A MIGRAINE STORY by Dr. Desai

         Teenage years are the best years of your life, filled with future hopes, dreams and aspirations. These are the times when you are motivated to conquer the world. Imagine being 18 years of age and your life gets put on hold and all your vivacious hopes, dreams and future aspirations are taken away from you with a blink of an eye.
            On a beautiful spring day of May 2015 K.D. experienced a significant loss in life: the optimal functioning of her body. That day, K.D. couldn’t move the entire right side of her body, the words coming out of her mouth were slurred, her vision began to blur, she had a major migraine with TMJ pain. After a few more episodes, she sought help. She saw stroke specialists, neurologists, heart doctors, physical, occupational and speech therapists, she had taken medications but nothing helped. Unfortunately, she had to drop out of college and move in with her parents as she could no longer read, write, type, speak or take care of herself. Three months had passed, with no resolution and 70 migraine episodes that lasted days or weeks with $200, 000 in medical expenses.
            On August 28th of 2015 her parents drove 60 miles (2 hours) from McDonough, GA to Alpha Spine Center, with a gleam of hope and a diagnosis of a complex-stroke migraine or hemiplegic migraine and conversion disorder.
 
K.D. presented into the office on a wheelchair desperately waiting for a solution to her debilitating state. During the consultation, it was daunting to see her struggle as she tried to express herself through the process. Dr. Salminen performed a thorough examination on K.D. and determined that she was a perfect candidate for NUCCA care. It brought her joy and tears in her eyes, as she was relieved that there was a cause and solution for her stroke-like migraines. Dr. Salminen gently carried K.D. from her wheelchair and placed her onto the adjusting table. Moments after the adjustment K.D. clearly, uttered the words “I am better”, and sat herself up. She could finally feel the right side of her body move!
 After a couple of months of NUCCA care with Dr. Salminen, K.D.’s excitement returned as her hopes and dreams evolved again. She returned to college, as she could read, write, type and speak again. The motor control of the right side of her body increased with precision. This allowed her to drive and start working again. K.D. gained her life back; she didn’t have to wonder whether she’ll have the opportunity graduate college or get a professional job or even get married.
K.D’s migraines were debilitating! It put her life on hold. If you know anyone experiencing one of the above types of migraines, please get them in immediately at the Alpha Spine Center to be evaluated on whether they are a candidate for NUCCA care.
 
  

HemiplegicMigraines.NationalCenterforAdvancedTranslational Sciences.https://rarediseases.info.nih.gov/diseases/10768/hemiplegic-migraine.
 
Migraine Facts. Migraine Research Foundation. http://migraineresearchfoundation.org/about-migraine/migraine-facts/.
 
The Migraine – Stroke Connection. Lee, Mi Ji; Lee, Chungbin; Chung, Chin-Sang. Journal of Stroke. Vol 18(2); 2016