Today I fell trying to get out of the bathtub. I fell IN the bathtub. I was just trying to stand. I'm aggravated. I'm sore. I'm bruised. I'm OK. I feel stupid.
The Legs are just not cooperating. The pain is pretty severe as the fall this morning is setting in this evening plus it is compounded on top of every thing else. Argh! I'm just trying to get ready for Monday! No pain meds, no muscle relaxers, just trying to get by with occupying my mind with other things. Distraction!
We are very shorthanded at work this week (we are closed Thursday and Friday and most co-workers with kids try to take the rest of the week off too!). I don't have children, so I never try to schedule time off around Christmas, and generally get a lot of work caught up this week. Just praying that The Legs and The Headache and The Belly will not revolt. Just three days! Surely I can do this.
A couple of fellow headache sufferers that I have become acquainted with over the past few months have gotten or will be getting occipital stimulators before January. The surgery is not fun (after all it is surgery and people are poking you with sharp objects) but I hope that they will get the benefit from electrical buzzing goodness that I have. I still have headache pain, it isn't a cure all by any means, and if I turn it off (as I found out this fall) I still have excruciating headache pain. With it on the pain is manageable, bearable, livable and The Headache is not nearly so overpowering.
The Cleveland Clinic is possibly going to have another migraine/neurostimulator study, and I know the Mayo Clinic is going to be doing another study this coming year. If these are like the last studies, then major medical centers across the US will be participating also. There may be more than one study going on at the same time for different manufacturers of stimulators. I was at the end of my rope when I got accepted into the one in 2008, and I am so grateful for the pain relief I have experienced. Hoping more people get the opportunity to get "hardware" like mine!
The really good news with all these studies is there is an onslaught because the move is to get the device FDA approved and quick. It's still for migraine use only (I know you squeaked in but we need more.) This kind of thinking killed me against insurance. Studies are fabulous but now that I would find it harder to "take " what the study gives me. (snob!)
ReplyDeleteKristen: I agree - we need that FDA approval as soon as possible. This is not a solution for everyone though it has been of great help to me.
ReplyDeleteMyself, I do not know how I could have survived a two year wait for appeals and courts and lawyers. The wait from Feb to Jun to install it was bad enough! You are one tough lady!
You worked hard to get your fancy dancy brand new fangled stimulator (snob! :)) but I've had mine since June 2009 and glad I've had it, even if it's not quite as fancy! Plus I couldn't turn down free batteries for life!!! Woo Hoo!
Most of the headache people who I know on the web are migraineurs. There are just a very few of us Hemicrania continua folks out here, but I know of one who is being included in the Mayo study just like I was in the Cleveland one. Maybe our rarity makes us unique, and the fact that if we can't take indomethacin there is not much else that works well. I think we rate high on the pity factor!!
Take care next week, good luck with getting your final battery placement done!
But I want an ONS!!! That IS said in a LOUD & WHINEY way!!!!
ReplyDeleteJessica: If you are like me you want to stomp your foot and shout "NOW!!!" too!!! :)
ReplyDeleteWhen my insurance said it would be long and nasty fight to get an ONS approved, I went for it anyway, and THEN ran right into a study at the Cleveland Clinic. I was the last person admitted to that study (one of 120 people).
Putting this out there in hopes persons like me who can't afford to pay for it directly, and dont' have the stamina or will to fight their insurance companies can start getting in line with the major centers to find out if they qualify!!! You are doing a favor to everyone who can't get one because FDA has not approved it yet, putting it one step closer.
Since the study I was in was a "blind" study, I wonder if these the next studies won't be "blind" studies (which are a heck of a lot of work) but studies into the overall efficacy of the treatment.
So sorry about your fall! I know from sad experience what a (negative) difference one fall can make. :/ I hope you are feeling back to normal soon. In fact, better than normal would nice -- maybe your legs could ease up!
ReplyDeleteEmily: At least I didn't break anything! Woo Hoo!!! And I can still run from the racoonchickens, so its all good!
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