# Spent last night in the ER...



## LoriS (Dec 16, 2010)

Well, damn.

Last night around 11pm I had a grand mal seizure and when I fell I apparently clipped my head against the washing machine. My hubby was home (thank God) and was able to keep me from hurting myself too bad during the seizure itself, but afterwards he couldn't wake me up for almost an hour (usually takes me only ten minutes or so to come around). When I did wake up I vomited several times and had a huge goose egg on my forehead. I don't remember much at all, but apparently I was totally out of it and incoherent. 

He got me to the ER and they stuck me six times before they finally put an IV in my neck (no veins) and I had to have a CAT scan. I have a concussion. They also had to give me an extra thousand milligrams of Dilantin because even though I take 600mg a day my level was short of therapeutic. We got home around 2am (I declined admission) and I slept about two hours before waking up from pain. My head, neck, and back are killing me right now. I feel like I have been hit by a truck and I also feel hopeless. Just hopeless. I can't keep going through these seizures but I can't stop them either. Nothing is working. I am waiting for a decision on my disability but until then I have no insurance and this is bleeding us dry. Now i have to go to my neurologist again, another $150 I don't have.

Ever feel like just plain giving up?


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## lypeaches (Dec 16, 2010)

Lori, I don't know anything about seizures, or your situation, but I just wanted to reach out and give you a virtual hug. Medical problems can be soooooo frustrating, and to have to deal with them without medical insurance just makes everything 10 times as hard. It's ok to feel bad. No doubt you have a tough situation, but please don't give up.


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## LoriS (Dec 16, 2010)

lypeaches said:


> Lori, I don't know anything about seizures, or your situation, but I just wanted to reach out and give you a virtual hug. Medical problems can be soooooo frustrating, and to have to deal with them without medical insurance just makes everything 10 times as hard. It's ok to feel bad. No doubt you have a tough situation, but please don't give up.




Thank you... I have epilepsy, and it's never going to go away and I've accepted that... I just wish I could find that "magic blend" of medicines to stop the seizures for good...


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## Paul (Dec 16, 2010)

Lori,
I hope you are starting to feel better soon. I hope your neurologist finds some medication that can eliminate or limit the seizures to a level they are manageable. My prayers are with you. Please don't give up. Keep working with the doctors to figure out a solution. Please keep us updated how you are doing, okay?


LoriS said:


> Well, damn.
> 
> Last night around 11pm I had a grand mal seizure and when I fell I apparently clipped my head against the washing machine. My hubby was home (thank God) and was able to keep me from hurting myself too bad during the seizure itself, but afterwards he couldn't wake me up for almost an hour (usually takes me only ten minutes or so to come around). When I did wake up I vomited several times and had a huge goose egg on my forehead. I don't remember much at all, but apparently I was totally out of it and incoherent.
> 
> ...


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## Miss Vickie (Dec 17, 2010)

Oh my gosh, Lori, that's just awful. I know how it feels to feel that your medical problems are insurmountable, but I want to encourage you to hang on. Let the doctors figure out how to get your levels what they need to be, and if you need to seek out a different doctor, then do that. Hopefully once your disability is covered they can retroactively cover you for this illness. I know the rules vary in each state but where I live they often do that, since it -- as you know -- can take a long time to get the paperwork through.

In the meantime, did they give you anything to take for your head and neck? I'm sure you're in a huge amount of pain from the knock on the head you got as well as the muscle spasms. Did they give you something so you can sleep? If not, can you call them and get something?

I hope you feel better soon and that things look up for you.


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## it's only me (Dec 17, 2010)

hope u feel better soon, my prayers are with u.


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## LoriS (Dec 17, 2010)

Miss Vickie said:


> Oh my gosh, Lori, that's just awful. I know how it feels to feel that your medical problems are insurmountable, but I want to encourage you to hang on. Let the doctors figure out how to get your levels what they need to be, and if you need to seek out a different doctor, then do that. Hopefully once your disability is covered they can retroactively cover you for this illness. I know the rules vary in each state but where I live they often do that, since it -- as you know -- can take a long time to get the paperwork through.
> 
> In the meantime, did they give you anything to take for your head and neck? I'm sure you're in a huge amount of pain from the knock on the head you got as well as the muscle spasms. Did they give you something so you can sleep? If not, can you call them and get something?
> 
> I hope you feel better soon and that things look up for you.




Thank you so much for your kind thoughts, everyone. I'm feeling better today but still haven't slept... well, maybe an hour at a time four or five times since the seizure.

No, they did NOT give me anything to take home... while I was in the hospital they gave me 25mg of Demerol which really helped, but when it came time for discharge, the doctors were in a trauma and so the physician's assistant discharged me, and he could not write narcotic prescriptions so he gave me one for Motrin. 

