Virus....???

Virus - A term used by doctors to mean your guess is as good as mine! This was on a card sent to me by my Colorado Family after my June 26 attack. For those of you who have not got the run down on my illness her it is:

June 26, 2006 (Which also happened to be my little Eric's 2nd birthday that we have yet to have a party for) I went to the doctor because I had had a migraine the day before and had not been feeling well the entire week and thought I should just be checked out. I have not had a migraine in about 10 years and I was taking naps which is something I never do. So, I go to this doctor that I have never been to before because ~to get into my regular doctor was a three week wait ~and he turns out to be a doctor who does chiropractic adjustments in addition to the regular doctor stuff. Fine, whatever, just make the pain in my neck go away and get me back to my normal self. So, he checks me all out and says I have a stiff neck and gives me an adjustment and sends me on my way to go pick up some medicine. I leave the office and head to Walmart which is about 5 minutes away to get the medicine. As soon as I was in Walmart I started to feel different and started to see swirling rainbow like circles in my line of vision. Then I start to get hot. I tell the pharmacists my name and inform him I feel like I am going to pass out. I also tell him I just called my husband to come and pick me up because I am really starting to feel sick and don't think I can drive home. Well, I go and sit on the bench in front of the pharmacy and hold on to the grocery cart for dear life. By this time people were starting to notice me because I was sweating buckets and looking really bad. Some nice lady buying dog food asked if I was alone and I said yes so she decided to sit with me until Mike got there. Then I started to throw up, sweat more and was just about ready to blackout when it really felt like fire was coming out of my eyes! I can't explain it really well but first this fire feeling hit my left eye and then my right. It hurt so bad! Then my left ear made some strange sound and went deaf. And then it started to sound like a fly was in it buzzing around. At the same time my body went limp and I could not hold my self up and the sweat and throw up just kept coming. (I was the highlight of the night for the Walmart shoppers!) By this time an ambulance had been called and Mike and Matt ( Matt came with Mike because they thought they were just coming to pick me up and needed two drivers to take home my car and Mike's car) had arrived at the store. It took both Mike and Matt to hold me up. They said my speech was slurred and I was leaning all the way to the left. My neck would not straighten up and I could not open my eyes because if I did everything was spinning around and upside down. The ambulance got there and they loaded me up and took me to the hospital where I stayed for 8 days. I was in the ER for over 27 hours while they ran every brain scan they could think of on me and blood test. I had 2 MRI's one MRA - this is when they put the dye in your brain and scan it, CT scan, doppler carotid (sp?) readings of my veins, spinal tap, and about 100 blood test. Everything came back normal! Through all of this I could hear what was going on but it was very hard for me to reply. It was just to much work to form a word. I still could not open my eyes, feed my self, move, nothing! I was just there spinning and seeing doubles if I did try and open my eyes. I was finally admitted into the hospital where they continued to run tests and really be stumped by my condition. I think it was on day five while my cousin Krystin and her husband and my Aunt Anita and Uncle Carl were there that I saw with single vision for a short amount of time. Anyway, the doctor who was assigned to me requested to have an ENT and neurologist see me. They both refused! They said my scans were clean so what were the supposed to do? Oh, and the neurologist was playing golf and was not going to come in on the weekend to see me if there was nothing he could do! What fine caring doctors we have here in the Land of Enchantment! So my family had to arrange for me to see an ENT dependently. To get me to the appointment we had to get an ambulance to take me all the way to the ENT's office which was on the west side of town. This is about a 30 minute drive. That was tons of fun! NOT! This ENT thinks I have Labyrinthitis which is a virus of the inner ear. He says I need bed rest until I feel better and there is nothing else he can do. So I am loaded back up into the ambulance and taken back to the hospital. Before seeing the ENT my family was trying to get me into a rehab facility so I cold learn how to care for myself again and to regain my strength. Well, my insurance denied this and said I could go to an old folks home instead because it was cheaper!!!!! Can you believe this! So on day 8 the hospital says I can no longer be there because there is no reason for me to be there. I still can't dress myself, shower, or be left alone but I am getting kicked out because all my vitals are normal. By this time my family really worried because they have no idea how they are going to care for me. What happened was I was brought home and but on bed rest. If I wanted to try and walk I had to use a walker or I would fall down. If I had to leave the house I had to be put in a wheel chair. My Mom kept the boys at her house and on weekends my Sister had them. Mike was stuck babysitting me. Thankfully he can work from home and I slept a lot. I think we did this for about 2 weeks. By this time I was really missing my boys and wanted them home with me so now my Mom or sister come everyday in the morning to stay with us. I had a follow up appointment on July 22 with a neurologist at UNM hospital and after hearing my story decides that I have had some type of stroke and admits me into the University hospital for more testing! I went for a doctor appointment and ended up staying! They run a more sensitive test with the dye in my brain and that comes back clean and normal. I was there for two days and one night and was seen by at least 5 neurologists and everyone of them did a very good work up on me. If you have brain problems UNM is the place to go! While I was there I was seen by a leading headache specialist and she says I was hit with a basler migraine, cervicogenic muscle spasms and labyrinthitis all at the same time. She sends me home on four different drugs that make you sleepy and depressed. Well, guess what. That is just what happened. I slept like 18 hours a day and was getting depressed and then my face started to swell! I had an allergic reaction to one of the drugs. I had had it by this point. I called the neurologist and told him I was swelling up and sleeping all the time and that I wanted to stop taking all the drugs. So that is where I am now. I am not taking any medicine and I am seeing a counselor. That has helped the most so far. Next week I have two or three more doctors appointments. I am still weak, I can't drive, I get tired really easy, I shake, and I can't take care of the boys by myself. All the doctors keep saying is it takes time to get back to normal. In the mean time my family has been taking care of me and the boys full time. I do feel like I am getting better. I just wish I could speed up the healing process!