The Specialist

I know you all have been on pins and needles in anxious anticipation of how my appointment with the headache specialist went. At least those of you who still read my blog, now that it feels as though it has become a whiner blog. But when you are in pain more days than not, it is hard to keep a sunny outlook on life.

Of course, I had a headache the day I saw him and could not think straight to save my own life. But I muddled through. Like many of the specialists that I have met, he was all business and focused on the task at hand. Although he did seem to like when I mentioned that I hoped he would become my new best friend. We tracked my long and sordid headache history. I was diagnosed when I was eight. We tracked my drug history. We covered the anatomy of my headache. He didn't know what I meant by ache. I thought ache was a valid description of a dull constant pain. Of course in my diminished mental capacity I could not think of a way to say that.

After checking my reflexes, my eye movement and a bunch of other stuff, he announced that I wasn't going to die. Also known as, you do not have a brain tumor or aneurism. Neurologically, I am fine. Except for the hair trigger in my brain that causes me grief and headache on an all too frequent basis.

So where do I go from here. He upped how often I can take my "immediate relief" drug to two times a week. He added a "rescue relief" injection should "immediate relief" fail me. We added a preventative drug to help reduce how often I need to seek immediate relief. And I will go see him again in two months, with my headache log in hand.

In the mean time, I should expect my pulse to go down to a range that most people experience normally. It might even spend quality time in the two digit range. My sleep should improve with the side effects of this new drug. Last night is a testament to that. I slept soundly all night long without my usual early am wakeful mental sideshow. And with any luck, fewer headaches.

I am so ready to have a few days headache free. Today, I had a migraine. But I got to treat it!