Hectic Health Week

Hello world!

Ok. Many of you know that this week has been horrible in terms of health. At the beginning of the month, I had some problems with my heart and respiratory rate at work. I got off work early and went to an urgent care clinic. I was then referred to a doctor. The doctor told me that he wanted to monitor my heart, so he put me on a 30-day event monitor. Every time I had an episode I could press a button and it would record my heart rate that could be sent to the doctor.

Last Sunday, I was at work and was doing fine. Around 3, I started feeling a little dizzy. After cleaning a patient (around 3:30), I decided to press the heart monitor button and send it to the doctor. I was sitting down as I did this. I was very dizzy and had a hard time breathing. Instead of gettting back to work after sending my heart reading, I continued to sit on one of those doctor's rolling stools. My co-worker, Jessi, kept walking by making sure I didn't need anything. Around 4, she told me to call Ryan because I was extremely flushed and she was worried about me. She also wanted to roll me to the nurses' station so the clerical could keep an eye on me until Ryan got to the hospital. Jessi continued down the hall to finish my vitals that I have not gotten for 4 o'clock and sent a nurse to come check on me. The nurse tried to roll me to the nurses' station when I passed out in her arms. They immediately called rapid responders and took my vitals. My BP was 150/98, heart rate 110, blood sugar 90, sat rate lower 90s, and respiratory rate was up in the 40s. Once rapid responders got there, they put me on oxygen (they had to, I mean I was working on the pulmonary floor of the hospital) and go me on a stretcher. They took me to the ER. When I got there, they cut my scrub top (including the wires to my event monitor), got an EKG, and got several vials of blood.

What was really nerve racking for me was the fact that Ryan was on the way and had no idea what had just happen. I knew the nurse had called my mom and probably said something completely ridiculous. And in the back of my mind was what were the patients and patients' families thinking when they saw their caregiver rushed off of the floor after a code had been called.

Apparently, the nurse had told my mom over the phone that I was "non-reponsive and that they were working on me". The reaction was Mom and Dad rushing to Johnson City in record time (for them) and Mom calling just about everyone. I knew that this would happen. The correct thing to say was that I was no really in any condition to talk, but that I was ok and Ryan was on the way to the hospital.

After a few hours, the doctor came in and diagnosed me with vertigo. I was discharged shortly after that. Once I got home, I laid on the couch until Mom and Dad got there. The repeated joke was "If you wanted us to come and visit you, all you had to do was ask! You didn't have to go to the ER!" ;) It was nice to see them.

This past week, I have seen my PCP and he has set me up for a tilt-table test to see if it is truly inner-ear that I am dealing with. Also, I saw him a second time this week. I currently am dealing with walking pneumonia. So, this past week has been sitting on the couch, trying to stay caught up with my classes, and sleeping.

I know this is a long post and I'm kinda being a Debbie Downer, but I wanted to blog to let everyone know what the situation was and that I am ok, just sick. Thank you for all of the prayers! Keep praying. Hopefully I will be back with a better update.

Stay healthy!