Botox: 2 months in

I really do like my neurologist. He is a good doctor.  He is the only doctor I've ever had who has called me repeatedly to check on me.  I understand that as his first botox patient he may have a professional interest in how I am doing as much as anything else.  But regardless of his motives - I feel good that he calls me to check up.

I have been keeping track of not only the days I have headaches, but the severity.  My scale is 1-5 (I stole my scale from the book "Chocolate & Vicodin".)  5 is obviously the most severe.  The month prior to the botox shots I had 2 level 5 headaches, 7 level 4 headaches, 10 level 3 headaches, 7 level 2 headaches, and 1 level 1 headache.  Not a single day without any sort of headache at all.  The first month after the botox injections I had only 1 level 5, 8 level 4's, 10 level 3's, 8 level 2's, and 1 level 1 again.  Still a headache every single day, though.  Still it would seem like an improvement. 

I had told my neurologist I didn't think it was helping as I still was having headaches.  I knew that it didn't always make them go away completely, but should make them occur less frequently and with less inensity. 

Is it working?  I'm still not sure.  And month 2 tells a very different story than month 1.
6 level 5 headaches -four of those in a row :(  10 level 4 headaches, 9 level 3's, 3 level 2, and not a single level 1.  Also, a headache every single day for that month. 

(In case I didn't already point this out - these botox shots are into muscle and the botox shots the plastic surgeon does are into nerves - so the outcomes from the treatments could be very different.)

Headache Log : Headache Specialist

Ok, so latest news according to my co-worker who's wife worked with Dr Digre is that Dr Digre is a very kind, warm, and wonderful person, but she's also booked 6 months out. But the woman who works the front desk is a real witch with a capital B; so instead of simply telling me that she's booked 6 months out and will call me in a few months she was horrible to me. They also tell me she's worth the wait and she WILL call me. However, I don't know if ANYONE is worth the wait. Granted, the suicidal thoughts have subsided, but that's in large part due to the fact that I finally feel like someone cares and wants to see me - and that is my current neurologist Dr. Reichert.
So we'll see... if she calls in 6 months and I still have a chronic headache (please, God, don't let me STILL have a chronic headache 6 months from now!) then maybe I'll consider seeing her.  But my suspicion is that if I still have a chronic headache 2 months from now I'll be getting Botox injections and on my way to surgery for neuralgia. 

Headache Log : Snubbed by the Headache Specialist

In February I reached out to a friend of a friend who is a physician and also the Dean of Emergency Medicine at the University of Utah Hospital.  I hoped he could suggest a good neurologist or headache specialist to me.  He did.  I called her office to schedule an appointment and she wouldn't see me without a referral.  So I called my primary care physician and asked for a referral to this specific headache specialist.  Within a few days she had the referral in her hands.  But after several days I didn't hear from her.  I called her office to confirm that they had received my referral.  They had and my "file" was "under medical review" and I was told the doctor would call me when she wanted to see me.
A week goes by and I get nothing.  I call back.  My file is still under medical review.  So I ask who is reviewing it and how long does this usually take.  The doctor is reviewing my file and the girl on the other end of the line can't tell me how long this will take.  But please don't call us, we'll call you.
Another week goes by and I hear nothing so I call again.  Again I'm told, don't call us, we'll call you.
To this day I have heard NOTHING.

Today a co-worker tells me about a migraine/headache specialist.  When he says her name I explain that she snubbed me.  He says his wife works with her and he thinks he can get me in to see her.

So .... do I go to this supposed headache specialist who has had absolutely no interest in me?  Who doesn't have the common decency to ever call me back? 

Headache Log : Plastic Surgery

Ok, so the young doctor may have been a mistake - I was getting desperate (not desperate enough for the ER, but pretty desperate).  

However, I'm feeling good about the neurologist.  I know I just picked him out of the phone book, and maybe it's desperation talking again, but I think I have a good feeling about him.  Hope springs eternal, right? 

Also I just found a plastic surgeon in Provo who does Botox injections for migraine treatment and I'm really excited about it.  I had ran across him before, but I sort of ignored him.  Then I learned he does migraine surgery as well so I started looking into him more.  The Botox is just to determine which nerves are the cause of the pain so he knows which one(s) he needs to do surgery on. 
I still need a lot more information on him, sounds like the surgery may be different than what the Midwest Doctor does, and I have a consultation with him later this month.  Possibly even some Botox injections if he/we/I can identify which nerves he/we/I are pretty sure are the problem.  Oh yeah, I've got this one!

Headache Log : The Call

It's a good thing I didn't eat that bullet. The very next day I got a call from the neurologist (the second one).  He reviewed my case and was willing to see me.  Unfortunately he was booked about 3 weeks out, but he happened to have a cancellation and could see me in 10 days. 

It was a start.