The World According to Leslie

One year ago today.... just 365 days ago, I was lying in my bed and couldn't move. I couldn't sit up because my head hurt too badly. I couldn't eat because I couldn't keep anything down. Tomorrow marks a year since I ended up in the hospital because of it. I wish I could say that the headaches are gone. They are NOT! In all honesty, I missed church on Sunday because my head was hurting so badly that everything was spinning. I have actually had a headache EVERY DAY for the past year. Some days, it's tolerable. Other days, I cry a lot. I am so tired of it, that I finally called this morning and made an appointment at the doctor's office. I have no idea what she's going to do.... probably send me for the same tests I've had 5 times already.... but maybe they can figure it out. My surgeon suggested, when I went in for my 2 year post-surgery visit there, that I ask my doctor about Botox.  That has shown some promise for migraines.  (But.... ...

It's official!  We have made it out of 2016!!  There were some good things that happened this year. On the other hand, there were some bad. In the public eye, we lost a lot of good people (or at least good actors/actresses/singers). The funniest thing I saw at the end of 2016 was the guy who started the GoFundMe page to protect Betty White from death. I'm not sure who he was planning to pay off, but I guess it worked.  Now.... what's he going to do with any money that people donated?  In our family, we had quite a few doctors visits, ER visits, and hospital stays last year. Mom started it in February. She took a fall at work and it cut her knee pretty badly.  She's still suffering the effects of that fall--her knee still hurts horribly. Then I got sick over the summer. The doctors found the aneurisms behind my eyes. They never figured out why I am having headaches, but as my Dad says, "If I had a head like that and it didn't hurt, I'd have it checke...

Over the past few weeks, I have been in the ER a few times. I have been to more doctors' offices than I care to admit. I have seen ER and hospital doctors. I have seen doctors in the office of my primary care physician. I have also seen a neurologist. I have been in for more tests than I ever want to take! In the hospital, I had two CT scans. I had an MRI. And, I had a lot of blood work done. The doctors (outside of the hospital) sent me for more blood work. The neurologist sent me for a 2nd MRI (this time with the contrast dye). He sent me for a 2nd CT scan (with contrast dye this time). He also sent me for a Spinal Tap/Lumbar Puncture. The results are in. I have ONE answer. The prelim results from the Spinal Tap are fine. We are still waiting for the final results; those might be this week or early next week. The MRI and blood work all came back normal. I went for the 2nd CT scan yesterday. They called me yesterday afternoon. I have ONE answer. I have a small aneurism beh...

Since July 10th, I have been sick. I have been to the ER 3 times in 3 weeks. I have not been out of my house, except to go to the doctor, for 3 weeks. On Thursday of last week, I had to have a spinal tap done to see if they can figure out these headaches. On Saturday, I ended up at the ER again because my neck and shoulders were completely stiff and painful. They gave me meds that made me sleep all day. Yesterday, my neck and shoulders started feeling much better.  I can now sit up for longer than 20 minutes at a time. My headache is only at about a 3-4 instead of a 8-9. On to better news..... We have finally decided where the Princess is going to go to school next year. She has agreed to play softball again at the school. We are excited. We just have to make sure that she gets the classes that she needs to get into the IB program in the high school. I'm still working on finding a full time job, but if I don't, I can always be a substitute teacher again this year....

I still can not sit up without having a headache.  After spending Tuesday to Thursday in the hospital, I ended up back in the ER on Friday night. (I didn't get home from there until about 4am Saturday!) I woke up feeling much better, but then after spending a couple hours at the church doing a yard sale and hot dog sale, Tony had to bring me back home. I got really ill again. Sunday, I went to church but I should have stayed at home. :( I got really sick again. Today, I have been in the bed all day. (I'm getting a little sore from being in the bed all the time!) But, the doctor called in a new medicine for me. Hopefully after a couple doses of it, I will be able to tell a difference.  For now, I rest a lot and pray and hope that the headache goes away so I can get back to life as I know it..... you know... normal (or whatever that is!)!! 

I don't know that I would say that this was the worst week of my life, but it does rank very high in the top bad weeks.  As I'm typing this, I'm actually in my bed. It hurts to get out of bed. Actually, I just got out of the hospital yesterday. On Sunday, I got really ill after church. My head was hurting and I felt like I was going to throw up. (Yep! I know..TMI!!) We went with my parents to Mooresville, and I did get sick...... 4 times on the way home.  The trip is only about 25 minutes if you don't have to stop. Monday, I tried to drive to the doctor's office, but I had to stop too many times because of being dizzy and sick that I turned around and came back home. Tony came home from work and took me to the doctor. They gave me a shot for pain and a shot for nausea. The nausea shot worked and I kept down a little food.  Then Tuesday arrived.....  I couldn't even sit up in the bed without getting sick. Mom, Dad, and the Princess took me to the hospital--...

Yesterday was the BLUR! Finished burning CDs for the LUAU. Food shopping for the LUAU. Store the food in a cold place until the LUAU. Softball—we won!  By 1 point! Pick food up and get to Luau location. Decorate and cook (with the help of about 20 people who came!) LUAU! Tear down and clean up! (With the help of lovely people!)   The only problem with a day like that is that I am not supposed to stand up/be on my feet for more than about 15-30 minutes at time.  I went from 5pm-8pm without sitting.  I was running around.  Finally, I had to stop and ice down my back. This morning, my head was throbbing. My back hurt so much I could barely breathe. My feet were still swollen. I was just exhausted.   So….  we didn’t make it to church.  I got up.  Ate breakfast.  Sat on the couch for about an hour.  Came back upstairs and went to bed.  I finally got up at 4pm.  I think that going back to work...

On December 29, 2011, I had had a headache for over two months.  I'm not talking about little nagging things.  I'm talking about headaches that made it hard to open my eyes, to focus on what I was doing, or to keep a train of thought.  It was hard to sleep.  It was hard to stay awake.  It was hard to do much of anything. The headache started one morning.  I woke up with it.  I don't even remember the morning that it started.  I thought it was related to my sinuses.  I took sinus meds.  I took pain meds.  Then a couple days (maybe 3) later, when I was still in pain, I stopped taking meds.  I had medicine anyway.  The fact that the sinus meds and pain meds weren't working meant that it wasn't a sinus infection and that I was going to have a headache for a few days. Before I had Chasity, I had ONE headache for a YEAR!  Yes!  I went to the doc for tests!  No!  They couldn't figure out why I was having...

How is it that I missed two days of blogging already?  However, I have already blogged more in this MONTH than I did in the last 3 months of 2011. Girl Scout cookie season just started, so I am in the beginning stages of being the "Cookie Nazi".  Ask anyone in my troop....I'm a COOKIE NAZI!! I'm really late getting to bed tonight! Hopefully I'll fall asleep quickly.  I need to start getting more sleep. So I guess I am going to go take my headache medicine (that is definitely a story to tell)!  Then I am going to bed!