A Medical Hawkeye

When I was in my freshman year at Waldorf College, my professor offered up some extra credit on a test, all you had to do was answer one question.  "Who is going to win the Iowa - ISU game this weekend?"  I raised my hand, "Who is Iowa and what ISU?"

The blank stares reminded me that I was now in Iowa where your loyalty matters, are you a Cyclone or a Hawkeye?  While I always avoided picking a side, after my recent experience, I think I am officially a Hawkeye, at least medically.

Last Monday, I woke up to start my new session of Couch to 5K and noticed that one of my lenses on my glasses had become pretty blurry on one side.  I shook it off and said I would clean them when I got back.  It wasn't until I got to work and looked at my screen that I realized it wasn't my glasses but instead my actual eye.  As the day went on and the blurriness didn't go away, I found myself at the eye doctor with what we thought was a small flare up with my cornea since the rest of my tests looked fine.  Fast forward three days and an eye that was getting worse, I found myself back at the eye doctor Friday morning, this time with more urgency.  Dr. Lock knew something was wrong, he just couldn't see it with his tests so it had to be in the back of my eye, not the front, so he sent me on to Wolfe Eye Clinic to see their retinal specialist and more tests.  As Curtis and I sat and waited for information, worry started to really sink in - what was causing this?  Will I get my eyesight back?  How bad is it??

When Dr. Alltman came back in and told us our next stop would be the University of Iowa Hospital for an MRI.  My optic nerve was inflamed and the MRI would be able to answer more questions as to why.  Then he said the one sentence that I had been been fearing since I started Googling my eye issues - it may be Multiple Sclerosis.  He said we would need to go to the ER and may be admitted for treatment, so we headed home and grabbed an overnight back and headed for Iowa City.

As Curtis drove, he would look over and tell me to put my phone away and to stop Googling, the answer isn't there, it is at the hospital.  So after tow hours on the road, we arrived at the ER, had the MRI, and was told once more, "It is presenting as MS," by the ER doc.  It turns out that I had a couple of dots on my MRI that could be MS or could be from migraines or something else.  Shortly after this happened, a two member team of neurology residents where at my bedside in the hall of the ER doing some additional tests.  Touching the bottom of my feet, having me squeeze their hands, poking me with this tooth pick like stick.  The doctor than said that is COULD be MS but because I wasn't presented anything other symptoms they would need to do more testing but for now I would be admitted for my Optic Neuritis which called for three rounds of IV steroids to help with the inflammation.  I also would need a spinal tap, otherwise known as a lumbar puncture, but that I could have that done the next day, for now get some sleep in my shared room on the neurology floor.

Curtis' bed for our first night

So at around 1:30 a.m. Curtis and I settled into the room, him on the chair and me in the bed, and tried to get some rest.  Later that morning, the U of Iowa of medical team came in and spoke with me as part of their morning rounds.  The two medical students looked a little more scared of me than I of them, but the head doctor, Dr. Kamholz, spoke to me with ease.  As he sat by my bed and talked to me about the tests and next step, I felt at ease.  He is based in the MS Clinic here and said if it was MS to not hit the panic button, that MS treatment is much different now than it was 20, 10, even 5 years ago.  I shook my head and felt a sense of relief.

My daily round of steroids

Much of the next three days were a blur.  I started my round of 'roids and felt my first side effects of the drug.  I had a metallic taste in my mouth for about the first hour followed by hot flashes and chills.  Beyond that, not too bad.  I didn't feel exactly like the Hulk, but I could for sure tell that something was different.  I did a round each day for the three days and watched many episodes of "Guy's Grocery Games" and HGTV shows and would try to get up and walk around during the day.  My parents made the trip down from Minnesota to be with us at the hospital.  The Heartland Inn is a wonderful partner of the U, and Curtis and them shared a room for a very reduced rate and also used their free shuttle service to get to and from the hospital.

Destiny, myself and Rachel up on the patio with our new glasses

Sarah and I

Two of my good friends, Rachel and Destiny, visited and brought some humor to lighten my mood and new glasses to help with my sight.  We explored the rooftop patio area at the hospital and talked about what would be next if it was indeed MS.

My dear friend, Sarah, and her husband, Charles, swapped out with Rachel and Destiny just as I was being wheeled off to my next MRI, now they wanted to scan the base of my neck to see if there were any lesions there (there were not - yipee!).  After the MRI, I was able to enjoy their company and the goodie bag that Sarah brought me - granola bars, gossip magazines, books and, most importantly, clean underwear.  We had packed an overnight bag, not a 3-day stay at the hospital bag!

As round three of the steroids flowed through my body, the medical team decided that three rounds would be enough - I was already getting some of my vision back and could see some colors again.  I could discharge that day but I had just one more test complete, the dreaded lumbar puncture.  Now when you are a patient at a medical college, many things have to be done by the medical students so they can "learn."  Well I helped three med students and one resident learn that they were unable to pull any spinal fluid from the giant needle they put in my lower back three times while having me bent over the table, sweating like a pig.

So the next step was to head to the LP Clinic to have it done with assistance from a machine.  This wasn't the most pleasant experience and I was very happy once it was over.  They would be testing my spinal fluid for elevated levels of something that is occurs in 95% of MS patients.  You see, MS is tricky, there isn't just one test that says you have MS, there ones that needed to me added together to equal MS - MRI + Spinal Fluid + Presenting Symptom = might be MS.

After the LP, I had to lay flat on my back for an hour to help prevent headaches for the missing spinal fluid.  Of course it was during this hour that they decided to put a catheter in the poor woman sharing the room next to me.  Needless to say that Guy Ferriri's voice was a lot louder on my TV for the next hour and my dad found a reason to escape the confines of the room for a little while.  

After my 60 minutes, they started my discharge forms and the physical therapist came in - I would be able to drive and go back to work once I felt up to it, but avoid hot showers and hot weather, as it could add to my symptoms and the same went for stress.  As I was being wheeled out into the Iowa sunshine, my head was sore and my legs a little nervous but I very much ready to be back home.  After a smooth ride back with my parents, I headed straight to my bed and was out for the night.  I was happy to be home and to be able to sleep in a quite room without any beeping machines.

My doctor says I will be just fine!

My parents left the next morning and Curtis headed into work and I was left to myself and the couch, as standing would cause pressure in my head.  The week following my hospital stay was a long and boring one, filled with many Google searches and phone calls with friends and family.  My coworkers stopped by with some food and well wishes as I laid on the floor smelling the garlicky HyVee food.  I was ready to be back to normal.

All in all, my first University of Iowa experience was a long one, and not for a reason I would have hoped I would have been there.  But none the less, I always felt that I was in wonderful care.  The doctors and nurses were warm and made me feel at ease.  I enjoyed every conversation I had with the each of the staff members and learned about where they were from, if they went to Iowa, and how long they had worked at the hospital.  So much care for a complete stranger is not something we always see, and these people made me re-believe that it was possible.  If this is what Hawkeye Nation is like, I guess I am now officially a Hawkeye.  Bring on the yellow and gold.