Again, I don't know why that wall looks SO green in pictures... totally gross! But, still better than the pink
Thursday, March 24, 2011
The End
I am reporting to you live from the living room of a lady who is officially done with 3:00 AM alarm clock settings, 14 hour days, and uncomfortable, totally unattractive blue and white scrubs!! Yes folks that's right, nursing program clinical hours are officially completed! Hallelujah! ...I could get used to this
Sunday, March 20, 2011
Medical Discoveries
Winter always brings the coolest stuff; sledding, skiing, snow balls, caroling, hot chocolate and fuzzy pajamas! Unfortunately it also usually brings a few unwanted tag-alongs; sneezing, coughing, running noses and the fevers. Winter illness is always such a treat. This snowy season however I have been lucky enough to discover a new brand of physiologic abnormality. The victim: my ear!
For the past couple weeks I have had these awful ear pains. And (although I wish we were) we're not talking just aches, but super sharp stabbing-like things shooting in my inner ear and down my neck. Totally unpleasant + completely unpredictable = one unhappy, on edge woman. At first it was just every once in a while, but by Friday I was really struggling.
So, for the love of a wife who was in pain and miserable, Tim jumped online to see what he could see. After a bit of reading and symptom comparing we decided it could be A: a tumor, or B: trigeminal neuralgia... we had never heard of it either. But thanks to the online medical dictionary we quickly became educated.
Trigeminal Neuralgia (TN): a neuropathic disorder characterized by episodes of intense pain in the face, originating from the trigeminal (fifth cranial) nerve. It occurs when pressure is placed on the nerve and has been described as among the most painful conditions known.
We were hoping for option B over A, obviously. We of course sought a professional opinion and wouldn't you know Tim's diagnosis was right. One of my professors is an ear nose and throat doctor and he said that TN can often affect young adults vulnerable to miner illness, totally likely given my track record. The nurse practitioner at the health clinic said I probably had some fluid build up in my inner ear from an old cold or viral infection that was putting pressure on the acoustic portion of the nerve. She gave me some sudafed and as of today (just over a week later) I am totally pain free! Such a relief. We can now lock this away in my random odd illness archive and cross our fingers that we never ever EVER have to pull this file again!
(Happy side note: this unfortunate happening gave me a pleasant advantage when Trigeminal Neuralgia showed up on my nursing exam the next week... blessing in painful disguise I guess)
For the past couple weeks I have had these awful ear pains. And (although I wish we were) we're not talking just aches, but super sharp stabbing-like things shooting in my inner ear and down my neck. Totally unpleasant + completely unpredictable = one unhappy, on edge woman. At first it was just every once in a while, but by Friday I was really struggling.
So, for the love of a wife who was in pain and miserable, Tim jumped online to see what he could see. After a bit of reading and symptom comparing we decided it could be A: a tumor, or B: trigeminal neuralgia... we had never heard of it either. But thanks to the online medical dictionary we quickly became educated.
Trigeminal Neuralgia (TN): a neuropathic disorder characterized by episodes of intense pain in the face, originating from the trigeminal (fifth cranial) nerve. It occurs when pressure is placed on the nerve and has been described as among the most painful conditions known.
We were hoping for option B over A, obviously. We of course sought a professional opinion and wouldn't you know Tim's diagnosis was right. One of my professors is an ear nose and throat doctor and he said that TN can often affect young adults vulnerable to miner illness, totally likely given my track record. The nurse practitioner at the health clinic said I probably had some fluid build up in my inner ear from an old cold or viral infection that was putting pressure on the acoustic portion of the nerve. She gave me some sudafed and as of today (just over a week later) I am totally pain free! Such a relief. We can now lock this away in my random odd illness archive and cross our fingers that we never ever EVER have to pull this file again!
(Happy side note: this unfortunate happening gave me a pleasant advantage when Trigeminal Neuralgia showed up on my nursing exam the next week... blessing in painful disguise I guess)
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