I saw the neurologist about a week ago. I hadn't seen one since the ICU, so long overdue. It was fantastic—she met with me for about two hours! She really got the ball rolling—I have to have a TEE (I think that's the one)—still trying to rule out any cause—if they can't find one, I might not have to stay on Coumadin for life! All I will say on the issue is that I was on ortho-tricyclen for the majority of eight years, and never had any cardio-cerebral events—I was on Yaz for two years and I had one massive stroke and evidence of one previous stroke, I was 29. Draw your own conclusions.
The neurologist is sending me to vestibular therapy and a psychiatrist. She also recommended a pulminologist. She was wonderful, and I feel less crazy now! I have a horrible time with imbalance and vertigo. I also seem to have trouble with spacial awareness—I can't handle tall ceilings, floors with geometric patterns or high reflection, suddenly turning a corner into an unexpectedly much larger space, etc. I was really starting to feel like it was all figment of my imagination—I mean, really, geometric patterns (strong organic patterns don't cause a problem)??!! (And I tend to think that I'm creating my own physical issues—I mean, come on, when I fell out of bed, paralyzed, I thought I just wasn't trying hard enough to move.) But apparently, the geometric pattern thing is something that happens—usually with damage to the cerebellum or Parkinson's disease. So maybe the MRI evidence of a previous event in the cerebellum is coming to haunt me? She's getting the MRI's from the hospital—that should prove really informative—I was pretty out of it the first time around.
The vestibular therapy is fantastic! I've only been once, but I am super confident about it. My therapist spent about an hour and a half on evaluation and she has some more to complete—she's establishing EXACTLY what triggers it. She didn't act like any of my symptoms were crazy—she seemed to really know what she was doing...it seemed much more scientific than any of my previous PT. I go again thursday—I'm actually excited!
The psychiatrist is because my social anxiety has gotten so ridiculous—the thought of having to make a phone call makes me nauseous and causes insomnia; even interacting with friends gets overwhelming some days. I'm so insecure about decisions and interactions with people—my parents' asked if I wanted to go with them up to their cottage for the weekend, and I didn't really—but saying so actually made me light headed. She diagnosed agoraphobia and thinks it should be easily dealt with—I think she is insanely optimistic with that theory!
The swallowing and speaking are still maintaining really well—"graduating" from speech therapy hasn't weakened my abilities at all. I realized last night that my typing (correct) ability is finally coming back, although I still tend to leave out letters when I hand-write. The Amitriptiline has done wonders for helping me control the emotional roller coaster. I can actually stop crying now (usually), without Xanax.
I think that's all the major stuff!
No comments:
Post a Comment