Emergency Room

Well after my neurosurgery follow up appointment I sadly started to reject more of those internal stiches! I went in for an emergency appointment on that Friday feeling AWFUL!!!! The resident doctor lanced the abscess and started me on antibiotics. He debated whether or not to admit me, but decided to send me home to rest and if anything got worse to go straight to the emergency room at Loyola. I made it until Sunday and then was in so much pain, was lethargic and shaky, and just overall feeling crappy that we went to the ER. Well that took forever and the resident there ran some blood tests and did an exam. He did not know what was wrong and sent me home with some nausea medication (that did NOT work). I then went back to see my neurosurgeon later that week (Wednesday I think it was). He did not know what was wrong either. He said to stop the new medication that I was taking (the Fludrocortisone) just to see if that was causing my symptoms. Other than that he suggested I see the headache specialist at Loyola since he didn’t know what else to do for me. Well after a week or so I started to feel better, but was extremely discouraged that I was still feeling crummy and another doctor had given up on me.

I decided just to hold off for a couple of months and not see any doctors. I tried the fludrocortisone again at some point and again had an AWFUL experience with it. This made me think that the medication may have been a bigger part of my problem than the stitches rejecting.

At this point I knew I needed more help. I tried to contact a neurosurgeon in the area who is well known for Chiari, but he would not see me since I had already had the surgery. I then found a neurologist at RUSH University who specializes in autonomic dysfunction. I made an appointment with him for May 14^th, 2013. I will start with that appointment in the next post because there is a lot to talk about!