Some of you have noticed that I have not been writing for a couple of months because you have sent me messages asking if I was okay. Thank you very much for checking on me. It’s humbling to know there are people that I don’t even know who care about me and lift me up in their prayers. Thank you.
It’s been about two months since I last wrote. During that time, I have been in the emergency department three times for abdominal migraine attacks that I could not control at home. I started having attacks of severe abdominal pain in February. Initially, the ED staff thought it was appendicitis, but that was ruled out on CT. The next time it occurred in March, they thought maybe I had an intestinal infection because they could see two areas of thickening on the CT and my white blood cells were elevated. I was given a course of antibiotics and an anti-fungal (to be on the safe side) and survived the additional trauma of a two-week encounter with their side effects. I was feeling pretty good about things when in May it happened again, and the ED doctors said they didn’t have a clue what was going on; I should see a gastroenterologist.
It took a while to get a specialist appointment, but I saw someone around the first of June. Five minutes into my visit, he said, “You have abdominal migraines.” What in the world is that? I thought to myself. He went on to explain that they are similar to headache migraines in that they have the same mechanism of action.
- There is usually an aura (Yep, I had that),
- they come on and get progressively worse and
- then go away with or without treatment (that seemed to be true), and
- between episodes, everything was perfectly normal (Yep, that was true, too).
Abdominal migraines usually affect children but can affect adults who have chronic migraines as well (that was me). Great, I now had a diagnosis and a series of medications to try when I had an attack. What I have found so far though is that the medicines are either not strong enough or I’m waiting too long to take them. As with every new diagnosis, there is always a learning curve required before you find the right treatment plan.
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When I was my late husband’s caregiver, I often wondered what would happen if I became ill. This is mentioned in my new memoir, My Ideal Partner: How I Met, Married, and Cared for the Man I Loved Despite Debilitating Odds, available in various print and eBook formats from CreateSpace, Amazon, and Smashwords. For more information, visit http://www.abbiejohnsontaylor.com/memoir.htm . I never had such a support system, but I’m glad you do.