As I was listening I started to suddenly feel like I ate a giant pot cookie--slightly off-orbit, and with accompanying auditory hallucinations in my left ear, a constant "wawawawawawawawawawawaawawawa" that the music had to filter through (do you wonder why when you look at the album art above?). Now while the Butthole Surfers would probably love it if their music could induce that kind of reaction, it's not a normal result for me when listening to music. I took off my headphones and discovered that both the "high" and the left-side auditory hallucination continued. I started to pick up a weird rhythm from the belt drive of the office furnace.
The "high" and the auditory hallucination dissipated a few minutes later. I put the headphones back on with no reaction; however, over the course of the day the "high" and the auditory weirdness would return after a few minutes, then stop again a few minutes later. I ended up working close to 7:00 PM and the "high" and the auditory hallucination came on strong accompanied by intense tingling on my entire left side from my scalp, down my left arm, left torso, left leg and left foot. I started to freak that I was having a stroke, so I called my girlfriend (now wife), Amanda, and she came and picked me up and drove me to OHSU (Oregon Health and Science University) Emergency Room close to downtown. Without going over every test they performed, they checked vitals (slightly elevated blood pressure), neuro function--equal strength left/right, good left/right eye movement, pupils equal and reactive to light, speech normal, and good balance. To see if they could detect a possible growth or stroke event they decided I should have a CT Scan on my head as well as a carotid ultrasound. The CT Scan showed nothing out of the ordinary, and the carotid ultrasound showed excellent blood flow to the brain.
Given that my current doctors and I believe that the tumor was growing then, I wondered why the CT Scan did not show it at that time. First, the CT Scan when performed was not accompanied by IV contrast which is needed to help show a mass, and my radiation oncologist has told me that CT Scans are a poor tool for detecting brain tumors, with or without contrast. Apparently the CT scan is too narrow so has to be focused directly on the mass, which given the volume of the brain may be more a matter of luck. MRIs are vastly more effective in finding brain tumors.
As a result of the visit and the various test findings, the neurologist resident and her attending physician felt that what I was experiencing were what could be termed "migraine auras" which are neurological disturbances that can warn of the onset of a migraine. They did suggest an MRI would be worth considering in the near future to investigate potential causes. The tingling went away, as did the "high", but the auditory hallucinations continued for the next couple weeks. I cover that in my description of Amanda's and my trip to Brazil. Once we got back, everything seemed back to normal. I would get an "aura" once or twice a week and it would last no longer than 2 or 3 minutes then stop. It'd be followed by a relatively mild headache (migraine?), and an hour or two later I'd feel fine. I thought I was basically a-okay.
As far as the suggested MRI, at the time this all started I was without insurance (discussed in another post), and MRI's are very expensive. My symptoms seemed explained, and other than a headache once or twice a week after our Brazil trip that responded well to an Excedrin or two, I felt great, so I didn't see the need.
Over time things did get worse when i developed what i thought was a sinus infection in early June, 2010. I had intense headaches when changing the level of my head from supine to upright, and i couldn't hold down food which i thought was related to post nasal drip. I went to an ImmediateCare facility and got prescribed antibiotics, but saw no improvement over the course of a few days. I then established a primary care doctor, and when I did go to the doctor's office I understood those first symptoms that took me to OHSU indicated something may be amiss so gave her the background. Moving forward from there she thought I might have an infection in an extremely difficult area of the sinus cavity, the ethmoid, to knock out an infection, so prescribed a different course of antibiotics of a stronger variety. When my condition still did not improve after a few days, she was very concerned, and based on my recent medical history it ultimately led to scheduling that first MRI that showed the growing mass and the need for surgery and treatment. All I can say as a result is thank God for the Butthole Surfers! They saved my life!
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