Hath's MRI

[mysterytrain]

Stay strong and you know you always have us to lean on.

When God brings you to it, God will bring you through it. You and your family are always in my prayers.

Love Ya, girlfriend.

[bayaderra]

Hath, didn't I tell you already!
That grey area is the abnormally over-developed Gutter Area of your brain!!!!

[Hath]

Bay, is THAT why it makes my whole head tingle? hmmm... then maybe I don't want them to fix it

[bayaderra]

Jun 17, 2010 13:44:23 GMT -6 Hath said:

Bay, is THAT why it makes my whole head tingle? hmmm... then maybe I don't want them to fix it

That's my point!!!
If they fix that...we will be deprived of your tallented writing!!!!

[joviswoman]

Holy hell woman! I just caught up with goings on here and look what I found. Never let it be said you EVER do things by halfs

I hope things go ok, and that it doesn't progress any further.

And I'm with Bay, that lil white spot is flashing at them because its the juice for all your horny writtings my dear and its THAT hot its showing on your scans

Take care and keep calm. Diaz helps treeeeemendoulsly if you cant control yr fears.

Keeps us informed and I PROMISE to get back more to check

[Hath]

So. You have to have another test -- this one is an EEG.

When you arrive at the hospital, you're completely relaxed. This is a test you could do in your sleep -- in fact, they actually prefer you do. So you got up extra early so you'll be a bit fatigued, you refrained from eating or drinking anything that had caffeine or "too much" sugar in it, and 30 minutes prior to your appointment, you make your way to the hospital. The tech, a lovely man named Raphael helps you onto the hospital bed.

He gives you a scalp massage, as he marks all the places where the electrodes need to go. You're drowsy even now, as he takes his time, nearly 10 minutes' time, in getting you all wired up.

Then he dims the lights, pulls the shades, closes the heavy oaken door, and retreats to his computer cubby. His soft voice comes through the wall -- "Just relax."

No problem.

The 30-minute test seems to take a heartbeat, as you breathe deeply and settle into slumber. When Raphael gently wakes you, you see he's set up a strobe in front of your eyes for the final portion of the test. Even its insistent blinking can't make you un-relax. As far as tests go, this one you'd recommend to anyone.

You get another scalp massage as Raphael removes the electrodes and rubs away the china-marker marks he had made earlier. He tells you that the results will be waiting in the doctor's office, in time for your appointment next Tuesday.

Today's only Thursday.

So you wait.

When Tuesday comes around, the doctor is (amazingly) on time. He brings you back into his office, and asks thoughtful questions about your symptoms. You answer thoroughly. He tells you that the blood work all comes back normal. So did your EEG.

Those niceties out of the way, he delves into the MRI results. He brings up the scan series on his computer and you stare, transfixed, at the gray-and-black blob that is your brain. You watch as he cycles through the scan's images, slightly horrified, but completely intrigued as the images crawl over the top of your head, and you can see your eyes. Your actual eyes. It's gross and fascinating all at the same time.

"The optic nerves look great," he says. Yeah, you already kinda figured that as your symptoms did not include any loss or degradation in vision.

There's a thick white mass in the middle of your brain, and just for a moment, you're scared. Then you remember your high school biology, and realize that this is probably the ventricle that helps with the blood flow to your brain. The doctor confirms your recollection, and you start to relax.

Then you hear that word.

"However".

However, see this slightly less-dark-gray blob next to the ventricle? That's the mass. To your eyes it looks huge, but he assures you that they measured it in millimeters. You're a math geek, so you know how small those are. But you also know it doesn't take too many of them to make up an inch. This mass is something close to an inch in diameter.

"But it's not white," the doctor says.

If it was white, it'd be a brain tumor, though they wouldn’t be able to tell it was cancerous without a biopsy, and you're glad, because a buzz cut would not be a good look for you. Plus, the idea of someone cutting into your head scares the ever-loving shit out of you.

"It could be anything," the doctor says. "Overall, the test was inconclusive."

But it's not white.

The doctor also shows you a lateral slice of your ventricle, and shows the lack of spots. That's apparently a very good sign as well. It means if, and he stressed if, IF you have MS, it's in the very very early stages and there's no harm in not medicating at this point while more tests get run. You whole-heartedly agree. You don't like taking pills as it is; you certainly don't want to take something you don't need.

The doctor asks more questions about the tingling, including one about Lyme disease. As in, have you ever been tested for it? You haven't, so he writes up another blood work slip.

He also tells you about a test they used to do "before MRIs were so widely used,” It’s called an Evoke/Response test. Basically, it's an EEG on your whole body -- but with electric shocks. The techs measure the amount of time it takes for the shock (mild, I'm assured) to reach your brain. You don't know much about the test yet, but WebMD is your next stop.

