This is going to be a looooong one 😆 but I hope it’s worth the read and helps clear the air and helps someone else struggling with chronic pain!
When we made the decision to close the commercial location in August 2023, a lot of things factored into it, the main factor was that physically, I couldn’t do it any more. (Also, some people were jerks-see my post in the future for more details😆) I didn’t have an exact diagnosis at the time but the short version is essentially I have been experiencing wide-spread pain & migraines for oh say 20 years but the pain/numbness symptoms were getting worse & less manageable while the migraines made a shift from traditional into vestibular (if you’ve been around when one of those hit me, I’m so sorry, they are definitely terrifying to experience and watch). More symptoms than I can list but the main ones were whole body aches that were basically debilitating & dizzy spells that last for months, I lived on migraine cocktails and Aleve. Stress, weather, hormones, diet or activity changes all played a part in how I would feel for the day and most days it wasn’t good. So if wife/mom/teacher/business owner takes a day off, the next day is spent catching up on life, right? All the work is still there waiting when your back to functioning so naturally I would do everything possible when I was feeling good, overdoing it & being miserable again 🥳 viscous cycle.
I literally tried everything under the sun to help. Massage, chiro, diet change, career change (looking back photography was probably worse than hair but who’s actually counting), hot tub, inversion table, vitamins, supplements, acupuncture, the list goes on.
Ladies Night Out last year I had a horrible migraine. The show must go on, right? So naturally I do the migraine cocktail thing & “sucked it up” to the best of my ability until everything was running smoothly. I think the meds & adrenaline wore off at about the same time & everything came back all at once with a vengeance. My vision went crazy, couldn’t walk, started throwing up, was sweating hot but couldn’t stop shivering. Absolutely terrifying. Not the way I planned on spending the evening (or the 2 months of symptoms that followed) Cue my infamous Irish exit and the start of 1,000,000 appointments😂 it was scary enough to finally make me decide it was time to fix this.
✅Urgent care
✅New PCP (because the fact that I made my old one test me 7 times for limes disease never through a red flag 🚩🙄) all the bloodwork-inconclusive. Offers antidepressants and anti anxiety meds claiming it may help calm the nervous system.
✅Orthopedic spine specialist
✅Physical therapy (for the 9th time as an adult) also suggests anti-depressants, “it seems like your mood is off when your in pain” NO KIDDING!!!!!! I’M MISERABLE AND YOUR MAKING ME BOUNCE ON A BALL FOR AN HOUR. I need a dark room and answers not fluorescent gym lights & mood-altering meds to cover my discomfort ✌🏼
✅ MRI - finally a few answers!! Boarder-line for Chairi Malformation, bulge disk in lower back and a strawberry on my spinal cord (doesn’t mean anything but I think it’s cool 😂)
✅ Neurologist - wants to operate on Chiari (literally that’s brain surgery - 😳)
✅ Concussion Specialist - thinks I would benefit from treatment since my scull was basically squished up and to the right. no recent event but my symptoms were pointing to long-term concussion & there was that one time I fell off a ski lift and and blacked out and also all those times I fell off a horse with no helmet on and that one time an adult accidentally sat on my head while playing in the snow….ect, ect. Except they don’t accept insurance and the treatment is super intense and can cause things to get worse before they get better
✅ Genetic Testing - high risk for a few types of cancer
✅ Physiotherapist
✅ New Physical Therapist
✅ Genetic Counseling - just kidding, they don’t know what they are talking about. Normal cancer risk
✅ Rheumatologist - all the bloodwork. 3/4 markers for lupus, 3/4 markers for a clotting disorder. We don’t really know so we will call it Fibromyalgia 🙄
✅ Dietitian
✅ Pain Phycologist
✅ Neurosurgeon - second opinion (anti-operation)
✅ Neurosurgeon 3 - third opinion (anti-operation🥳)
✅ Headache Neurologist (pass. I already knew they were vestibular migraines & the only option was daily medication - no shame if that’s what helps you but that’s not the route I wanted to go)
✅ ENT (referred for the dizziness)
✅ CT Scan - ok, so apparently my sinuses were trash & needed repaired which COULD be a cause of the migraines. But maybe not. And it may make them worse. Scheduled for surgery.
✅ Sleep Study Recommended 🙄
So in short, I had no real reason to feel like trash. Knowing I wanted to avoid surgery I decide to try the concussion treatment. Literally desperate at this point, I just want less pain & more life please and thank you.
I finally went through with the concussion treatment in March and am FINALLY feeling better. Going into it I just thought I would feel a little tired and nauseous for a few days, I didn’t realize that my physical and mental load had to be limited for a few weeks, my taste buds changed like a lot, and I’m starving like never before (worse than normal, ok). My muscles hurt and ache in very different ways and I’m gaining feeling back in my hands, arms and ribs where there was likely from nerve damage from my scull placement being so off. I feel like I’m in a completely different body!!!! It’s so WILD!! I’m back to doing physical therapy to help build muscle the right way and adjust to the new normal of being properly aligned! Still healing and working through some things but for the first time in 20+ years, I’m finally on the right track ❤️
I’m so thankful for this whole journey & for what I’ve learned along the way but mostly I’m so happy to finally be feeling well enough to get back to doing all the things I missed and loved!!
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