternoon, I help Dan out of bed and into clothes (which took about twenty minutes) and we headed to the doctor's office. This guy...SUCH a God-send. Right away he walked in and turned the lights off. He said to Dan, "I'm a migraine sufferer too, and I know those lights are killing you." THANK YOU! This guy thoroughly looked over Dan's two E.R. records and patiently listed to all of my observations and concerns. He asked Dan's tons of weird questions like, "Is it better sitting up or laying down?" "Does it make you need to throw up when I put pressure on your neck right here?" (Which, it almost did.) In the end, he took a second look at Dan's CAT scan and saw that after our first E.R. visit (when the CT was done), the radiologist found a sinus infection in his left sinus...that nobody saw or told us about before. So he put Dan on ten days of antibiotics to get rid of that. He said that infection could be causing pressure in his head, causing the migraine.

He also prescribed this super, duper miracle migraine pill called Treximet. I guess Treximet contains a drug for both tension headaches and migraine headaches. The doctor thought that the headache started as tension, then because of the sinus infection, morphed into a full blown, out of control migraine. He said that if the Treximet was going to work, it'd work within twenty minutes and he'd feel instant relief. Woo hoo! BUT, he said, "If this Treximet doesn't work...call me FIRST thing on Tuesday morning and I'm going to order an MRI or get him to a neurologist." Scary. I was praying so hard that the Treximet would work.

So Monday night, Dan's mom came over to be with him while I went to the pharmacy. The pharmacy was backed up by 45 minutes because their computer had crashed earlier in the day. The antibiotic was filled, but the pharmacist told me the Treximet wasn't filled because the insurance said they wouldn't pay for it. Knowing I had a potential cure for my husband's incredible pain, I said I'd pay for it all out of pocket. (Seriously, in the situation, I had no choice. What was I going to do? Say, "Okay. I can wait a week until my doctor and insurance company duke it out." Um, no.) So I had to re-order the Treximet from the pharmacy. The lady at the drop-off window told me it would be 45 minutes. Now...I'm not usually a bitch. Especially to strangers. But I pulled out my bitch card. I explained that the prescription was supposed to be filled an hour ago and that my husband was at home, suffering incredible pain. (I didn't say it that nicely.) In the end, she filled my prescription for nine pills instead of six, upping the out of pocket cost to a whopping $245. Yeah. You heard me.

I came home, gave Dan the Treximet and prayed. Nothing. Nothing...

Tuesday
Tuesday morning I called the doctors office and told them the Treximet didn't work. The nurse said she'd leave a message for Dan's doctor and call me back. So she called back and said, "The doctor said that you'll need to go back to the Emergency Room." Uh....I responded with, "The last time we were there, they told us they weren't planning on doing additional tests because it was 'the same headache.'" The nurse was super kind and understanding. She said she'd talk to the doctor again and call me back. In the meantime, I decided to jump in the shower. RIGHT when I got done (as in, hadn't even dried off yet), the phone rang. The nurse said, "The doctor's on the phone with E.R. and he wants you to get to the hospital. RIGHT. NOW." I almost threw up and fainted at the same time.

Trying to keep my cool, I QUICKLY dried off and threw clothes on, then slowly got Dan out of bed and into the car. As we were pulling out of our road, Dan threw up in the bucket :( I had to get out of the car and dump it and clean out the bucket. (I'll always think of that corner as the Puke Corner.) We got to the E.R. and there was nobody in the waiting room. We got RIGHT into a room and within thirty seconds a nurse came in and got Dan some pain medicine through an I.V. (I can't emphasize how WONDERFUL our care was on this trip.)

Our doctor came in and said he'd spoken with Dan's PCP. Together, they decided they needed to do a spinal tap. Dan was pretty out of it at this point, so he probably doesn't remember, but this morning was probably the scariest for me. The doctor was talking about looking for brain bleeds in his spinal fluid - and if they found nothing there, they'd do an MRI to look for any pressure, bleeds or tumors that the CT scan may have missed.

Now let me tell you. It doesn't sound that bad. "Oh...my husband has a headache." But when he's in debilitating pain, can't sit up and is throwing up multiple times a day, it's VERY scary. Then when doctors start talking about brain bleeds and tumors and neurologists...I never want to go to that place. Ever again. It shook me to my core. (I even admitted to the doctor, "I watch way too much Grey's Anatomy to be able to handle this with any kind of emotional stability.")

Back to the facts. They had me wait in the hallway (thank goodness) while they performed a spinal tap on Dan. (Yeah, I was in the hall, but the doctor came in/out a couple times. And let me advise you: Don't let yourself see your spouse bent over a table with a giant needle in his back.) We waited about two hours for the results. The doctor came in and told us they found out that Dan has Viral Meningitis. (Meaning: the lining of his brain and spinal cord is infected with a virus.) I immediately had an internal freak out, because the only thing I know about Meningitis is that it can cause paralysis or even death. This must've shown in my eyes because right away, he explained that Bacterial Meningitis is the deadly kind. What Dan has is Viral. The unfortunate thing is that you can't treat a virus. The body had to fight it and win on its own :( The doctor recommended lots and lots of sleep and lots and lots of fluids. The problem with that was that Dan couldn't sleep because the pain was so bad :(

Luckily, the doctor was kind enough to sit down and talk to me about which medicines Dan had been on, what seemed to work, what I was comfortable and uncomfortable with, etc. In the end, he opted to put Dan on a gentler version of Vicodin (which he had been on) called Ultram and Valium (to relax his neck tension and knock him out so he could sleep).