At the time my pain was pretty controlled from the demerol/phenergan so rather than wait an hour or so for a doc to be free, I went on home. Then I slept a couple hours and woke up feeling like I had been hit by a truck. I am taking six Advil at a time but still, my neck and back are totally wrenched and my head is throbbing with my heartbeats. I called my neurologist today and begged for something for pain, he is going to call me in some Lortab to help me get through it. All my muscles are so sore...


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## LoriS (Dec 17, 2010)

As far as sleep meds, I have a prescription for Ambien that my neuro gave me last month, but I can't afford to get it filled. He's worried that my seizures are aggravated by the fact that I only sleep about four hours total a night, but until my disability comes in there isn't much we can do. My husband was laid off and has been on unemployment (except during the summer when he was hired to work as a census taker) and the payments ran out last month. We're in a small town and he has applied for all jobs in a 45 mile radius (and even beyond) but the news said that employers are receiving an average of 200 applications for every open position. He's desperately trying to find something, anything, but most of the jobs listed turn out to be scams. 

I'm just sick of feeling like I am running up a down escalator.


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## Fat Brian (Dec 17, 2010)

There is a generic form of Ambien called Zolipdem, my wife takes it and has for years. It costs about two bucks a pill without insurance but most cover it since its generic. It is not the CR kind and comes in a 5 and 10 mg dose. If you were prescribed the CR kind call and ask for the regular.


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## LoriS (Dec 17, 2010)

Fat Brian said:


> There is a generic form of Ambien called Zolipdem, my wife takes it and has for years. It costs about two bucks a pill without insurance but most cover it since its generic. It is not the CR kind and comes in a 5 and 10 mg dose. If you were prescribed the CR kind call and ask for the regular.



I would if I had insurance, believe me :blush:


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## LoriS (Dec 17, 2010)

Well, still in pain and mad at my neurologist's office... 

I called yesterday and begged for something for pain. I called around 9am. His nurse told me she would check with him and call me back but it might take a while to get back to me. So I gritted my teeth, stayed on a heating pad, and by 4pm still no word. I used to work as a nurse, so I tend to give the benefit of the doubt and I figured it had been a busy day. So finally at 4pm I call, and I get the answering service- they had closed early. And no one had gotten back to me. I hardly slept at all last night. This morning, the nurse called at 8:30am and apologized for not calling me back, and told me that the doc had approved some lortab and where do I want it called in. I told her Walgreens, and thanked her profusely. She told me it would be a little while before she could call it in because they had a bunch of people waiting. I'm thinking "how long can it take to call it in?" but I don't want to seem ungrateful, so I thank her and say goodbye. ALL DAY I called Walgreens, nothing called in. At 3pm I call back, just wanting to remind them...

I get the answering service. They only work until noon on Fridays. Apparently I was forgotten again. That means this weekend I am on my own and just have to get through the pain and stiffness. My forehead is bruised from my hairline to my eyebrows, and I hurt all over. The bad thing is, as upset as I am, I feel like I don't have the right to complain about it because the neuro was doing it as a favor anyway- but I depended on him. By Monday I won't need the pain medicine. And I don't know if I have the right to be mad or not...


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## Fat Brian (Dec 17, 2010)

I'm sorry your doc forgot about you, sometimes when this happens its the staff though.

My insurance doesn't pay for a whole months supply of Zolipdem, I end up having to pay for half the month out of pocket. I swear its worth it, even without insurance.


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## Cynthia (Dec 18, 2010)

LoriS said:


> I would if I had insurance, believe me :blush:



Lori, these links may be helpful:

*Cover the Uninsured* has information on resources for people who lack health insurance. 

Click here for patient info: Cover the Uninsured - Patient Resources

*RX Assist* is a database of patient assistance programs that offer pharmaceutical discounts and short-term corporate medication donations. 

Click here for the patient help section: Patient Help
Click here to see sample search results for Ambien/Zolpidem: Ambien / Zolpidem Search Results


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## LoriS (Dec 18, 2010)

Cynthia said:


> Lori, these links may be helpful:
> 
> *Cover the Uninsured* has information on resources for people who lack health insurance.
> 
> ...




Thank you! I'm checking it out right now...


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## LoriS (Dec 19, 2010)

OK, still hanging in there.

The bruise is fading a bit, but I still can't raise my eyebrow on that side. I actually slept like four hours straight last night, I wrapped the heating pad up around a neck supporter pillow (one like for when you travel) and it helped relieve the neck strain enough to sleep. Boy, what I would pay for a muscle relaxer right now!

My husband is talking to an old friend of his about the two of them meeting at his aunt's property for an overnight hunting trip. I hate hunting, and I told him I don't want to go. He insists that if I don't go, he can't go because I can't stay here alone. 

I can so stay here alone! I've had a seizure alone before, and since that's like the worst case scenario, what's the big deal??? I hate feeling like a damn anchor.


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