"Now, what the @#% is wrong with you??"

Just because I'm all about my ailments these days, how about another ER/Urgent Care blog post?

Last night marked my 7th visit to Emergency Services at Gundersen for 2013.  This time, I was able to be treated in Urgent Care and didn't have to go to the ER.  After last night, though, I am going to seriously reconsider ever going in for a headache.  

Wednesday while I was at work, I had a headache come on very suddenly and it hit right in the eyes.  I took Ibuprofen and was able to finish out the day, but was completely exhausted by the time 8:00 finally rolled around.  I went right to bed after work and called in yesterday morning.  The headache came and went throughout the day.  Around noon, I dragged myself off the couch with the intention of going into Urgent Care, but ended up just doing a drive-by and ended up at Starbucks for a cup of coffee and a birthday cake pop.  If I've learned anything this year, a birthday cake pop from Starbucks is better medicine than anything else I've found.  

I returned to the couch in hopes of tackling my Christmas cards, which are not even out of the package, yet.  That didn't happen.  Instead, I slept.  And slept.  And SLEPT!  With the help of Google, I tried the ice pack idea and made the whole situation worse.  Finally, I decided it was time to go in.  Remember Natasha Richardson?  The actress that died after she fell skiing?  Well, I had a few incidents earlier this week at work that involved a few knocks on the head, so better safe than sorry... or dead.  

I believe in Christmas miracles and mine came in the form of two nurses and a PA that actually treated me like a human being instead of a lying "frequent flyer".  This was the first of the seven visits that my eating disorder history wasn't mentioned and I wasn't interrogated.  

They did a CT scan and everything was fine.  At that point, they decided to do a lumbar puncture (aka spinal tap) to make sure there was no bleeding.  I have now decided that should I ever give birth, it will be a cakewalk in comparison to some of the things I've been through this year.  

If you've never experienced a spinal tap, this is how it goes:

First things first, you put the beautiful back-wide-open hospital gown on.  Fortunately, the bra and granny panties could stay on.  You have to lay on your side with your knees brought up to your chest.  The doc sticks a drape cloth to your back and numbs the site.  He goes through the procedure and tells you things like, "you'll feel some pressure"and "tell me if you feel any pain in your legs".  

I like to believe I have a pretty high tolerance for pain, but the second he started, my vision went out and I pictured myself in a morgue locker.  What felt like an hour was probably closer to 5 minutes.  Somewhere in there, I felt that "pain in your legs" he warned me about.  He should have said, "If you feel like you're being electrocuted in a bathtub", but that probably would have deterred me from agreeing to this in the first place.  

After it was done, they monitored my blood pressure and let me sleep until the results came back.  I don't recommend napping on exam tables, but after something like that, even a cardboard box looks comfortable.  

All of that to find that everything looks normal.  I have migraine/headache medication to get me through the weekend if I need it and a follow up with my physician next week.  Unfortunately, we aren't sure if this is related to everything else that has been going on the last few months, or if it was a result of the work incidents.  

Today the headache is not as bad, but my back is pretty darn sore.  I walked the mall this morning to see if that would help.  Not sure if it helped my back, but it certainly didn't help seeing people in their retirement years flying by me.  

I would like to think this was my last ER/Urgent Care visit of 2013.