Over the last year, I have dealt with morning headaches on a periodic basis. These headaches come up my neck and wrap around my head. They made me feel nauseous and were often bad enough that once I felt them coming on, I would look at my wife and tell her I was going back to bed. Twenty to thirty minutes of sleep later, the headache typically had dulled enough that I could function. I worked with my nurse practitioner to try to find a cause. I even kept a sleep journal for a while. But we have to date been unable to find a likely cause. You might ask, "So, what? Why are you writing about this?" Because everything ramped up late last week. The ramp has been steep and fast.
I was at an appointment Thursday morning with my nurse practitioner, who is our primary care provider. She is wonderful. She truly cares about her patients. You never feel hurried in an appointment with Elizabeth. It was a follow-up on sleep issues I have dealt with for decades - restless legs, periodic limb movement disorder and more recently sleep apnea, which I am sure went un-diagnosed for most of that time. Earlier that morning, I had another headache. I was up before 7 am, opened the sliding glass doors to the lanai, got myself some tea plus some ice water and sat out on the lanai with my Bible, my journal and my phone. A good start to the morning. Then around 8 am, I walked inside to make myself some breakfast. I could feel a headache coming on. Kim noticed and asked what was going on. I told her I could feel a headache coming on. But I just closed my eyes, circled my neck a few times slowly and made my breakfast. Fifteen minutes later, she was up to the neighborhood pickleball court for some open play with women from the neighborhood. Sunday, Monday, Wednesday and Friday are open to both men and women when we typically play mixed doubles often filling all four courts with a few others waiting. Thursday mornings though are reserved for women. Not long after she left, I texted her to let her know I had laid down for a nap to hopefully head off the headache before driving to my 9:30 appointment. I was up before 9 and drove to the appointment. Just before arriving at the office - two turns away, the headache started coming back. The southwest Florida sunlight bothered me as did the worship music playing in my convertible. First I turned down the volume. Then I turned off the music altogether. Soon a small delivery truck pulled up next to me. I welcomed the shade it provided. A few minutes into my appointment, the headache flared up. Elizabeth noticed and asked me if I was not feeling well. I said no. Soon I was lying on the exam table. My heart rate was in the mid-40s. Normal range is 60-100 bpm. I was sweating. She noted that my eyes were fluttering. While I was alert the whole time, this was far beyond anywhere these headaches had ever gone. Elizabeth told me she could not let me drive home. She recommended I go straight to the ER, either calling 911 and getting EMS there or calling my wife to come get me and drive me there. She made it clear the first option was more prudent. I of course agreed. She put her hand on my shoulder and prayed for me. Did I mention she loves Jesus too?
I will move faster through the story now. I was taken to Physicians Regional - Pine Ridge Hospital in Naples, where I experienced chest pains in the ER. They took chest x-rays, ran an EKG and took me for a CAT scan of the brain. I was moved to an observation room and kept overnight. Several tests followed over the next few days including an echo-cardiogram - amazing technology - and a stress test. I experienced chest pains several times over those couple days. I was given morphine for it a few times mostly to help me sleep it. My heart rate, oxygen and blood pressure were monitored constantly. My heart rate again regularly dropped into the 40s - a condition known as bradycardia - and even into the high to mid-30s sometimes at night. Perhaps the scariest moment was when I experienced chest pains in the minutes after the second half of the stress test getting my heart rate up to the target of 136 bpm and keeping it there for a minute. I felt fine on the treadmill. But during recovery a few minutes after stepping off the treadmill, I experienced chest pains, much more intense this time. There were a few tense minutes as the nurse in the stress lab dealt with a new procedure that does not allow her to give a patient nitroglycerin without a doctor's approval. Soon I heard "Rapid Response Team to the Stress Lab" over the hospital PA system knowing that was for me. Before long, although a bit too long for my liking a doctor was there and quickly approved the nurse giving me a nitroglycerin tablet to dissolve under my tongue. Let me assure you if you have never experienced this - and I pray you do not have to experience it - it works wonders. Who thought of that? Whoever it was, I am grateful. It worked immediately.
Later that day, the cardiologist informed us that the post treadmill session scan showed no ischemia or any other abnormalities. I did not have a heart attack. However, one thing that greatly concerns her and the ER doctor is family history. My younger brother, Tom, died suddenly in May 1984 at University Hospital in Madison. He, Kim and I were all on campus together. It was the day before finals second semester my senior year and their sophomore year. Just like that, he was gone. The autopsy mailed to my parents' home in Racine showed the cause of death as "natural causes" for an otherwise healthy and athletic 19-1/2 year old male. You should have seen the face of each doctor as Kim and I recounted the story to them. The cardiologist wondered if it could have been a sudden cardiac event and immediately wondered what that could mean for me.
Meanwhile the headaches continued. My answer in the hospital was to sleep. Finally, on Sunday morning I was discharged with all tests showing no abnormalities, a result one would normally be thrilled with. Yet that left us with no answers. I was advised to follow up with a neurologist for the headaches and with the cardiologist for the chest pain and to get a genetic test given Tom's death.
Sunday was a take-it-easy at home day. I watched some football sitting out on the lanai. Kim and I even took a short walk in the neighborhood. Monday was not so kind. The headaches were back. The afternoon had me lying in bed alternating between sleep and watching some TV. My nurse practitioner checked in later in the afternoon after an earlier check in around 11:30. In the first call, she could tell from my voice that the headache was back. In the second call, I asked her to talk to Kim because my head hurt so much. She urged us to go back to an ER. So we spent four hours in another ER that evening. This time the headache was accompanied by chest pains then seizure-like muscle convulsions. It felt like I was losing control of my body. They gave me a cocktail of drugs that took the headache down from close to a 10 to a 3. We were released and headed home but this time with a prescription for something stronger for the headaches.
Yesterday was tough as I again spent much of the day either sleeping or lying in bed with my head propped up on pillows watching TV. (By the way, I highly recommend "After Life" by executive producer Thomas Q. Jones on Prime Video, especially if you are an NFL fan or enjoy good storytelling.) That brings us to today when we will go see a neurologist. Tomorrow is the cardiologist. I expect the cardiologist to run a cardiac MRI, a genetic test and to have me wear a halter heart monitor for several weeks. I do not know what to expect from the neurologist.
That brings me to the ultimate reason for posting this to my blog. While I want to keep all of you who have so lovingly checked in on us, offered help and prayer updated - and hopefully this quickly written post does that - I write to ask for prayer. Please pray for clarity from these visits and the tests. We desperately want answers, whatever they may be. I was going to say "need answers." But all we need is Jesus. He is more than enough. Thank you for walking with us. Thank you for caring for us. I pray this whole trial will be glorifying to our great God. May he give us strength and we respond to make it so.
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