So I'm gonna try and make this long story short...

The other day, I  had to go do a general physical appt with my new VA doc (my old one left for another VA facility).  Since I was technically a "new patient", they gave me a new book that they have started giving out to new patients.  It covers a lot of subjects, but one page in particular caught my husband's and my attention.

So, we figured we'd share it with everyone here...hoping it gets at least a couple of smiles from ya'll.

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Yeah... well at least they know there ARE such a thing as CH... guess that's a start..

Now if they'd just listen to their patients with CH - they MIGHT know what to do about them.. but.... ::)

I"m shocked they even know the name....

Like I said, it surprised both of us that it was in there.  We found it in area talking about "common" diseases and conditions.  Nearly every one of my conditions were not included, but Clusters actually made the list to be included.

We are taking this as acceptance by the Veteran's Administration that there actually such things as Cluster Headaches and that they are gaining much more attention now than in previous years.

On a side note: The pediatrician that sees my younger siblings made a nephew of mine go get his D3 levels tested and checked his symptoms against CH's, just to see if the headaches he was having were Clusters.  I think at least where I am at, CH's are becoming much more well known and accepted by the medical community.

Akina wrote on May 20^th, 2012 at 4:20pm:

We found it in area talking about "common" diseases and conditions.

I wonder why common?

Oh yeah, headaches are common.  Hope not right in between hangover and stress/tension. 

I had that once, I get those, too.

The fact it was in the VA is amazing!  It is a step in the right direction, that's for sure!

Kevin_M wrote on May 21^st, 2012 at 1:42am:

Akina wrote on May 20th, 2012 at 4:20pm: We found it in area talking about "common" diseases and conditions. I wonder why common? Oh yeah, headaches are common.  Hope not right in between hangover and stress/tension.  I had that once, I get those, too.

When i was in kuwait, i met several medics that were coming home from afghanistan that knew exactly what cluster headaches are.  Most of them had either helped soldiers seek treatment for them or knew another medic who had.  One of them was firmly convinced that they are caused by a combination of heat stroke and traumatic brain injuries.  He told me that they are very hard to treat, but some people were getting relief by drinking a lot of water throughout the day.  I directed him to this site.  What is funny is that he was a private first class and he knows more about cluster headaches than my neurologist.

AubanBird wrote on May 23^rd, 2012 at 9:29pm:

When i was in kuwait, i met several medics that were coming home from afghanistan that knew exactly what cluster headaches are.  Most of them had either helped soldiers seek treatment for them or knew another medic who had.

These are the great stories I like to hear.  It's hard to be excited about getting a name in a book, like when Nathan in "The Jerk" found out his name was in the phone book, but it does give acknowledgement to clusters within the VA.  Goodness gracious, progress, like Barb and Bill (Racer) similarly note.

I might not perhaps have found it in the book without going to the index to see if clusters was in there.  It's just that "common" seems to add to perception it's a "headache".  Like finally getting a big ad in the Yellow Pages for my new pet shop, but finding they listed it under pest control, pest instead of pets.