Matt, I and the kids left our house at 8am on Wednesday, July 6th, to drop them off at John and Jenny's house. John and Jenny will be keeping the kids til July 10. During that time they are even going camping at Lake Emily for the weekend. Lucky ducks! Karen is going to be driving our kids to the camp grounds since there isn't enough room in John and Jenny's van. Then Karen is going to meet my mom and dad in Plover on Sunday and give them the kids who will then spend the rest of the week in Wausau. they have never gotten to do this before and now that my mom is not working it's a great opportunity to be out on the farm. So by the time the kids return on the following Saturday they will have been away for a week and a half! We have never been apart for that long!
Anyway after we dropped of the kids and said our goodbyes laced with behavioral reminders and I love yous, we headed off to the UW hospital in Madison. We had to be there by 9:30am for check in. My first appointment was an EEG at 10am. Basically the doc glued wires to my head and I watch a checked TV screen that moves for a half and hour for each eye. Pretty easy and very boring. When I was all done he used nail polish remover to get the wires and glue off (well most of it). I had glue chunks in my hair the rest of the day. I then checked at the registration desk about where to go for my lab work. They said I didn't have lab. I knew I did so I went up to neurology and asked them. They didn't have record of it. I wasn't convinced so I asked to talk with Val, my doctor's nurse. Well Val was on vacation but her substitute checked Val's notes and sure enough the order for lab was there. It just never got entered in to the computer. If I wouldn't have been persistent, I would've had to drive all the way back to Madison just to do lab work cause someone dropped the ball.
After getting directions for the lab area I got 4 vials of blood drawn and then Matt and I went to eat at the cafeteria. Oh my goodness was the food selection awesome! I was really hungry by that time so I bought more that I should have. Dumb dumb idea. I was full during my spinal tap and very uncomfortable. Well, more uncomfortable than I had to be anyway.
The spinal tap procedure was... Well to be honest, awful! Matt wasn't allowed to be in there with me which sucked. Also, I'm sensitive to lidocaine and if given a lot I tend to get sick. Doctor Seeger said that was going to be a problem because that is usually what they use and any other substitute was a lot like lidocaine and would cause the same problem. Since I'm usually fine with a little, she had me do the spinal tap sitting up so the process would be 10 minutes long and not 20-30 minutes long. I was totally fine with that. However the downside is I had to hunched over my full stomach, blech. After I got injected with the lidocaine I got sick. I felt the urge vomit. Now this might have been because I was nervous about what was coming next. I'm not sure. I did manage to keep it in and after my hair was pinned up I felt a little better. I was told not to move because she marked the area and if I moved she would lose the spot. But I was hunched over for about 10 min and my shoulders and neck where getting very sore and we hadn't even started the spinal tap yet. I told her I was worried I would end up moving because I hurt so bad. I asked for a pillow or something so I could rest on that while I was bent over. She said "Oh you mean I forgot to give you a pillow?! Sorry about that!" Seriously lady? She finally hands me a pillow but I was so tensed up by that point because my neck and shoulders were killing me. I did feel the needle for the spinal tap and I felt it the whole time. There wasn't just pressure like most people say. I think that had to do with the limited lidocaine she gave me. I felt shock bursts go down my right leg several times which made me involuntarily flinch. The last shock was the worst as she was pulling it out. My right side has been sore ever since. I hope I never have to go through that again! She did show me the vials of spinal fluid. It's clear like water.
After she put a bandage on me I had to lay down for 1 hour. Matt was allowed back in the room and we watched TV while I drank caffeinated beverages and ate salty pretzels on a full stomach. Again blech. I had to eat salty things and drink caffeine to help my body replenish and to prevent a migraine. It was about 2pm when we were finally allowed to leave. I was told to lay down as much as possible for the next 24 hours and not do much for a week. Matt took me home and cared for me. I was so hopped up on the caffeine I couldn't sleep so we watched episodes of The Big Bang Theory. I did succeed at not getting a migraine. Yay!
I've been watching videos on Netflix or reading my book again today. I still hurt but not too bad. Luckily I have an awesome hubby who is doing everything for me. How blessed am I! Finally got to shower and still can't get all that glue out of my hair. Dr. Seeger said she hopes to get back to me by Monday on the MS test. She said she will call regardless if the test is positive or negative. So I should know by next week if I have MS or not. I have peace about it which only the Lord could provide.
I told Tim that I am thankful that you are such a great writer and that it helped me to understand what you're going through and how to pray for you, but at the same time, I cringed a little at some of your description! I am so thankful that God gave you the courage to advocate for those labs so you didn't have to make a second trip.
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