Friends, please gather ’round and listen to my story about being a medical marvel.
A few months ago, I went to an ENT in hopes of finding an answer to my never-ending headaches and migraines. I wasn’t actually expecting doctors to find anything, but it turns out there was something bizarre going on with my sinuses. Given that I have no medical training, and really don’t understand this myself, my description might
be a little off. However, it seems that I had a little gap in my skull, which was causing cerebrospinal fluid to leak out and form a pocket in my sinus. Whether or not this has been causing the headaches is still unknown, but I do know that I’ve most likely had it for my entire life, and it is probably what caused me to nearly die from bacterial meningitis as a kid. Fun side-note: the doctors told me this often occurs in obese individuals (I’ve always been naturally under-weight) and babies (I’m not a baby). They asked me if I suffered head trauma as a kid, to which I said, “I fell off the swing-set
once,” and they said, “No, not like that. Have you ever been kicked in the head by a horse?”
It was obviously not a good thing to leave this untreated, so I had to have surgery.
I was very nervous going into the surgery, because to be completely candid, I’ve
had post-traumatic-stress disorder related to hospitals and ailments since I was first sick with bacterial meningitis. However, little things like a card from my friend (she wrote, “Sorry About That Gap” and drew my brain which is still cracking me up) and care packages/calls/texts from friends and family were really nice immediate ways to cheer me up. I also found it funny to tell people that my brain was in my nose, even though that’s not really the truth. The actual surgery and night in the hospital went smoothly (even though they discovered two gaps, not just the one) and I was thankful, but then when I went home, things were not so smooth.
I ended up back in the emergency room last week, and I’m still freaked out by it. A New York City hospital in the midst of the pandemic is NOT a fun place to be. I was literally the most terrified I have ever been, and I didn’t sleep for the first few nights that I came home.
After my 16-hour trip to the emergency room, I was admitted for observation. They didn’t observe a whole lot until I was getting ready to leave and started having massive convulsions. I’m told that I looked like I was in the exorcist. It was very painful, and the
whole neurology team had to come down and “oooh” and “ahh” at me, but they eventually determined that I had serotonin syndrome. Not only did I have serotonin syndrome (rare), but I recovered from it within 24-hours (very rare). I ended up spending another day in the hospital while my friendly nurse sang Frere Jacques to me and spent all too much time mixing a singular pill around in a medicine cup. The whole thing has been quite the experience and I would rate it a 0/10: would not recommend.
I have, however, realized how fortunate I am to have such wonderful people in my life. I feel so supported and lucky. Every single person who has reached out to me has been so appreciated.
I have a list of things that I’ve wanted to post about, and I’m hoping that I can get back into the swing of things (writing/talking have been hard). Thank you, and good night.
