It's All a Blur

It's All a Blur

Sunday, October 2, 2011

This week has been one of the worst that I can ever remember! Have you ever felt like anything that can wrong does and it all seems to happen at the same time? Well, this week has been the embodiment of this statement.  Last Saturday I went with some friends to play ultimate frisbee in the park.  I love love love this game! Nothing is greater than making an amazing catch for a touchdown.  I was just about to make a spectacular catch when out of nowhere one of my friends knocked me right out of the air. The next thing I knew I was on the ground with a massive headache.  Once I stood up, my vision was all blurry and I knew that something was wrong.  We continued to play and I figured that the headache would wear off later in the day.  Once I got home I went about my normal activities, but the headache subsisted.  I was working on my computer when I got a message that one of my discs was corrupted.  Not having any idea what this meant  I enlisted the expertise of a ward member who, thankfully, is going to fix it.
This week was also midterms and as I embarked to class on Monday my head continued to throb.  I was pretty sure that I had a concussion but hoped that I could just power through it.  My vision continued to be fuzzy and by the end of the day I was feeling pretty terrible. In the midst of my head trauma I needed to take midterms in all of my classes.  I knew that I wasn't thinking clearly but I had no other choice but to take my midterms. I put off my Music 101 final until the last minute and then just ripped the band-aid.  I took it Tuesday night.  It did not go as well as wanted but it was still a fairly good score. Earlier in the day I talked to my mother about going to the doctor to have my head looked at.  Since all my responsibilities had been fulfilled I decided that I should go in and get checked out.  My friend Garin kindly agreed to take time out of his studying to take me to the doctor.  We arrived at Urgent Care and as soon as I described my symptoms the receptionist told me to go straight to the ER. After waiting for about 40 minutes I was finally called back into the exam.  I had a CT scan and was declared to have Post Concussion Syndrome.  I had gotten a concussion on Saturday and my brain was just taking a while to heal.  The doctor prescribed Lortab and sent me home.
I thought that things were finally starting to look up.  The next day I went took a pill before going to class and went about my normal day.  After work, around four o'clock, I began to feel steadily worse.  I took another Lortab, but to no avail.  I felt the worse I had since I had fallen.  I still had things to do so I finished class and my visiting teaching and went home to go to bed.  My headache by now was the worst of my life! Light was a no go and loud sounds sent shock waves through my head.  Before long the tears came.  I felt like a sissy, but I have never been in so much pain.  I literally thought my head was going to explode if too much light got in.  I laid on the couch while Keyla, my heavenly roommate, and Garin made dinner.  I tried unsuccessfully to call my parents in North Carolina to see what I should do.  Keyla and Garin wanted me to go back to the doctor, but I wasn't sure. After several attempts to reach my parents (you would think they would pick up after 7 calls), I decided to try my aunt and uncle.  Finally, an adult! The decision was made that I should go back to the ER to make sure there wasn't something seriously wrong.  So, for the second time in 24 hours I found myself sitting in the industrial lit waiting room of Intermountain Health Care. Aunt Kris met us there, which was a complete blessing.  I was a little nervous since this was my brain we were dealing with.  After what seemed like an eternity, I was called back to another exam room.  The nurse dimmed the lights, which was a small miracle, and we waited for the doctor.  After receiving a priesthood blessing, the doctor said that I just had a severe migraine which is not uncommon for post concussion.  He decided to hook me up to an IV and give me a lovely concoction of medicine to rid my little body of the headache.  I don't know why, but I get super anxious when I have an IV.  It's like I can feel the tube inside my veins and I freak out a little bit.  Luckily, I fell asleep after about 15 minutes.  Whatever they put in that IV knocked me out.  I still felt pretty awful leaving the hospital but I was so tired that it didn't matter.  Keyla and I got home about 1:15am and she promptly put me to bed.  It was one of the longest nights of my life.
It's been a few days since my adventures to the ER and I'm feeling soooooooooo much better :) I still have a small headache but the miraculous Lortab takes care of it.  I am so incredibly grateful for amazing friends and family who are willing to drop everything to come to my aid.  This week has been insane, but it would've been unmanageable without the aid them.  I am truly blessed :)