Posted by bob lambert on March 07, 1999 at 19:48:39:
Just wanted to show i do support us all, and there is hope. My headaches are fewer and further between.
Message to 48 Hours:
I am a cluster headache sufferer that watched your show on pain.....so excruciating that some thin death is preferable to a diminished life caused by unbelievable pain.
I got my first cluster at 25 years of age in Dec. 1975. I was sitting at my desk in the barracks at Ft. Belvoir, VA, studying military correspondence courses. this event ranks with the Kennedy assassination, forever branded in my memory. that event marked the beginning of endless days of excruciating, literally 'wall-banging' pain and misdiagnosis. for 15 years the army doctors tried to cure my supposed chronic sinus infection. I was misdiagnosed by no less than 20 military and civilian physicians. finally in 1988, I got a headache at the doctors office while there for a pediatric appt. with my son. the Dr.. got so excited, I thought he was gonna wet his pants--I was the first actual cluster headache patient he had ever seen actually experiencing a headache. he gave me some medicine that actually helped--I could have kissed the guy. (Not too appropriate for a Drill Sgt., but I still love him for f-i-n-a-l-l-y helping me)
I believe cluster headaches are a serious problem for thousands of citizens. I hope you will consider doing a show on this terrible, debilitating, and life-wrecking malady. believe me, a migraine is 'nutin' compared to one of these headaches.
sincerely,
Robert B. Lambert Jr.
USA, CSM (Ret)
Middle School Math Teacher
BS, Ed