End of Month Totals (November) + Aseptic Meningitis

So…here are my November totals:

6 – Blood Draws

5 – Doctor’s Appointments

5 – IVIG Infusions (+ 1 cancelled IVIG Infusion)

1 – Ultrasound

0 - Hospital Admissions 

Leland: 
1 – Urgent Care Visit 

Robert: 
1 – Urgent Care Visit 

Overall I think November was a pretty “light” month medically. Though health wise it has been hard. I started having a severe headache the Sunday prior to Thanksgiving. Like worst headache of my life bad.

At first I thought it was a sinus headache and saw my doctor who treated me for another sinus infection. When the headache continued to get worse I started to worry about my blood pressure. I began monitoring it on Tuesday (prior to Thanksgiving) and was getting readings in the 130’s / 80’s – not too high, but a tad high for me. Wednesday when I went in for my infusion my blood pressure was 142/90. Again not off the chart, but questionably high.

So while the infusion center was running my pre-infusion labs I walked over to my OB / MFM office to touch base about my blood pressure and headache. They took my urine, told me to have the infusion nurses monitor my blood pressure throughout the day and to check back in that afternoon after my infusion.

My blood pressure improved throughout the day (several 110’s / 70’s readings). There was no protein in my urine. My blood work looked great. So the good news was – no pre-eclampsia! So why the debilitating headache….

Aseptic Meningitis

Basically, meningitis is the inflammation of the meninges. Typically you hear of bacterial meningitis (very scary – can kill you in hours or days) or viral meningitis (serious, but not as scary as bacterial). Aseptic means non-infections; so basically Aspetic Meningitis is “inflammation of the meninges without an infection.” And, it’s a common side effect of the IVIG. It comes with all the unpleasant – seriously painful - symptoms of meningitis, but low risk of long term problems. Making things more unpleasant, I have had to stay off of all pain medication, etc. including Tylenol to prevent the risk of masking a fever. It would be very important to identify a fever quickly because that could indicate an actual infection.

My doctor offered to admit me to the hospital for monitoring, but really the only thing to do is wait it out. That and stop the IVIG, which is just not an option in my case. I declined being admitted and have just stayed in regular contact with my doctor. I logic I can be in pain at home with my family just as well as in the hospital and I can do my own monitoring (multiple blood pressure and temperature readings each day). Plus I have discovered that it hurts the same if I am resting or getting things done in moderation.

I am at day 10 with this headache. I have seen a slight improvement, but it still hurts a lot. Please join me in praying for healing - that the headache goes away quickly and does not come back. And that I can keep focused on God’s blessing of the continued growth and health of my girls.