Wednesday, September 21, 2011

NPDH

Today marks one month of being afflicted with NDPH. I have read that about 82 percent of people with NDPH know the day when their headaches started--and I am most certainly one of those. I even remember where I was, in my gold La-Z-boy chair on a Sunday evening, when my now persistent headache arrived.

Until a week ago, I did not even know that NDPH existed--and the name almost made me laugh when the doctor diagnosed me with this syndrome. Who would call something, New Daily Persistent Headache?

I am not trolling for sympathy--but rather I am reflecting upon how something I never thought about until a month ago and did not even know existed has become a persistent and almost ever-present part of my life.

I am lucky, so far, in that I am not debilitated by the persistent headache. I can function--but I know that even on the best days so far, that I am achieving only about 95 percent effectiveness--and on bad days, I am running about about 75 percent.

From my reading, I have found that usually they do not diagnose NDPH until someone has been afflicted with it for three months--so I am grateful that the doctor made the call early. I definitely fit the profile.

There are bloggers out there devoted to NDPH. One that I have been working through is titled Living with NDPH. I am saddened by many of them because there is not a lot of hope--one person has been afflicted for 14 years. The hard part is that there are three natural outcomes and no medical treatment has been identified to speed achieving outcome number one. The three are:

1. The headaches go away after a while and never return
2. The headaches go away for a while, but return sometime in the future.
3. The headaches never go away. (ugh!)

For my part, I have discovered two things that relieve the pain temporarily--racquetball and wine (beer works too). Coincidently, two of my favorite activities. Alas though, I am pain free only temporarily--but I take time to enjoy feeling almost normal again for the brief respite that I am given. Fortunately, it only takes one or two glasses of wine.

Other than all of this--life is pretty normal. Most days are good days with low pain levels. Some hours are bad--but I get through them.

I know there are a lot of prayer warriors out there praying for me--and I want to thank them because I am convinced that my pain is manageable and low because of your concern and intervention for me.

I am reminded of Paul's thorn in the flesh, from 2 Cor 12:7. While I make no comparison between myself and the Apostle Paul, other than this one, the response Paul received to his prayers in 2 Cor 12:9 is truly something I am holding fast onto: "My grace is enough for you, my power is made perfect in weakness."

Everyday--

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1 comment:

Mark Phillips said...

Hi Bob, I also am a nephew sufferer of nearly two years. I identify with your 75 - 95 percent range, though mine is closer to 60 - 8080 percent. I am also a believer ...and a pastor. Feel free to drop me a line if you want to dialogue. Lamppoet@centurytel.net.
God's best,
Mark Phillips

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