Short-Term Disability Frustration

I am so frustrated! My short-term disability will run out next week. I contacted my neurosurgeon's office who said that they will not sign off on my disability extension because they will only give me 6 weeks from surgery. Such bull! At my 6 week appt. I was referred to a neurologist because I am still getting headaches and my neurosurgeon said he will not handle my head pain. He said it was probably not related to my AVM! Really? I didn't have these kind of headaches until I had a craniotomy, embolization, and Gamma Knife. Of course the neurologist will not see me until July 17th. What am I supposed to do? I am too tired and have headaches that worsen in the evening. I can't go back to work like this.

I’m sorry to hear you have headaches, they certainly drain your whole body. The fact your headaches worsen at night could mean it is a tension headache. Dancer mom posted some headache relief websites in the group, coping with headaches. Do you bake? I use raspberry extract to help, and peppermint oil. Lavender oil also helps some people. Massaging your head can relieve some tension, and cold compress.

6 weeks from surgery -- that's not enough for a lot of people. And I doubt that your head pain is unrelated to your AVM experience. See if you can get a referral to a pain clinic. I hope you feel better soon.

Thanks Dancermom and mamaginof3. Mamaginof3 I do bake, often and will definitely try the raspberry extract and pep oil. I will see what the neurologist says about referring to a pain clinic. There is no way that my pain is not related to my AVM experience. I just wonder if I will ever feel normal again. I kind of miss my old self.

I had bad headaches before GK & crani. They changed afterwards. My surgeon sent me to a neurologist that he works with. She put me on nortriptylene--an antidepressant used to manage migraines. It really did help get the migraines under control. She also had me work on "sleep hygiene." She told me to turn off computers & television an hour before I wanted to go to sleep. Radios & books are fine, but the electronic lights interfere with sleep. (Lack of sleep has always been one of my triggers.)