I've called the nice lady about the study I mentioned earlier. Got no feedback from my specialist about whether or not it's a good idea, but the coordinator knows my specialist (the researcher is his boss) so hopefully that will all get clarified.

There's compatibility to be determined. Something about a grade 5. That may refer to the size of the hole--I don't think mine was big, all things considered. I just googled pfo grade and my head exploded. You have been warned. Anyway, none of those links mention a grade 5 that I saw, so I don't know what that means.

She's advised me to keep a headache diary, since they'll need 30 days of diary before they get started. This is as good a place as any.

Hole-shaped heart

Got an interesting call today. Turns out my local version of the PFO/migraine study wants to have a word with me.

In short, there's a wee hole in a fetal heart that allows blood to short-circuit the lungs (hey, who needs them?) that's to close when you're out and about in the big bad world. Often, in migraineurs, it hasn't closed up. Scuba divers are put at an increased risk of the bends by having this hole, and migraineur divers who had the defect corrected also noted a break in their pain.

But it's all unofficial, and they need to do more testing. I have the hole. My previous migraine specialist didn't want me to do it because she thought there were side effects that mitigated it.

I've left a message with the new guy. The doctor running the study is a coworker of his.

We shall see.

A tale of two ERs

When I have a migraine crisis, I have a practical choice of two emergency departments. Century City Doctors' Hospital is a nearby boutique-style hospital that has short waiting times. UCLA Westwood is also nearby, and has many more doctors at its disposal, but everyone and their wounded aunt goes there--the wait time is markedly proportional to the severity of your issue, and really, how much does a headache count? All of my inside bits are still on the inside, and the outside bits both attached and outside.

However, my ongoing care is from doctors in the UCLA Medical Centre network. It'd be silly to live where I do and go anywhere else for neuro, GP, pain management, etc.

I don't care about them during a crisis (defined as a headache that's going to mess with my ability to go into work the next day--so I don't have Friday or Saturday crises, and I rarely have crises before 7 or so--those are just really painful headaches). I just care about making the pain get gone.

So I end up at Century City more often than not.

I have to say--some of the care I've received there is excellent. Nurse P is amazing. He's probably taken the most detailed medical history of my headaches any medical professional has tried to get. He cares, and he remembers. The last time I was in there, he spotted me in triage and came out to hold my hand and look sadly at me as I snivelled.

I don't worry about feeling like a drugseeker around him, or around a couple of the other doctors that have seen me before.

However, the single worst migraine-related ER visit was also to Century City, and my ER escort will probably visit his wrath on Dr K, should their paths meet again.

CC won't tell you who's on duty. I've tried calling to ask. Perhaps next time I'll call to ask for Dr. K and see what happens.

The level of care at UCLA Westwood isn't bad, don't get me wrong. I just hate hospitals, and it's hospitallier than most, and I've fallen through the cracks there and ended up spending extra hours just waiting. Given my propensity for anxiety attacks from the various meds, well, that's pretty unpleasant before you get to the part where I'm asking a friend to sit with me and wait too.

But I'm picking up the level of my ongoing care, and the migraine guru wants me admitted for a DHE infusion, and that'll be at UCLA. Also, at UCLA they didn't think I'd been doing that badly, since my visits there were sparse.

Yeah.

That.

My hope is to be admitted this weekend, to UCLA, and maybe we'll call that starting from scratch. Get 48 hours of DHE and see what happens.

I'm currently at 10 days between crises, and that's so not on.