Medical Update and Swine Flu

Well, for the past couple weeks my hands and feet have been going numb [my mom and I are guessing it's a side effect of the Topamax]. On Saturday I got up to taking 3 pills a day. Then in class on monday while I was in class I felt like I had a piece of hair on my mouth. I kept trying to wipe it away. I realized that I wasn't a hair but rather my nose and mouth had begun to go numb too. When I got in the car I saw that my face was tinted green exactly where it was numb the same way my hands and feet had been doing it. It kept coming and going. The numbness would last from minutes to hours. I was getting freaked out about what would happen if it reached my throat as it was getting so close. 

It got so bad that I stayed home from my classes for the next two days.

My mom was gone the next day so I called the neurologist [of course mine was gone for the week] and after numerous calls back and forth they unclearly said to either stop it or decrease the amount. I decided to decrease the amount in hopes that I wouldn't have to start from scratch again. I went down to taking 2 pills on Monday. 

I was in extreme pain from the decrease in medication. My headache felt like it had suddenly come back full force and brought along a lovely wave of nausea.

We finally got in to see my primary doctor yesterday who took me off the Topomax completely. She also took me off the Naprosyn and Composine and allowed me to go back to my Phennergan instead which in the past has been the only thing that has worked for my nausea. She looked back in m neurologist's notes and followed in his next plan of action in the case of Topomax not working. I'm also seeing him on Tuesday so he can change anything he feels is nessisary. So now I'm on Tegretol for the time being.  Well, at least until Tuesday. Hopefully it will help ease me into being able to function again. Keep your fingers crossed!

So when I went to the doctor yesterday I was amazed by all of the Swine Flu stuff! The minute you walked in the building you saw this sandwich board!

And everywhere I turned I saw these bright yellow signs! I'm talking everywhere!

So my doctor is right next to where they were sending all the people with flu symptoms. Every so often I'd see someone walk by with a blue face mask and notice it but when I turned the corner, an entire FOURTH of one of the buildings had been devoted solely to people who thought they had swine flu and were there to get checked. Let me just say that I was not prepared to see such a swarming sea of blue masks. Such a large space, packed with people, so many that many had to stand. People looked worried and many had an arm draped over another. 

When I noticed as I left that the it was two elderly people at the information desk that were giving out most of the masks [and I watched them give out a few] I asked how they were doing. The woman said her hands were blistering from using so much anti bacterial foam. As she handed out masks all she could say to the people who thought they were sick was "make sure to wash your hands often!" 

Definitely an interesting experience.