One thing my NEURO said to me today

I’ve been so blessed to find Krishna Polkala MD Neurology after my neuro of over a decade, Sara Westgate MD retired her practice a couple of years ago. Her retirement sent shockwaves across the Austin migraine community; we’d lost a huge provider. Dr. Polkala did an amazing act; offering to take as many of Westgate’s patients. Not only does Dr. Polkala has a great bedside manner, he agrees to use my own “botox map” that works really well for me. Instead of the traditional neck injections, I get more in my forehead and 1-2 in my jaw. I always joke that I need a “plastic forehead;” most of my migraines are frontal, not occipital. He also is incredibly understanding about how important Botox is for my Chronic Migraine treatment and will squeeze me into his schedule so I’m on time for every 12 weeks. And he will absolutely collaborate with me on my medication and care.

Every Botox day, he asks to see my photo of my “map,” so he can make sure to follow…

This Botox “map” took several years to get right for me. My neurologist and I collaborated for my personal migraine needs.

Today, I brought my Cefaly for Dr. Polkala to test 😁 … to make sure he can truly understand when he makes recommendations for other patients.

I love a great doc!

He needed me to remove it when Cefaly got to its intense level. Lol.

As he was injecting me today, Dr. Polkala said something really special to me: “You know, of all my Chronic Migraine patients, you’reΒ  genuinely one of the most positive patients I have. Some of my patients get mad or irritated at me if they have a side effect, but you never do.” That truly touched my heart.πŸ’œ

I explained to him that with lots of therapy analyzing β€’how much I fight my illness vs. β€’how much I accept my situation – this has been a constant struggle for me. But I’ve worked very hard to focus my life on just one moment at a time. And appreciate each moment, prioritize what is important to me: β€’my family, β€’my advocacy, β€’my business of serving women, β€’my friends. If I focus too much on what tomorrow might be; the pain to come – that is the definition of anxiety. If I focus too much on how bad the past has been, how much I’ve lost and been in pain – that is the definition of depression. I need to live in the moment; it’s truly all we ever have, and it is precious. I also accept how critical REST is; rest does not mean “lazy.” And my broken body must rest before and after everything I choose to spend my time on. And that just has to be okay. πŸ™‚

So, I got my 30+ injections on this most precious Botox Day.πŸŽ„ And was home before noon. I’ve been in bed the rest of the day… hurting, sleeping on and off, taking my medicine. Hopefully, the magic juice starts helping in about 7 days. It’s been a rough couple of weeks here.

Botox Day, hey, hey!

πŸ’‰πŸ’‰πŸ’‰πŸ’‰πŸ’‰πŸ’‰πŸ’‰πŸ’‰πŸ’‰πŸ’‰πŸ’‰πŸ’‰πŸ’‰πŸ’‰πŸ’‰πŸ’‰πŸ’‰πŸ’‰πŸ’‰πŸ’‰πŸ’‰πŸ’‰πŸ’‰πŸ’‰πŸ’‰πŸ’‰πŸ’‰πŸ’‰πŸ’‰πŸ’‰πŸ’‰πŸ’‰πŸ’‰πŸ’‰

Love those forehead injections

#WaitingRoomShoePic #ChronicIllness #ChronicMigraine #RA #SIJD #cefaly #BotoxforChronicMigraine #neurologist