The Perfect Storm

[Guest guest]

One thing that I didn't mention earlier is that as a result of the

stroke I had while fighting lymphoma, I now suffer from classic

migraines. I can have 3 over 3 days and then go for months without

one.

What really really stinks is when I have a migraine during the middle

of a cough attack. My migraines start by the visual aura followed by

a state where I have a low grade headache *until* I cough. Then it

is the most excruciatingly painful condition that you can imagine.

Anyone else deal with this?

Thanks,

>

> I am new to the this forum and have never posted before. I am

hoping

> to see if my issues sound familiar and if others are experiencing

> what I am. I apologize up front for the coming long post.

>

> 14 years ago (I know its been a long time) I was diagnosed as

having

> Stage 4 T-cell Lymphoma. The bad thing was that this wasn't

> diagnosed until I was in the terminal stages with all my organs

> failing. I spent a month on life support and had many many bad

> things happen including a stroke, ARDS, septic shock, etc.. The

list

> is long.

>

> Somehow I experienced a miracle and survived this ordeal. Went

thru

> a traditional regiment of CHOP + Bleomycin for several rounds. I

> went into complete remission after my 5th round.

>

> A year after this I was told that I had to have a Bone Marrow

> Transplant to prevent my kind of lymphoma from coming back. So I

> went ahead with this. Part of my treatment was total body

> irradiation (TBI).

>

> So since then I have led a very normal life except for a couple of

> things. I don't have the long capacity that I used to and I have

> this incredible recurring cough.

>

> I was diagnosed about 7 year ago as having moderate restrictive

lung

> disease. Not a lot was done then. Given what I had gone through I

> didn't pay much attention to this.

>

> The problems that I have is that A) when doing anything aerobic I

run

> out of air fairly quickly. Cycling is a huge sport where I live

and

> I have tried to ride at lunch with the semi-serious group. I can

> keep up well for 4-5 miles but I simply run out of air. I have

come

> to live with this and move on at my own pace. The more annoying

> problem is this cough. I get this recurring dry cough that can

last

> anywhere from 1 to 3 weeks. I am on week 3 of a cough right now.

I

> went to my doc at the beginning of this cycle to get the usual

> narcotic cough syrup. I have since run out. I didn't sleep at all

> last night and right now doesn't look promising for tonight.

>

> I am so sick of this cycle that I can scream. I hate the normal

> routine of cough syrup but hate the lack of sleep even more. It

> seems like I cough hard every 30 seconds or so. I get

> embarrassed going to the doc when this cycle starts. Seems like

with

> all the prescription abuse going on they seem to think anyone who

> shows up as often as I do must have a problem. I am epecially

> annoyed with my current internal doc as I had to direct him to do

> some additional pulmonary testing to confirm that something wasn't

> right.

>

> If only they knew how much I HATE this cycle. It hurts all aspects

of

> my life. I simply am sick of coughing.

>

> I know that many people here are fighing much worse issues than I

> am. I wish them the best.

>

>

>