This May Hurt

CGRPs, Triptans, supplements, diets, and now Botox- are my Long COVID migraines ever going to end?

About a week ago, a friend drove me across town to my neurologist’s office. She dropped me at the front door, then went on her way; she couldn’t stay for the appointment. I’d Uber home. I have a car, but since I got sick, I can’t drive anymore. Too much sitting, too vertically, for too long.

Inside, I told the receptionist where I was going. The building has a strange mix of security measures; the front desk has to call the elevator for you and send it up. Visitors who sneak into the elevator without speaking to the front desk will find themselves in an impotent box; no buttons. I discovered this the hard way on my first visit. Now, I do it all by the book.

The place has begun to feel familiar to me the way, in the beforetimes, a local coffee shop might have. I no longer feel uncomfortable and lost in the hallways. I’m becoming a fixture at my specialists’ offices the way I’d once been at my favorite bars. I know the hours. I know where the bathrooms are.

“Neurology,” I say. And the security guard calls the elevator in their modern way.