I'm PreApproved for the Stimulator Trial!! (I think)
The Headache has been acting up and I was too sick the last couple of days to pick up my voicemail. Today I found out that yesterday I had a message from the Cleveland Clinic saying they were pre-authorized to schedule a procedure with Dr. Mekhail (the pain management doctor in charge of my trial)!!! The only procedure that could possibly be is the trial implant!!! Yeah!!
I think the qualifying factor for the trial was that I had to have at least 15 days of pretty bad headache pain a month. It's been about 15 days since I started the diary, and most of them have been my average bad with a few superbads mixed in. I don't think it was my insurance since I just checked pre-authorizations today and they said they would not pay for the procedure anyway since it is considered experimental.
WooHoo!!! I wasn't expecting this until after I returned the headache diary to Cleveland April 15th! I will call first thing tomorrow. I'd like to get this business over with. I am prepared to be disappointed and have the stimulator not work like everything else has not really worked. If it could just get rid of 30% of my bad headache days it would be fantastic.
I got five hours of work in today and am not in too bad of shape this evening. Hoping tomorrow will be good also. Hoping I won't be disappointed tomorrow. Sigh.
Hey there! It's Heather (War on Headaches). Looks like our birthdays are a few days apart - mine is today. Happy belated birthday!
ReplyDeleteI hope this study works for you. I'm excited to hear more about it!
I don't mind being the canary in the coal mine, or guinea pig. Especially if it helps an effective treatment get FDA approval so others can benefit.
ReplyDeleteMigraine especially seems to attack women of child bearing age, and the medications to treat migraine are not conducive to being pregnant. A drug free way to treat cascading waves of headache pain would be great!
Happy birthday to a fellow Aries!