......IN A HEARTBEAT
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HaileyMcComet wrote:
oobu24 wrote:
HaileyMcComet wrote:
Nancy R wrote:
Hailey, you never answered my question in my last post.
Laura, since I was an O.R. nurse (RN) I’m always interested in what doctors are prescribing. What is the anti-anxiety med you are on now that helps with pain? Never heard of one that would do that. Great, if so! You can PM me if you don’t want to answer my questions in the open forum.
Hope you are doing better soon!
Sorry, I was busy having a stroke. They put me on propofol and midazolam during/after surgery.
That's a good excuse.
You get 2 or 3 really good excuses in life. When your brain explodes, that's when it's time to go for broke.
Hope you're feeling better.
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HaileyMcComet wrote:
Nancy R wrote:
Hailey, you never answered my question in my last post.
Laura, since I was an O.R. nurse (RN) I’m always interested in what doctors are prescribing. What is the anti-anxiety med you are on now that helps with pain? Never heard of one that would do that. Great, if so! You can PM me if you don’t want to answer my questions in the open forum.
Hope you are doing better soon!
Sorry, I was busy having a stroke. They put me on propofol and midazolam during/after surgery.
OMG! Are you okay now? The propofol and midazolam are normal drugs for during, then after surgery. Did they say you had an adverse reaction? It also depends on what kind of surgery you were undergoing.
I hope Laura is okay - she never wrote back either!
Plus SurSteven is MIA! What’s going on?!
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I'm back! It's been a very long hard summer. My Mother deteriorating, waiting and waiting for my wheelchair (and wondering how to pay balance not covered by insurance), my own health not so good. and my older brother getting seriously ill. I just wanted to crawl under a rock. Then.......
My new electric wheelchair finally came--about 1 month ago. And a way to pay the balance, (believe it or not, a small inheritance from a distant relative). Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!
Notsofast! In less than a month two screws came loose on the arm holding the throttle on the new chair. So Soon? So early? Of course it was the weekend, so I have to wait until Monday to have anyone from the company come--they're closed on weekends. A staff member here helped re--screw it. But it shouldn't have happened! Sigh of relief. But this came on the heels of--wait for it--my laptop crashing! BIG time. I lost everything. This happened two weeks ago. It's taken me all that time to figure out the new laptop. They want a password for EVERYthing. Even to access it. ARRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGH!!!
What's that you say? I ALWAYS gnash my teeth and pull me hair out............
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Glad you’re back Laura! Seems like the only luck you have is bad luck though! At least it seems you got it sorted now. How is your brother doing? Better, I hope. Is your mom elderly? You may have already said on here, but I don’t recall. Take care!
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Sorry to hear of all the problems you're having, Laura. It sure does seem like problems come in bunches. Hopefully you're done with yours!
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LITTLE LAURA wrote:
I'm back! It's been a very long hard summer. My Mother deteriorating, waiting and waiting for my wheelchair (and wondering how to pay balance not covered by insurance), my own health not so good. and my older brother getting seriously ill. I just wanted to crawl under a rock. Then.......
My new electric wheelchair finally came--about 1 month ago. And a way to pay the balance, (believe it or not, a small inheritance from a distant relative). Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!!!!
Notsofast! In less than a month two screws came loose on the arm holding the throttle on the new chair. So Soon? So early? Of course it was the weekend, so I have to wait until Monday to have anyone from the company come--they're closed on weekends. A staff member here helped re--screw it. But it shouldn't have happened! Sigh of relief. But this came on the heels of--wait for it--my laptop crashing! BIG time. I lost everything. This happened two weeks ago. It's taken me all that time to figure out the new laptop. They want a password for EVERYthing. Even to access it. ARRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGH!!!
What's that you say? I ALWAYS gnash my teeth and pull me hair out............
That's life just making sure you're paying attention.
My father always used to say that bad things build character. You must be a great person by now.
My mother always reminded us that no matter what was happening, someone somewhere had it much worse. I used to hate hearing that when I had a cold. Of course a cold isn't the worst tragedy in the world, but when you're young and sick, you want a little empathy. Now, I think about what she said whenever something bad happens to me. No matter what has happened, someone somewhere definitely has it much worse. I was in a car accident that changed my life, but it could have been a lot worse. For the guy who died, it was. I walked away in mostly one piece.
