Hey! Hey!
Sooooo … if you’re not up to speed let me summarise:
- New headache that goes away when I lie down
- Decided it wasn’t worth bothering a headache specialist about
- Googled symptoms and dismissed the suggested diagnosis
Now you are up to speed, let’s move on to the latest episode in season 1 of not just a headache, honey …
Having decided that the most rational cause of my headache was a stress-induced migraine, I made an appointment with the GP (let’s all take a moment to appreciate the fact I called at 8am and had an appointment for 8:45am).
If everything went according to the plan I’d self-created, I would leave with a prescription for some acute migraine meds (the good old triptans) that I was prescribed as a teenager and could then get on with my phased return to work.
Plot twist (or not) … the person with the actual medical degree wasn’t in agreement with my self-diagnosis. I found myself leaving without a prescription for the triptan and instead with a referral to my local hospital’s Same Day Emergency Care (SDEC) department.
For those who are screaming “contact your headache specialist nurse!” I’m afraid you’re in for a frustrating entry. What can I say? Hindsight is a wonderful thing! No, in all seriousness, going to Stoke would have been the sensible option, but in that moment it wasn’t the most practical. I couldn’t drive due to the pain and both my parents should have been working. Therefore, a 20 minute drive to my local hospital was easier than a 60-75 minute journey to Stoke.
The headache patient …
It didn’t take long after booking for them to start referring to me as “the patient with the headache” which in itself had me irritated! After a few hours of sitting around and saying “my head hurts” on repeat like a broken record, they called me for the ever-painful task of having bloods taken!
Now, for all those reading this who don’t know me personally, I (naturally) am one of the most difficult people to get blood from and/or cannulate. On top of the fact I have the tiniest veins, they also absolutely love to collapse or jump at the sight of a needle, so here I present you just the first of an uncountable amount of needle-related trauma!
Needle-induced trauma …
Back to the bloods! As someone who knows the difficulties around getting blood, I usually pre-warn anybody who has drawn the unfortunate straw of attempting that it can be a challenge. I have since been told I shouldn’t because that makes people nervous, but I mean I’m nervous at the thought of how many attempts it might take! In spite of all of this, my pre-warning of my tiny veins fell on deaf ears when I was told that I can’t be the difficult because I’m “young and healthy!” I mean there are sooooo many wrong assumptions there!
You can probably hazard a guess at how this is going to play out, but in case you’re still unsure I can confirm she missed. Now I have absolutely no issue with this, as I mentioned you will read a lot of missed attempts when getting my blood, but I was a bit frustrated by the lack of willing to listen to where is usually the most successful place for getting the blood. By attempt 3, blood was retrieved (we won’t dwell on the fact it was achieved from the location I suggested to start with) and it was back to the waiting room to sit around for a few more hours!
If I didn’t already have a headache, I would by now …
As we reached hour 5, I was moved from the waiting room to what looked like an assessment bay made up of 6-8 trolleys. This was where we met a junior doctor who was lovely, but also couldn’t quite understand that my pre-existing headache disorder (nummular headaches) is not basically a migraine.
Having given up on trying to explain this, I went on to explain how the headache that resulting in me being sent to them was unlike any headache I had ever experienced before. Every other sentence I was pointing out that the headache went away when I lay down, but it just wasn’t being seen as significant on the level I felt it was.
After passing the neuro assessment with flying colours (I mean I’ve been a neuro patient for 10 years at this point, I’ve memorised and perfected that assessment), my willingness to accept oramorphe to try and control the pain I was in prompted them to suggest a CT scan to rule out anything serious.
Spaced out from the oramorphe, we staggered down the corridor towards the x-ray department in a style that clearly made me look like I was drunk! Unfortunately, despite my seemingly drunk exterior, I very much still had a painful headache …
By hour 7, I was so over being there. The CT scan had come back normal (I mean I suppose I was gratefully reassured that I do in fact have a brain), but for peace of mind the registrar accompanying the junior doctor explained that they would like to do a lumbar puncture.
A needle in my spine …
I’d never had a lumbar puncture before, but I knew what it involved and believe me I was less than keen on having it done. Nonetheless, my very medically aware mom reassured me she’d sit and hold my hand throughout. One final minor twist was the fact this would be the first lumbar puncture this junior doctor had performed (I mean everyone had to learn and I seem to be a general medical guinea pig so why not?).
In fairness to everyone, once the local anaesthetic had kicked in, I didn’t feel much beyond some pressure. This was definitely a good thing because my supposedly supporting mother spent more of the procedure leaning over me so she could watch the actual lumbar puncture procedure (for context mom worked in theatres for many years so had a backwards fascination with medical procedures)!
Post procedure mishaps …
After some concerningly difficulties obtaining the spinal fluid samples, the giant needle was removed and I was instructed to lie flat for 2 hours. Let me tell you this was music to my ears because lying flat was a guaranteed relief from the headache!
Now, remember the difficulties with getting a needle into my veins earlier? Well they were about to get worse! In light of the lack of spinal fluid on offer for them to collect and sample, the registrar decided a bag of IV fluids was necessary. Unfortunately, this also came with the trauma of being cannulated and this experience did not disappoint! Fuelled with confidence that he liked a challenge, the registrar missed with such confidence he hit an artery!! However, the horror on his face when he realised was nothing like the horror on my face at the thought of blood staining my white high school musical jumper I was sporting!!
Bleeding eventually stopped, the cannula was successfully inserted elsewhere and the fluids up and running. At what was now hour 12, I was now greeted by a doctor who had cardiologist embroidered on his scrubs. The look on my face must have said it all and once my mouth caught up the words nice to meet you but I believe you’re a doctor of the wrong organ left my mouth!
A waste of 12 hours …
Laughing at me, he explained that he is the on call consultant as they don’t have a neurology department at that hospital! There were no appropriate words to leave my mouth at this revelation so I sat there stunned to silence! I mean why did nobody mention this to me at hour 1! Despite his limited training in neurology, this consultant explained the lumbar puncture was all normal so he was confident that I was in fact suffering a severe migraine attack.
By now I was tired, my head was hurting as I was sitting up again, and I now had the added pain in my back from the lumbar puncture where the local anaesthetic had worn off! In spite of the confidence that my headache was a migraine, nobody would offer me any of the acute meds (the good old triptans) which had been my original mission when I made the GP appointment!
So, 12 hours, a CT scan, some oramorphe and a lumbar puncture later, the regret of not going to Stoke was real …
It could only happen to me!
X O X O
Your favourite headache
Next time … doing what I should have done to begin with!
I have a lot of regrets about that ~ This is me trying, Taylor Swift, Folklore
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