Highlights: Woke up with migraine and nausea. Soda for caffeine with breakfast. Went to school on time. Requested Ibuprofen from the nurse at 11:30 AM. He made it through the school day and said he felt almost completely normal after school.

Jack was slow to get up this morning. He said he didn’t feel well with a headache and nausea. I gave him extra time and he had oatmeal and a protein bar for breakfast. He drank half of a can of Pepsi for the caffeine. I offered Ibuprofen, but he said no. He slowly came around and eventually played with Eliot before school. He made it to school on time.

When Jack first woke up for the day, I was very concerned that he wasn’t going to make it to school. I’m always tempted to tell him not to worry about it and to go back to sleep, hoping that the extra rest will help. I’m glad that he got better throughout the morning. My plan is to continue to try to get him to school on time if at all possible; however, if he is slow to improve, I will aim to take him to school late instead of throwing the whole day out the window. There are many times that he has stayed home and by 9:00 AM or so, I wish I could take him into school late. Because of COVID-19, children are supposed to stay home if they have a headache at all, so I couldn’t take him in late even if I knew his headache wasn’t an indication of COVID. Now that he is diagnosed with migraines, maybe I can try that. I always worry about him falling behind with school.

The pediatrician said it is uncommon for people to wake up with migraines or to feel worse when laying down. I feel the same way often and wake up most mornings with a migraine (especially if I wake up in the middle of the night). I read that these can be signs of intracranial hypertension. When I had my lumbar puncture, my pressure was at 27 at opening and at 10 at closing. “Mild” intracranial hypertension is 20-30. While excessive brain fluid or pressure has not shown up on any of my three MRIs, my last MRI indicated damage generally caused by too much pressure, though. Perhaps that is both of our problems.

 I heard from the cardiologist yesterday. We have an appointment on May 5 at 8:15 AM with CHKD in Norfolk for arrhythmia. I don’t know what to make of it, so I am trying not to think or worry about it. We’ll get there when we get there.

Update: Jack requested Ibuprofen from the nurse at 11:30 AM. He made it through the school day and said he felt almost completely normal after school. I am glad that today has been manageable for Jack. I don't like him taking Ibuprofen every day, but I prefer that for now instead of using a triptan.