I'm not saying you should feel better because others have it worse. That's just what I was taught to do. Different strokes.
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Nancy R wrote:
OMG! Are you okay now? The propofol and midazolam are normal drugs for during, then after surgery. Did they say you had an adverse reaction? It also depends on what kind of surgery you were undergoing.
I hope Laura is okay - she never wrote back either!
Plus SurSteven is MIA! What’s going on?!
The propofol and midazolam were for the craniotomy I had two years ago. There were a bunch of other drugs post-op, but I doubt I could name them all if I tried. There were the usual anticonvulsants, corticosteroids and antibiotics. I don't remember any adverse reactions, but I was pretty out of it for a while. I remember some funky dreams.
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oobu24 wrote:
Hope you're feeling better.
Thank you. Anyone who has had a stroke will tell you they are feeling better. That's really the only option.
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HaileyMcComet wrote:
Nancy R wrote:
OMG! Are you okay now? The propofol and midazolam are normal drugs for during, then after surgery. Did they say you had an adverse reaction? It also depends on what kind of surgery you were undergoing.
I hope Laura is okay - she never wrote back either!
Plus SurSteven is MIA! What’s going on?!
The propofol and midazolam were for the craniotomy I had two years ago. There were a bunch of other drugs post-op, but I doubt I could name them all if I tried. There were the usual anticonvulsants, corticosteroids and antibiotics. I don't remember any adverse reactions, but I was pretty out of it for a while. I remember some funky dreams.
I had a craniotomy for a benign meningioma tumor in 2011. Was your stroke related to your surgery even though it was 2 years ago? (I assume the surgery was after you had that bad car wreck)
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Nancy R wrote:
I had a craniotomy for a benign meningioma tumor in 2011. Was your stroke related to your surgery even though it was 2 years ago? (I assume the surgery was after you had that bad car wreck)
In chronological order, it was car accident -> subdural hematoma -> craniotomy -> long recovery -> finally going back to work a year later -> subarachnoid hemorrhage -> hemorrhagic stroke -> doing the recovery thing all over again.
Do you have titanium plates? Most of the people I talk to do. They put PEEK in my head instead of titanium which, as far as I can tell, is better.
I almost forgot the most important question. After 8 years, do you still get headaches? I'm a little worried those will never go away.
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HaileyMcComet wrote:
Nancy R wrote:
I had a craniotomy for a benign meningioma tumor in 2011. Was your stroke related to your surgery even though it was 2 years ago? (I assume the surgery was after you had that bad car wreck)
In chronological order, it was car accident -> subdural hematoma -> craniotomy -> long recovery -> finally going back to work a year later -> subarachnoid hemorrhage -> hemorrhagic stroke -> doing the recovery thing all over again.
Do you have titanium plates? Most of the people I talk to do. They put PEEK in my head instead of titanium which, as far as I can tell, is better.
I almost forgot the most important question. After 8 years, do you still get headaches? I'm a little worried those will never go away.
I have tiny titanium plates which you can feel through my forehead! What does PEEK stand for?
I hate to tell you, but yes, I still get headaches a lot and some months are worse. I sometimes have migraines, but didn’t have any in August! Had one so far this month. I take Sumatriptan (Imitrex is brand name) for the migraines which is a life saver. I was taking something else that wasn’t helping and a friend of mine was visiting and she let me try her Imitrex and I told my doctor it worked great and so he changed my prescription.
For just “regular” headaches I alternate between Kroger generic Migraine Formula (Acetaminophen/Caffeine/Aspirin) and Ibuprofen.
Hope your recovery goes well and you don’t have any more problems!
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PEEK is polyether ether ketone. It's a heavy duty plastic they use for bone replacements and a million other things. It's what they would probably use to create an artificial bone flap if they could not use the original. It's supposed to be better than titanium because it does not leak any minerals the way some metals can, it's not prone to infection and you don't get any expanding or contracting when it gets hotter or colder. It also does not interfere with MRIs or any kind of metal detector because it's not metal or magnetic. The downside is that it only lasts about 100 years, so if they vastly expand the human lifespan in the next few decades, I might need a replacement. But if the money men keep hold of the medical industiry, I'll be dead long before it expires.
