MIGRAINES

[cat03]

HELLO, EVERYONE. I AM NEW TO THIS SITE, BUT HAVE A VERY IMPORTANT BIT OF MEDICAL ADVICE FOR ANYONE WITH MIGRAINE HEADACHES! MY DAUGHTER WAS 4 YEARS OLD WHEN SHE BEGAN HAVING THEM SO SEVERELY THAT SHE WOULD HAFTA STAY IN A DARK, COOL ROOM FOR 24 TO 48 HOURS WITH ICE PACKS AND SILENCE. SHE WOULD SLEEP MOST OF THAT TIME AND MISSED UPWARDS OF 60 DAYS OF SCHOOL A YEAR... YET SHE NEVER FAILED A GRADE!! I TOOK HER TO DOCTOR AFTER DOCTOR AND THEY CONTINUED TO MEDICATE HER FOR YEARS. ONE DAY, WHEN SHE WAS 14, I COULDN'T SLEEP AND SHE HAD FALLEN ASLEEP ON THE COUCH. I WAS WATCHING T.V AND GLANCED OVER AT HER ONLY TO NOTICE THAT SHE WOULD STOP BREATHING DURING HER SLEEP FOR CLOSE TO A MINUTE EACH TIME. I THOUGHT IT WAS SLEEP APNEA AND DECIDED TO CALL THE DOCTOR (AGAIN) FIRST THING IN THE MORNING. I CONTINUED FLIPPING THROUGH THE CHANNELS AND SAW A MEDICAL SHOW ABOUT A LADY WHO HAD MIGRAINES AND ALL THE SAME SYMPTOMS AS ANGEL! I IMMEDIATELY BEGAN TAPING THE SHOW SO I WOULDN'T MISS A THING. AFTERWARDS, I VIDEO TAPED ANGEL SLEEPING SO I COULD MENTION IT TO THE DOCTOR IN THE MORNING. AT PRECISELY 9 A.M. I WAS CALLING HER DOCTOR AND GOT HER IN IMMEDIATELY. (I AM VERY PERSISTENT AND INSISTED ON THIS!) WE DISCUSSED THE SHOW AND ALL OF ANGEL'S SYMPTOMS AND SHE REFERRED US TO A NEUROLOGIST. IT WAS AS IF THE T.V.V SHOW WAS DIRECTED AT HELPING ANGEL!! THE NEUROLOGIST DID ALL THE NECESSARY TESTING AND CALLED US BACK IN FOR THE REUSLTS. SHE NEEDED SURGERY AS SOON AS POSSIBLE! THE MIGRAINES WERE CAUSED FROM A BIRTH DEFECT KNOWN AS ARNOLD CHIARI MALFORMATION! THIS IS WHERE A PART OF THE BRAIN CALLED THE TONSEL HAS NO ROOM TO FLUCTUATE DURING A HEADACHE, CAUSING THE SEVERE PAIN OF MIGRAINES. THE THEORY WAS THAT THE THE SURGERY CONSISTED OF REMOVING THE "NUBBINS" OFF THE BACK OF THE TOP 2 VERTEBRAE, BRING THE LINING OF THE BRAIN DOWN AND MAKE LIKE A "PARACHUTE"  AROUND THE TONSEL TO GIVE IT ROOM TO FLUCTUATE. IT TOOK SEVERAL HOURS, BUT SHE CAME THROUGH IT SUCCESSFULLY. DURING RECOVERY WE FOUND OUT THAT SHE WAS ALLERGIC TO MORPHIN, SO SHE WAS GIVEN AN ALTERNATE DRUG AND WHEN SHE SHOWED SHE COULD GET UP, WALK, AND KEEP FLUIDS DOWN, THEY RELEASED HER TO GO HOME. THAT VERY NIGHT I KNEW SOMETHING WAS WRONG! SHE SLEPT CONSTANTLY, WOULDN'T EAT, DRINK, PEE OR ANYTHING!! TO TOP IT OFF, I WAS CHANGING HER DRESSING EVERY HOUR AS IT WAS SOAKED WITH FLUIDS. I CALLED THE DR. EMERGENCY NUMBER IN THE MIDDLE OF THE NIGHT AND HE SAID TO MEET HIM AT THE HOSPITAL. SHE MAY NEED AN ADDITIONAL SURGERY. MIND YOU, THEY HAD ALREADY CUT HALF OF HER WAIST LENGTH HAIR AND SHAVED THE BACK OF HER HEAD TO PUT 48 STAPLES IN THE INCISION. WHEN WE GOT TO THE DR. HE SAID IMMEDIATE SURGERY WAS IMMINENT! SHE WAS LEAKING HER SPINAL FLUID!  THEREFORE, HER BRAIN DIDN'T HAVE ENOUGH FLUID TO FLOAT IN AND WAS PRESING ON HER SPINAL CORD. THEY RETURNED TO SURGERY, OPENED UP THE INCISION, PUT SOME "BODY GLUE" ONE THE INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL INCISIONAL AREA AND STAPLED HER BACK UP, KEPT HER OVERNIGHT AND SENT HER HOME IN THE MORNING WHEN SHE SHOWED REMARKABLE IMPROVEMENT. SHE WAS UP AND WALKING AROUND AND DRINKING ICE WATER BEFORE I WOKE UP. I HAD SLEPT ALL NIGHT ON THE SIDE OF HER BED HOLDING HER HAND... FOR HER SECURITY AS WELL AS MINE! I AM THANKFUL TO THESE DOCTORS AND EXCITED TO TELL EVERYONE, ANGEL HAS BEEN MIGRAINE FREE FOR 7 YEARS NOW!! SHE STILL GETS HEADACHES, BUT, SHE SAYS THEY'RE A WALK IN THE PARK COMPARED TO THE MIGRAINES. SO, PLEASE INSIST ON CAT SCANS, MRI'S... WHATEVER IT TAKES TO RULE OUT THIS CONDITION IF YOU OR SOMEONE YOU KNOW HAS MIGRAINES!! WE HAVE HELPED COUNTLESS PEOPLE BY RELATING THIS STORY TO THEM. AND IF WE CAN HELP JUST ONE MORE, THEN WE FEEL WE ARE DOUBLY BLESSED!