Neurological Center for Pain Archives

I want to share some good news

I've been living at my grandmother's nursing home for the last couple of days. My brain is completely fried, and I'm exhausted beyond belief. While I was here yesterday, Lizze got word back from her neurologist about the results of her recent MRI that was done on her brain. Her doctor contacted her to let her know that everything was normal, and there's no physical abnormalities in her brain. That means no tumors and the cysts aren't an issue either. That's obviously a relief but also frustrating at the same time. She's in so much pain all the time, and part of her would have almost been relieved if something had been discovered because then at least we knew the cause of her pain. That being said we're very grateful…

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June 14, 2019

Cleveland Clinic / Lizze / Migraines / My thoughts / Neurological Center for Pain

What happened at the @ClevelandClinic last week?

I just realized I neglected to mention how Lizze's appointment with the Neurological Center for Pain at the Cleveland Clinic went. For starters, the staff was absolutely amazing. Not that it's a surprise, but it really is important to note that because we've had some truly awful experiences with other medical facilities in the past. The Cleveland Clinic, however, never disappoints. Anyway, as I had previously mentioned, Lizze needed to decide how to proceed with her migraine medication called Aimovig. Aimovig is a once a month autoinjector that is designed to help prevent migraines by blocking a protein thought to trigger migraines. Lizze has been on the lowest dose for about four months now (I believe) and she hasn't really noticed any improvement. If she didn't have use of her…

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May 20, 2019

Cleveland Clinic / Lizze / Migraines / My thoughts / Neurological Center for Pain

Is this the whitest building ever?

We've made it to the illustrious Neurological Center for Pain at the always amazing Cleveland Clinic. If you ever visit here, you find yourself in the whitest building ever. Literally, everything is white. The walls, ceiling, floors, doors, cabinets, etc. It makes everything very bright. There's a specific reason for this, and it's related to their IMATCH program. I will say that it's a bit overwhelming for me, and I don't suffer from anything that could be triggered by this. Anyway, we're currently tucked away in our usual room and waiting to be seen. Her nurse today was awesome, and we really appreciate how much fun she was to work with. I don't think we've ever had a negative experience at he Cleveland Clinic. The doctor should be in shortly…

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May 17, 2019

Cleveland Clinic / Lizze / Migraines / My thoughts / Neurological Center for Pain

My wife has a difficult decision to make today

The boys got off to school in a good mood. I've got to say that was a significant accomplishment, and I definitely needed my walk this morning because I was frazzled. I will be spending the afternoon at the Cleveland Clinic with my amazing wife. She has a follow-up with her neurologist at the Neurological Center for Pain. This is in regards to her chronic migraines. Today we will decide what to do with her new migraine medication, Aimovig. She's been on it for several months now, and it doesn't seem to be doing anything. The standard approach to this is to double the dose if it's not working after a few months. Lizze is concerned that she's muddied the water because of her medical marijuana usage. I disagree because…

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May 17, 2019

Cleveland Clinic / Headache Infusions / My thoughts / Neurological Center for Pain

Why we almost didn’t make it to the @ClevelandClinic today

I'm absolutely exhausted but I wanted to deliver a super quick and dirty update. Lizze had her 3rd headache infusion at the Cleveland Clinic today. We almost didn't make it because traffic was absolutely insane. When I say insane I mean insane. It was literally bumper to bumper traffic for 68 fucking miles. It took 2.5 hours to make a 1-hour drive. We were quite late but we called ahead to let them know what was going on and they told us not to worry. Once we arrived, they took her back and got her hooked up. There were zero issues beyond us being late and she walked out of the hospital today with her migraine at a 6.5 out of 10. In the last 7 or 8 years, her…

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February 14, 2019

Cleveland Clinic / Headache Infusions / My thoughts / Neurological Center for Pain

We’re leaving for Lizze’s 4th and final headache infusion this morning

We're preparing to make the trip back to the Cleveland Clinic's Neurological Center for Pain once again today. This time it will be for Lizze's final headache infusion. There's a really good chance that she will walk out today with her pain having been cut in half for the first time in 7 or 8 years. We're very excited because she feels really good. As the pain lessens, she's coming back out of her shell and it's amazing. We're so grateful that this is working and frankly, that we even have this last infusion today. There were some issues that almost cost her this last one but they are all worked out and we feel very lucky. There are no plans for Valentine's day but we're okay with that. ☺…

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February 14, 2019

Cleveland Clinic / Headache Infusions / Lizze / Migraines / My thoughts / Neurological Center for Pain

I have some amazing news to share tonight

Lizze and I are getting ready to hit the sack because we have a really early day tomorrow. I wanted to take a few minutes and touch base with you fine folks because we have some positive news on the migraine front. ☺ First of all, Lizze had another bad reaction to the medication called DHE 45. They immediately discontinued it and have permanently removed it. Lizze is glad she tried again because she wanted to be sure. Anyway, her infusion took her migraine from a 10 to a 7 and that's awesome. Unfortunately, the DHE 45 took it back to an 8 but that's still better than where she was when she arrived. She left the Cleveland Clinic today with a sense of hope because the infusions are working.…

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February 12, 2019

Cleveland Clinic / Headache Infusions / Lizze / Migraines / My thoughts / Neurological Center for Pain

We got some bad news about my wife’s headache infusions

Lizze's infusion has been going well for her today. She's slept through a large part of it and I've just been sitting in the lobby waiting. They've decided to once again try the medication that caused problems yesterday. This time it's going to be more diluted and will probably take about two hours to infuse. If it causes pain, they will immediately pull the plug but Lizze is all for it because it stands a good chance of helping her. Unfortunately, when we arrived at the Cleveland Clinic this afternoon, we learned that her insurance has decided to pull funding for the forth day and that effectively forces the cancelation of the last infusion. We're not happy about that because that last day could make a big difference and there's…

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February 12, 2019