Just like titanium, you can feel my plates. I must have spent at least a month just touching my head. What surprised me the most, and always surprises civilians, is how small they are. When I was first told what they did to me, I expected one giant metal patch in my head like in war movies, instead of a few tiny bumps. Everyone is always surprised that the skull they cut away was put back. When you know the procedure, it makes perfect sense. But when you know nothing about a craniotomy, it's easy to assume that they throw the bone flap away.
I'm not surprised about the headaches. Everyone I've talked to says the same thing. The good news for me is that I live in China. I can get a bag full of prescription drugs for $5. It doesn't make any difference what the drug is, it's always $5.
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Nancy R wrote:
I have tiny titanium plates which you can feel through my forehead! What does PEEK stand for?
I hate to tell you, but yes, I still get headaches a lot and some months are worse. I sometimes have migraines, but didn’t have any in August! Had one so far this month. I take Sumatriptan (Imitrex is brand name) for the migraines which is a life saver. I was taking something else that wasn’t helping and a friend of mine was visiting and she let me try her Imitrex and I told my doctor it worked great and so he changed my prescription.
For just “regular” headaches I alternate between Kroger generic Migraine Formula (Acetaminophen/Caffeine/Aspirin) and Ibuprofen.
Hope your recovery goes well and you don’t have any more problems!
I also wanted to ask, how long did it take for your hair to grow back? I'm at the 2 year mark and it's still too short for my liking.
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HaileyMcComet wrote:
Nancy R wrote:
I have tiny titanium plates which you can feel through my forehead! What does PEEK stand for?
I hate to tell you, but yes, I still get headaches a lot and some months are worse. I sometimes have migraines, but didn’t have any in August! Had one so far this month. I take Sumatriptan (Imitrex is brand name) for the migraines which is a life saver. I was taking something else that wasn’t helping and a friend of mine was visiting and she let me try her Imitrex and I told my doctor it worked great and so he changed my prescription.
For just “regular” headaches I alternate between Kroger generic Migraine Formula (Acetaminophen/Caffeine/Aspirin) and Ibuprofen.
Hope your recovery goes well and you don’t have any more problems!
I also wanted to ask, how long did it take for your hair to grow back? I'm at the 2 year mark and it's still too short for my liking.
I only had to have a patch shaved (top right) and it grew back in just a few months (I normally have pretty short hair, like only maybe 2” at most on top and shorter on sides and back)
Luckily, I have had Healthcare.gov insurance (Obamacare) for 2 years and my prescriptions all are free, PCP visits are free, and specialists are $5. Prior to that I had insurance through the hospital where I worked and prescriptions were not very expensive. I go on Medicare next year though and will probably just pay out of pocket rather than spend $$ for prescription insurance. Will see.
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I always had hair below my shoulders. Until they shaved off every last strand. I looked like Darth Vader without the helmet for a while. Now I just have too short hair. Short hair is pretty common in China, so no one notices how wrong it feels to me.
Under Obamacare you have free prescriptions and free regular doctor visits? That sounds pretty good. Why are so many people bitching about it? Everything medical in China is dirt cheap, but nothing is free. Unless you can't pay for it. The stroke set me back $50. The craniotomy was a whopping $400, but that's only because I had a private room.
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HaileyMcComet wrote:
I always had hair below my shoulders. Until they shaved off every last strand. I looked like Darth Vader without the helmet for a while. Now I just have too short hair. Short hair is pretty common in China, so no one notices how wrong it feels to me.
Under Obamacare you have free prescriptions and free regular doctor visits? That sounds pretty good. Why are so many people bitching about it? Everything medical in China is dirt cheap, but nothing is free. Unless you can't pay for it. The stroke set me back $50. The craniotomy was a whopping $400, but that's only because I had a private room.
It is because my income was fairly low so I qualified for big monthly subsidies. Picked my plan which costs only $85.14/mo. (Some other plans you have to pay something for prescriptions and regular doctor visits) The deductible in previous years was $1650-$1750, but this year the same plan it was only $600 and the monthly cost only went up $20. I have no idea why people bitch about it unless they make too much money to qualify for a decent subsidy. The less you make, the bigger the subsidy. I did have to change my PCP, but was able to pick a doctor I knew and used to go to. Next year when I get on Medicare I will go back to my previous PCP (he's in his 40s and the other guy is around 75 so might not be in practice much longer!)
