My sister has a disease called Moya Moya which caused her to have two strokes. One was when she was 28 and the other was when she was 32. She has had bad headaches her whole life. It wasn't until I was in my early 30s that we talked about our headaches and realized how similar they were.
We both have auras, the "warning sign" that there is a headache coming. Unfortunately for both of us, the aura is worse than the majority of headaches. Usually, it starts with a blind spot and some mental scrambling, and I have had some difficulty speaking in the past. The speaking difficulty is the thing that took my sister to the ER and ultimately was the sign that she had indeed suffered a stroke.
In February, I started having headaches after 8 years virtually headache free. Yes, I have gained 30 pounds of happy weight since getting married to my husband, my blood pressure is borderline and my stress level is about 3 times what is was before my great professional support system changed. All of those things had a part in my headaches, but when I had a headache that included a numb left arm, I got worried. So, I went in for an MRI. Which showed some narrowing in the blood vessels in my head. Moya Moya? After lots of tests, I saw a Neurologist and he sent me to a Neurosurgeon to get advice about whether to have surgical intervention. Thankfully, I do not have Moya Moya.
My journal was a huge help in my week long marathon of visits at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. I saw the Neurologist and when she asked me when something happened, I could look back and see. When the headache Neurologist asked which medication helped, I could look at a calendar I created to keep track of headaches. I could look at my "headache watch" section of each day and tell the headache specialist what made a difference. I could also tell him what did not make a difference. I had a list of questions for the Neurosurgeon and was able to be sure all of them had been answered before I left the room.
Until health care changes so that there is less waiting around, a journal is also a great way to pass the time while you are waiting. My first journal was boring and not too fun to read again, but the more I do it, the more fun it is to go back and read.
I am almost to the end of my third journal of this type, it has taken me about two years to fill three. I use a journal that is about 7.5 by 10 inches a softcover Moleskine. I can't use a digital journal, it doesn't call to me the same way that a real, paper journal does. I paint in it, I glue things into it, and I feel like I live a little more every day because I keep track of important, and sometiemes not-so-important things. I am happy to report that this, my third, journal started with a health scare and ended with the good news that I do not have a progressive blood vessel disease. I can't wait to see what the next journal will help me to discover.