Soon, the doctor's administrative assistant will call and tell you what hospital to go to for your tests and when.

Soon, you will know if you have Lyme disease, which (if you do) is so far advanced as to be impacting your neurological functions, and scares you. But there's really nothing you can do.

Except...

of course...

to wait.

[norwichliz]

Waiting...yeah...lovely...

On the whole though it's fairly positive news. The worst case scenario isn't as bad as it might have been.

Hang in there Hath.

[mysterytrain]

Still sending prayers and positive thoughts your way, my friend.

[Kris]

I just wihs just ONCE they would do a test and know exactly what the hell is going on! But it seems that would be a novum in medicine.

Hang in there Hath! Positive thoughts and Jovi karma is on the way.

[Hath]

I've found out my test date. July 19th @9:30am. The test runs about 2 hours. Then I'll only have to wait 2 more weeks for the results -- I go back to Neuro on the 3rd of August. Though my doc did say if "there are any anomalies in the tests" he'd get in touch with me right away.

We'll see...

Thanks everyone for the kind words and unfailing support. It really does make a difference

[ibtfychick]

Hope it all goes well for you Hath..HUGS!!

[Hath]

Hi everyone. I wanted to give an update.

My symptoms got progressively worse through the first three weeks of July. The numbness and tingling would start out mild in the morning, and get intrusively worse by late afternoon, at which time it would be accompanied by tightness in my trunk on the right side. It felt like I had on tight clothes, even if I was wearing something loose. It would go away after a few hours, only to start the cycle over again in the morning.

By the end of July, my symptoms started to diminish, until one morning last week I noticed that I didn’t have them at all. Now, a week later, there are no symptoms at all except random episodic clumsiness or dizziness, and even those spells are not frequent.

I saw the neurologist yesterday afternoon and we went through all the test results since the last time we had met. I do not have Lyme disease, and my Evoked Potentials test came back completely normal, ruling out Multiple Sclerosis, and other brain-inflammatory disorders. Believe me; we’re breathing a huge sigh of relief over that.

Still, the sudden onset of these symptoms was unsettling, and now that they’re gone, there’s nothing really that the doctors can do in terms of more testing. My neurologist did say that if the clumsiness or dizziness persists, or the other symptoms come back to call him, and we’ll set up more tests, including an MRI on my neck. For the moment, we’re only treating the headaches, which he believes are migraine, with medicine I take when I first feel the headache coming on. I haven’t had to take the meds yet, but have them on hand for just-in-case. I go back to see him in three months to check on the headaches, or sooner if other symptoms come back. I will have another MRI in 8-10 months to see if there’s been any change in the mass that has taken up residency in my brain.

Thanks to everyone who sent me emails and for the prayers and good Karma sent my way. Knowing I had you all supporting me (even from far away) did make a big difference. Thank God there’s nothing “really wrong” at this point. If things change, I’ll let you know.

Love,
Hath

[norwichliz]

Good news! I know the symptoms and their disappearance is a little unsettling, but...maybe it was just some fluke virus type thing that's gone and won't come back again...or a type of migraine variance....fingers crossed.

[Kris]

Those are good news! Even though it's a little weird that the symptoms vanish all of a sudden.

If it's really migraine, you know at least what it is and how to deal with it. I have it myself and I can only advice you to take the meds as soon as you feel the headache coming. When you wait too long the meds won't really help anymore and you can more or less forget the day. Oh, and you might get really sleepy after you took the meds...not funny.

After a little while you should be able to differentiate between "normal" headache and migraine. I think it's a little unfair that you still have normal headache if you have to deal with migraine as well, but you can't change that I guess.

I'm a little curious, do you react sensitive to light, to odor or have the feeling to vomit when you have the headache? Those are the problems I have, you know.

Oh, before I forget it...ask your doc to give you a list of foods that can cause migraine. For example chocolate and some kinda cheese can make you have a migraine more often.

[mbwl]

Hi Hath,
Glad to hear that theres 'nothing really' wrong & if it is a form of migraine take Kris's advice; take the meds asap. Yes the meds only work if you take them quickly.
I get migraine too & have the same symptoms as Kris.
As for triggers take your pick of all the foods & red wine you love & then add in hormones, it might be one of them?
My niece gets them too but she gets a numb sensation down one side which sounds more like yours.
Take care of yourself.

Mattie

[Hath]

Thanks girls. Not sure if they are migraines -- I don't have any sensitivity to light or noise, and no nausea. There's also no [apparent] trigger for the headaches. BUT, the meds can only help, so I'll take 'em if I need 'em.

[bayaderra]

Hath, have you tried keeping a food diary? That's how I figured out my trigger: artificial sweeteners! Aspartame and splenda are my migraine triggers! My doc had me keep a diary for 2 weeks with ALL food and drink and headache and its severity.