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Boy! Some of you guys have been through a LOT! We should start a club. I think I forgot to add one of my molars crumbled as well. $600.00 + ! Sigh...there goes that tiny inheritance. I know. I should be glad one came along at all. Still, I wnated to save some. Oh well a teeny tiny cushion is better than none.
So my older brother recovered somewhat--and then went on a cruise. The rest of us are crossing our fingers he doesn't come back horizontal. Sigh....
Our Manager at the Residence up and quit. And they fired the Assisted Living section's one. So now we don't have any.
.........Hey! maybe we can have a P-A-R-T-Y now! An all-niter. Think we could get away with it? Griiinnnn.
Oh my wheelchair is running smoothly--for now.
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LITTLE LAURA wrote:
Boy! Some of you guys have been through a LOT! We should start a club. I think I forgot to add one of my molars crumbled as well. $600.00 + ! Sigh...there goes that tiny inheritance. I know. I should be glad one came along at all. Still, I wnated to save some. Oh well a teeny tiny cushion is better than none.
So my older brother recovered somewhat--and then went on a cruise. The rest of us are crossing our fingers he doesn't come back horizontal. Sigh....
Our Manager at the Residence up and quit. And they fired the Assisted Living section's one. So now we don't have any.
.........Hey! maybe we can have a P-A-R-T-Y now! An all-niter. Think we could get away with it? Griiinnnn.
Oh my wheelchair is running smoothly--for now.
I already started the BBC a long time ago. Broken Brain Club. I suppose it could be the Broken Bodies Club.
I don't want to say you're lucky, but if you had to deal with American insurance, you would wish you were back in Canada. The biggest upside to all of my medical bullshit is that I live in China. Insurance and payments are the least of my concerns.
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Wow, just catching up on you all. Sending you all my prayers for a speedy recovery... I'm wishing you all the best possible outcomes.
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I'm praying like a demon with my eyes on fire for you guys, you've been through so much...especially Little Laura, it's heartbreaking and also inspiring how you manage to keep upbeat and look for silver linings, Laura. I want some miracles and good things for you ! I'm glad your ordeal has some real bright spots and good outcomes, Hailey. Go for that "laughing gas" ! Nancy, I shaved off all my hair on a whim about two years ago or less, and wore wigs (which is fun, you can be a redhead and blonde!) and when it all grew back after less than a year, it grew back black and straight, like it always was. Not much grey at all. But it didn't grow back a lot thicker, which I hoped would occur. My health woes are my diabetes and kidneys. The most important number for the kidneys has gone down some and I'm on the brink of stage four kidney disease and I'm worried. I may have done it to myself by taking too much diabetes meds, more than I'm supposed to, these past few months. I'm not a good patient ! I want to see a kidney specialist, but might wait til' after the holidays. I fear there's a long waiting list. My other numbers this time for chlorestoral and diabetes were good, the P.A. said. That surprised me. He laughed at me (kinda cruel!) for gaining eight pounds in just six weeks since I saw him last. I blame the cheesecake, way too much of it, and candy (that's how other diabetics I know are; they'll go on big sugar binges now and then, big ones). Now my tummy section looks like a little Buddha's, an apple from the side, but I cover it w/ clothes. The good thing is that's where I lose weight first when I diet. The bad news is the diabetic diet and kidney diet both contradict each other on some items, so I don't know what to eat. For example, whole grains have too much phosphorus and potassium, so I'm supposed to "eat white" with bread, pasta, not even much brown rice. White bread and white pasta (or veggie pasta, I think I could have that in small portions). But with diabetes you're not supposed to eat any white stuff. With the kidney diet you're not supposed to have white potatoes or sweet potatoes. Some "leach (leech?) out potassium" from white potatoes by soaking them a long time. You're not supposed to get too much protein as it harms the kidneys and some online told me I'll have to become a vegan. But my P.A. said no, you shouldn't become one. Confusing.