Teeples Trails: August 2009

I spent most of my time here

It started the week after I had Will. I got a headache on Wednesday the 12th that never went away. I didn't have to do much with my parents here and Carole and Brooke's help, so I could deal with the headache.

I am not talking run of the mill headache here, or child induced headache, or sleep deprivation headache. I am talking waking up in the morning crying type of headache. Don't try to do anything headache because you will regret it. And please no noise headache. I was miserable and I am sure the postpartum hormones didn't help anything.

So the horrible headache continued. I assumed it would go away and my parents went home. I figured I could handle things, even with the headache. Tuesday (18th) morning comes and it has been almost a week with this headache, so I called my ob's office and made an appointment. It was a good thing I did. I got to my appointment that day and my blood pressure was skyrocketing. My inital bp read was 165 over 105. Thirty minutes later it was 196 over 112. My doctor sent me immediately to the emergency room, where they were extremely quick with getting me back to a bed (you know you are in trouble when the emergency room is quick with anything). I had a CT, I spoke with the emergency room doctor and my ob and they thought that I probably had pre eclempsia and in a very rare occurrence it didn't present until after I gave birth (lucky me). They were worried that I would have a stroke or seizure due to the high bp (it was still in the 170's) so they started me on medication. We then got the results from the CT which they thought showed blood on my brain probably caused by the high bp. The hospital I initatially went to doesn't do nuerological problems, so I was transferred by ambulance (I didn't even get the flashing lights and sirens) to the hospital in the picture above. Can't wait to see the bill. I had many tests including a MRI, a MRV another CT and lots of blood drawn. I stayed in the ICU, where I didn't really feel like I fit in. I could talk, walk, eat and use the bathroom on my own and I think I was the only patient in the ICU who could do these things. I even got to leave the ICU to nurse Will when Matt or my parents would bring him to me. It was too dangerous to bring him in my room with all the infections in the ICU. I missed him terribly.

I stayed in the hospital where they "practiced medicine" on me and I got all sorts of different answers to what might be wrong with me. What I think happened may or may not be the case, but here it is. I think I did have postpartum pre-eclempsia. This caused the high blood pressure and the headache. I didn't have a brain hemorrhage. The nuerologist and the neuro surgeon(why are these two separate people? and no my doctors did not look like McDreamy,) both seemed to agree that I have some weird sort of plaque spots on my brain which they don't know the cause of. This will of course require follow ups with the neurologist to figure it out. It could be a multitude of things consisting of : the Rheumeatoid arthristis that I have had for seven years, I could have been born with these spots and they are nothing to worry about, some other sort of autoimmune disorder which could be mulitple sclerosis ( I sure hope not), but the doctor did mention it several times. So we will see about that.

I got out of the hospital last night and I am happy to be home. I am still not feeling like myself, but I am sure that is due to the multitude of narcotics I was given in my three day stay. My headache is mostly gone, I'm on blood pressure medicine and my parents are back to watch over us.

My nurses at the hospital were great and made an unpleasant circumstance a little more bearable.

And I have to mention what a wonderful family I have. Bruce and Carole, Melinda and Peter, of course Matt, Chelsea, my parents and my great friend Brooke all took over and helped with the kids while I was at the hospital. I received lots of phone calls from concerned family and friends and I know that many prayers were said in my behalf and I am very appreciative of that. I have never before been so aware of how fragile life is. I am thankful to have gotten through this and have a heightened perspective on how lucky I am. And I sure hope that a week like this will never be repeated.