On Brains

I took today off from work for my follow-up appointment. I'm pretty glad I did-I had a migraine yesterday, and this way I actually get to enjoy my day off. Well, for the most part at least--I was still rather nervous this morning and spent pretty much the entire time reading Harry Potter fanfic and avoiding getting ready. I finally dragged myself off the couch and headed off to the Heart and Lung Institute.

It caught me off guard when the nurse checking me in asked why I hadn't had an EKG at my last appointment. Not knowing I should have had, I said as much, at which point I learned that that was the procedure for people with a history of bradycardia (slow heart rate, the reason this whole shebang got started in the first place). About ten minutes and one EKG later, I was visited by Dr. Kenwood's PA, who told me that my MRI was completely normal. Yay! I didn't exactly jump for joy, but the feeling of relief, while somewhat more gradual than expected, crept over me. A few minutes later Dr. Kenwood himself came in and spoke with me for a bit. As the PFO hasn't led to any mini-strokes or any such thing (I got the impression that MRI's rarely came back clean to their office), he recommended that I talk to my doctor before I make a decision on whether or not to close it, which I plan on doing next Wednesday. I'll have a follow-up in two months with Dr. Kenwood.

Dad asked me if it was kindof like being a kid--when the other kids have a cast or something, and while you don't exactly want a broken limb, you want the attention that goes with it. I have to confess that perhaps a small part of me does feel that way. Fortunately, it's a very, very small part. While that small part has perhaps enjoyed the drama of the last couple of weeks, I'm definitely excited to stop losing sleep over it. To have a worry I can cross off my list. I've always secretly worried that I've had a tumor or something that caused so many migraines for so many years, and the last week especially added fuel to the fire, but now there is proof out there that I have a perfectly normal brain (lol well, healthy at least, even I wouldn't say I'm perfectly normal).