Girlie AGDee's College Search Thread

[KDCat]

Oh, good. I'm glad it was relatively benign and that they're helping her.

I would have been a mess if it were my kid.

[Beryana]

Originally Posted by AGDee

We just got off the phone. She's had a busy day... neuro ophthalmologist appointment followed by blood work, then back to campus to meet with disability services and health services again, then went for an MRI, then to the pharmacy to drop off prescriptions and back to the MRI place to get a CD of her images. She liked the doctor she saw today a lot. I looked him up and he's got a very good reputation with lots of research in his field. She said he listed off her symptoms before she could tell him and he's pretty sure the increased intracranial pressure is due to the most benign cause of all the possibilities. She starts some meds tomorrow and the doctor will be calling her. She may need a spinal tap so they can measure the pressure and perhaps relieve some of it.

She's in much better spirits, feeling validated and like people are doing something to help her, so that's a big plus. I teased her that she went to a smart kid school and they filled up her brain with too much information too fast and she laughed at that. It is good to hear her laugh. Hopefully the prescription she picks up tomorrow gives her some relief quickly.

As someone who has been through all this twice in the US and now again in the UK (kept coming back over the past 5 years) - if is is on the same meds I'm on, they should help. The spinal tap will help out IMMEDIATELY but the day after is HORRID when the spinal fluid builds back up again! My optometrist was the first to diagnose and then the neurologist sent me to the ophthalmologist after the MRI and spinal tap came back clear.

[IndianaSigKap]

Glad to hear that her spirits are up and she has an idea of what's wrong.

[AGDee]

The MRI came back clear so I just posted this on her Twitter:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OaTO8_KNcuo

She will have a spinal tap next week which will provide some more relief, but she has been lifted from cognitive rest and put on meds to inhibit cerbralspinal fluid production to help alleviate the pressure.

Now she has a TON of homework to catch up on.

[FSUZeta]

Bless her (and your heart). How wonderful that the healthcare providers seem to be on the right path and that Hypo seems happier-I know that brings some relief to you.

[Sciencewoman]

Hugs to Hypo!!

[AGDee]

I'm going to New York to be there with her for the spinal tap on Monday. I'll be driving Sunday, staying in her dorm Sunday night and Monday night, then driving back home Tuesday. They said she had to have someone with her. Her roommate said she might be able to do it. She was going to ask sorority sisters if not. I offered to come and the relief in her voice was evident. She needs some mothering.

[Mizeree I2K]

Originally Posted by AGDee

I'm going to New York to be there with her for the spinal tap on Monday. I'll be driving Sunday, staying in her dorm Sunday night and Monday night, then driving back home Tuesday. They said she had to have someone with her. Her roommate said she might be able to do it. She was going to ask sorority sisters if not. I offered to come and the relief in her voice was evident. She needs some mothering.

Did she join the same sorority you joined?

[AlwaysSAI]

Originally Posted by AGDee

I'm going to New York to be there with her for the spinal tap on Monday. I'll be driving Sunday, staying in her dorm Sunday night and Monday night, then driving back home Tuesday. They said she had to have someone with her. Her roommate said she might be able to do it. She was going to ask sorority sisters if not. I offered to come and the relief in her voice was evident. She needs some mothering.

Best of luck, Dee! Safe travels to NYC. As a 21 year old college student, I woke up from oral surgery begging for my momma. A momma's hug cannot be replicated! It will do Hypo good to get some genuine mothering!

I will be thinking of you and Hypo!

Originally Posted by Mizeree I2K

Did she join the same sorority you joined?

No. AGDee = Alpha Gamma Delta & Hypo = Alpha Chi Omega

[amIblue?]

Originally Posted by AGDee

I'm going to New York to be there with her for the spinal tap on Monday. I'll be driving Sunday, staying in her dorm Sunday night and Monday night, then driving back home Tuesday. They said she had to have someone with her. Her roommate said she might be able to do it. She was going to ask sorority sisters if not. I offered to come and the relief in her voice was evident. She needs some mothering.

Yes, a girl definitely needs her mom! Hope everything goes well and that she is better soon!

[AOII Angel]

So glad that Hypo had a caring physician who didn't take a simple answer for her symptoms. ERs are notorious for turfing people without doing an appropriate evaluation...they are too busy with all the inappropriate visits forced upon them with the way our health care system works. The story of her doctor sitting outside her dorm waiting for her makes me proud to be a physician. I hope the meds are improving Hypo's symptoms...the spinal tap should really help. Poor baby. I bet her head was hurting!

[AZTheta]

Thank you, Dee, for sharing with us. FWIW, I will continue to keep Hypo wrapped in light and prayer. Having an answer is huge (and it is "all in her head" - you can tell her that I said that as a joke, please. I know there's more to it, and I'm just being a little silly in relief). Praying also for the doctors to take the best care of her, and for safe travels for you.

[AGDee]

It is my understanding that she's on a medication that reduces how much CSF she makes. She said she is feeling less pressure in her head already, so hopefully she won't get a huge rebound like that after the spinal tap.

[Beryana]

Originally Posted by AGDee

It is my understanding that she's on a medication that reduces how much CSF she makes. She said she is feeling less pressure in her head already, so hopefully she won't get a huge rebound like that after the spinal tap.

The medication I'm on is a diuretic (Diamox/acetazolamide) - so it doesn't necessarily control how much spinal fluid is produced or absorbed, sort of. But it does relieve the pressure as it limits all your fluids. But then again, she could have something completely different from intracranial hypertension pseudo-tumor cerebri which is what I have. I also was not put on any medication until AFTER my spinal tap so I was at the full 4 times normal amounts when I had my spinal tap - they needed to rule a lot of things out before prescribing.

[AlwaysSAI]

Fixed. Disregard.