Friday, January 29, 2010

FRIDAY FAST ONES

1.) I have started a new blog about my "Diet Again - 2010".  Enough said on that subject except that being able to throw a couple of meals into my purse in two seconds flat was very helpful when it came to...

2.)  Spent the day in the ER with Ally on Thursday.  When I woke her up in the morning she was speaking nonsense so I thought she was talking in her sleep.  She put her hands to her head and said a bunch of words that didn't go together and when I asked her questions she looked at me like she couldn't understand me. 


I RAN TO THE PHONE. 


While I was on the phone with Kaiser she came down the stairs and tried to participate in the questions the nurse had - she had improved a bit in her ability to understand and could show where her headache was.  We ended up calling 911.  The 7 EMT's who crowded into our livingroom evaluated her and determined it was not a stroke.


3.)  After seven hours in the ER, a CT and other tests (but short of a lumbar puncture) it was diagnosed as a migraine.  I was not aware that  aphasia was a side effect for some migraine sufferers.  This was her first migraine. 


4.)  One moment of levity at the hospital came when an aide came into the room to put the hospital bracelet on Ally.  The nurse was trying to put it on and the aide, a Vietnamese woman, was saying "Is it defective?  I'll get another one."  The nurse was saying yes it wouldn't stay on.  The aide said "Defective.  Probably from China!" in this lilting  accent - everyone cracked up.


5.)  When Ally was feeling better I told her I was worried and taking this all very seriously not just because the doctors and nurses and para-medics and everyone was so worried, but because she came down the stairs and left the house without her phone.


The true sign of serious illness in a teen.   JK  (Just Kidding)

6 comments:

smalltownme said...

How scary for you and your daughter.

shrink on the couch said...

Yikes. What a day you had! Glad it's "only" migraines. I take it this was her first migraine?

Barb Matijevich said...

How incredibly frightening! My daughter Ana (11) has just started having migraines, too. It's terrible--I had hoped this curse would skip a generation!

Anonymous said...

Oh my gosh, how scary. I am so sorry that you had such a stressful day.

A friend of mine's daughter is 12 and had her first migraine last month. The first symptom was temporary blindness, so you can imagine how freaked everyone was.

Migraines run in my family, so I'm glad you shared this story so I can remember if one of my girls ever does something similar.

jenn said...

That sounds terrifying. I'm so glad everything is OK. And, yes, going anywhere without a cellphone is a true warning sign for a teen! :)

Nan said...

Yikes. I didn't know migraines could cause aphasia.