Migraines are a familial trait on my side. From me our kids got the "Whiting" chin, the ability to roll their tongue into a taco, blue eyes and migraines. Yay for DNA.
For Carson and me, our migraines are proceeded by a visual aura almost 100% of the time. We know that as soon as those wavy lines appear we need to treat immediately with 800 mg of ibuprofen and a dark, quiet room. After a 5 hour nap the headache has usually subsided.
Unfortunately for Katelyn she doesn't always get an aura so her headache just gets gradually worse and before she knows it, she has a full-blown migraine that isn't easily knocked back. Thursday's headache was just that with a few added twists.
Katelyn said she woke up Thursday morning and wasn't up for long when she noticed that she was getting a dull, throbbing ache in her head. She took some ibuprofen and headed off to her morning job (watching 2 young boys & helping them get off to school). By time she got home the headache was a little worse so she went back to bed. I came home for lunch and tried to talk to her, but she was out like a light. She was still asleep when I got home from work at 3:45.
A couple of hours later and I'm at a dinner meeting when I get this text...
-Is normal to have lost my sense of taste?
-Yes, that could happen when you have a migraine.
-Ok because I can't taste anything.
-Well, if it is still a problem tomorrow, I'll take you to the doctor.
-Ok.
Friday morning (now 24 hours after the start of the migraine), I'm on my way to work and Katelyn is still in bed. I make the suggestion that she get up sooner rather than later so she can see if she is still having trouble tasting. I don't hear from her until about 9:30 or 10. She texts me to say that she still can't taste anything. I text her back the number for the doctor & tell her to make an appointment.
I come home for lunch and to prepare to take her to the doctor. I ask her how things are going. She said she still has a little headache, but it feels better. What about the sense of taste? She's not sure so we test it by having her drink about a tablespoon of straight lemon juice. Nothing. Absolutely no taste. So off to the doctor we go.
All of the neurological tests check out OK at the doctor's office. The doctor does order a MRI, but since Katelyn has to work Friday night the doctor said we could do the MRI on Monday. The doctor orders a Toradol injection for Katelyn & sends us on our way with the caveat that if the symptoms change or the headache gets worse Katelyn is supposed to go straight to the ER.
I drop Katelyn off at work and don't expect to hear from her until it is time to pick her up at about 11:30 p.m. Sometime around 7 p.m. I get this text...
-Um, I have a lisp.
-A lisp?
-Yeah, it just started.
-Well that's interesting. Talk with your manager, tell her what's going on & see when you can leave.
-Ok. We are in the middle of the dinner rush so I can't leave now.
-Text me when you can.
An hour and a half later she texts to say that she can go. So I pick her up and take her to the emergency room. Now, say what you will about Deaconess Hospital, but they treated us great while we were there. We got right in and Katelyn was seen pretty promptly. It was a refreshing change when compared to the time I took Carson to Sacred Heart for a bad migraine.
Anyway, she got some IV medication for her headache (Benadryl, Reglan and Decadron) and a MRI. The meds cleared up the headache and the MRI came back normal so she was discharged. And in almost remarkable time, I think. We got to leave around midnight. Three hours in the ER on a Friday night?! Remarkable.
So the lessons Katelyn learned:
- As soon as she notices a headache, she should treat it like it will turn into a migraine. That means she should take her Maxalt immediately and go straight to bed.
- Loss of taste, a lisp, and vision that appears to be looking through a fish eye lens are her auras. If she notices any of those things, even if she doesn't have a headache, she should take her migraine medication immediately.
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