Knowing it was just a waiting game and that with each throwing up episode he wasn't one step closer to something horrible, it helped me care for Dan through the days and nights. The Valium seemed to help, but he could only take it every eight hours and it only knocked him out for about 3 1/2 - 4 hours. Things didn't seem to be getting better...and there were no signs of it getting better soon.

We lived through Tuesday night and Wednesday. We made it, but both of us had little to no sleep. I hadn't eaten anything (and I mean NOTHING) since Saturday night. Running on adrenaline.

Thursday
On Thursday morning I called and made a follow-up appointment at Dan's PCP from hi E.R. visit where they diagnosed him. Again, the super helpful staff was able to get us in at 3:00 that day.

That morning, Dan did marginally better. He stood in the shower by himself (I'd been helping him take baths up to that point). He even watched a little ESPN in the morning. But by the time we went to the doctor he was pretty wiped out. We got into the doctor's office and Dan was bragging to the doctor what he'd done that day. The doctor said, "Well, maybe we can get you up watching t.v. TWO times a day." He told us to try pairing an Extra Strength Tylenol with Dan's pain medicine.

That afternoon, at around 4:00, we tried it. It knocked Dan RIGHT out. He woke up and was able to watch two episodes of 30 Rock and an episode of Parks & Recreation! He even had a bowl of broth with FIVE saltine crackers (that was more than he'd had in one sitting since Saturday night).

Friday
Firday was a goooooood day. It seems like something about that Tylenol was magic for Dan. Friday he was up and about, talking, and even had some chicken noodle soup for supper. I had to run to the pharmacy for a refill, and Dan even came with me! HUGE! He said he'd been craving a McFlurry (??? We NEVER go to McDonalds), so I stopped and got one for myself so he could have a few bites :)

The headache was still there, but I was looking at his eyes and having conversations with him, which I hadn't done since Sunday morning.

Saturday
Saturday was good, too. The doctor said when his body starts to heal the virus infecting the lining of his brain and spinal cord, every day would be just "a little bit better than the last." We went to church on Saturday night, but after that, Dan was ready to head home.

He wanted to get adventurous and try some pizza for supper. He hadn't thrown up in 48 hours and wasn't feeling nauseous at all. So, we tried it. Mistake. After his one piece, it came right back up. But it was almost comical. It was obvious he couldn't hold it down only because his stomach wasn't ready to handle it. He wasn't having severe head pains or nausea...he was just all-of-a-sudden like, "Nope." And he ran to the bathroom. Poor guy. He's disappointed. His appetite it back, but his body just can't handle it yet.

Sunday
This morning Dan woke up after sleeping (albeit a bit restlessly) all through the night. He's still taking it easy, but it's obvious he's on the mend.

Misc
So basically, Dan had a cold in early January. He thought it'd gone away, but it hadn't. It was festering in his head and created the small sinus infection. Then it moved into the lining of his brain and spinal cord. The E.R. doctor explained that this area is one of the body's last line of defense to protect the brain and spinal cord. So when a virus gets that far, it takes the body a long time to get through it's own defenses to fight the virus. It usually takes the body 7 - 10 days to heal itself from Viral Meningitis.

Multiple doctors and nurses have told us that people who've had Viral Meningitis say it's the worst headache they've ever had and will ever have in their life. Imagine that...for one solid week with zero relief. Although (thank goodness) it wasn't bacterial, I was told to take this very seriously and watch very closely for any signs of fever, confusion, dizziness, etc. I won't soon forget the scariness of this situation.

Dan lost about twelve pounds over the past week and I lost about six. (The up side: I reached my Weight Watchers goal. Obviously, this doesn't count and I'm not entering it into W.W. because starving yourself for four days isn't the healthiest, most effective way to lose weight.) Between Sunday morning and Tuesday night I was going on about five - six hours of total sleep. I've never felt and looked more disgusting.

I've been pining for a baby. This week has made me realize I need nothing more than my husband. If he's good, I'm good. Right now, I want and need nothing else. Just Dan. I think this has been a great reminder and reality check to be thankful for the health and happiness that's right in front of me.

I'm curious and a little high strung about the bills to come. But, we have insurance and I understand the benefits. And I'm one of the most organized, spreadsheet-making people you'll ever meet. And I'm confident that, with a few phone calls and precise record keeping, we'll have it figured out. God will provide.

And when I remember Dan like this, any amount of money is trivial when it comes to making sure he's okay!

E.R. Trip #3


E.R. Trip #3 - zonked out on pain meds while I patiently waited for test results


This is a bad headache for you. This heat-able neck pillow and eye mask didn't leave Dan's head/face for about four solid days. He always needed to have heat on his eyes and head. It was the only thing that mildly helped :(

And let me tell you why I'm so, so, so glad to have my husband, my best friend back. Laying in bed, falling asleep last night:

Me: "Sometimes it's hard to trust God's timing."
Dan: "Yeah. But it's there."
Me: "I know."
Dan: "Everything that's coming for us is coming just as fast as it can."

Love him.