Mahalalove.com

It was the end of April and the year was 1999, I was 2 days away from turning 25 years old. I had 2 sons and was less than a month away from getting married. "BEEP", "BEEP", "BEEP!" What in the world is banging so loud? And who keeps hitting me in the back of the head with that bowling ball? Or had I just been in an accident with only my head? Who keeps shining the sun in my face? It's 6:30 a.m. time to get ready to start the day. Got to get the kids out the door and off to school. I hear the shower so I know my future husband is here. But, I can't move. Well, my head won't get off the pillow. Do I have a hang-over? Nope, I was not out drinking? "Turn that clock off!" At least that's what I thought I said. But there was no answer. Somehow my arm made it to the clock and I cut it off. I wished I had an axe so I could smash it for making so much noise. I fumbled for the phone and I called my mother. "I need to go to the Emergency Room." That is all I had to say. She was there in no time. Well, she lived not even 10 minutes away. "Here I go again," I thought. But it's not a mini stroke this time. I can feel it. It's just a really bad migraine. It's a nice spring morning in April but I have my head covered with my dark brown goose-down coat and wearing shades to keep the sun out. The birds are way too loud; the sun is way too bright. And my mother is extra loud today. Even the engine of the car is too loud. "Can you please turn off the radio?" I asked. "It's too loud." The volume was on 1. Well...it was still too loud.

We got to the Emergency Room and I was seen immediately. I guess the big dark brown coat wrapped around my head gave it away that I needed to be seen right away. I turned off every light I could get my hands on. The hospital staff was not too happy with me. They probably thought I was crazy! I begged the nurse to turn the light off and keep the door cracked. "Is she on drugs?" I heard her say. "No she didn't," I thought. But I had to remember I must've looked crazy. I didn't care just take my headache away and NOW. "NO!" I said and "I'm not pregnant," "Please, I have a terrible headache." She asks my mother to go with her in the hallway to speak with her. I guess to get medical history and all that other good stuff they need to know. The nurse comes back in with a syringe and some medicine explaining what the medication is and what kind of affect it will have on me. Demerol she called it, my new best friend. She gives me a shot of the Demerol in the hip and before I know it I'm floating "Lucy in the Sky with Diamonds," floating on the purple clouds and off to sleep I go. WOW, this stuff is great. I'm not sure how long I was sleeping but I was awakened by the doctor turning on the light. "Turn off the light!" I shouted. I saw him jump. "Sorry!" he said. I saw my mother standing over me. She was rubbing my leg and asking me how I was feeling. "It still hurts but not as bad as it did when I got here." The doctor explained that the plethora of tests came back negative for another TIA or any other nerve damage to the brain. "It's just a headache gone bad," he said. How do headaches go bad? What did he know? This tall, skinny, brown skinned man, looking like he just got out of High School with that big "A" earring hanging from his ear with his S-Curl looking hair do. But still? What did he know? "A headache gone bad?" I said. "What does that mean?" "Headaches just don't go bad." "How can I be fine one day and wake up feeling like a Mack truck hits me in the head the next day?" "What if this happens again?" I said.