Going Back in Time a Little....

Since I have been the worst blogger in all of history for the last couple of months, I thought I'd fill in some of the blanks with a couple of journal entries from my "absence" (read: living in a bubble)


August 10th, 2008

"Ahhh--I had another "adventure" today with my health...I'm actually just settling back in at home after being in the ER all afternoon! It has been the strangest day! We all know I haven't been feeling well (I think I've made that pretty clear lately)-Today, though, I really, really, REALLY didn't feel well. I went shopping at Whole Foods with Andy to find some gluten free, dairy free food that I can eat and the whole time I was there, I kept feeling like I was going to just-POOF!-pass out on the floor. It came on suddenly and just kept getting worse, so I went to sit out in the car. I thought being outside would help, but it didn't. I tried driving around the parking lot, first with the A/C going full blast, then with the windows rolled down--Still nothing helped. I prayed over and over, begging (sometimes loudly) for God to help me. I kept feeling like I was spinning, dizzy, confused and nauseated. It was absolutely terrifying! My heart was going nuts like it always does...I finally called Dr. Fields. I described what was going on as best as I could and she promptly recommended me to go to the hospital to be checked out...So, I did. Without delay."

At The Hospital:

When I got there, the waiting room was filled with the obligatory cold and flu sufferers, a few people with disposable puke bins in their laps and several others who looked like they were there to hang out. I was a wreck--It didn't help to think I might come in with one problem and leave with a multitude of worse ones. ANYWAYS, (God protect me) they called my name before too long, took my temperature and blood pressure and, after asking me a few questions about my medical history, announced, "Well, it looks like you're in Afib."----Can I just tell you that at that moment, I entered my own personal nightmare! Afib, Afib, Afib...My mind raced with all of the comments my mom had made about how terrible and deadly the condition is---about how she'd be fine with suffering anything if only not that...I thought about my aunt, my mom's uncle, my cousin...all with the dreaded Afib...and now the ugly words were being directed at me on this innocent Sunday afternoon. I was sure I was going to die. They wheeled me to the hallway of the ER rooms, then transferred me to the chest pain center where they took blood samples and hooked me up to all kinds of monitors. At one point, my heart rate was 120 BPM just sitting there! My mom (fresh off of a plane from Mexico) came with my step-dad, her nose shining bright red from crying in the car. I was more scared after seeing that...But I have to say that even though I was scared, I know my prayers (and my family's prayers --Bless their hearts!) were heard. The staff was wonderful. I was never left alone, wondering if anyone was ever going to help me. The man who took my blood told me jokes and made me feel comfortable, even as my blood leaked all over the bed and down my arm. The nurses were all great, too, answering my paranoid questions about air bubbles in IV tubes with all of the patience I could ask for. It was a nice change from previous hospital experiences, yet it was the scariest thing I'd ever been there for. I was there for several hours, hooked up to heart, oxygen, and blood pressure monitors and after blood test results were read and chest x-rays were examined (nice cheap visit to the hospital!), I was free to go.


A Clue?

Would you believe that my blood work all came back normal (even my thyroid!!!) EXCEPT my blood glucose level--It was 144!! What the heck, right?! I went in for heart issues (which I will find out more about this week when I go to the arrhythmia specialist) and came out with a possible case of DIABETES...Whaaaat?! That really threw me for a loop! DIABETES?! Could it be?! Could it have been diabetes this whole time? All these years of sickness because no one thought to check my blood sugar? Surely not...But my heart was staying normal through all of my dizzy spells, so maybe...MAYBE we have found an answer? How strange! When I heard my glucose levels were high, I tried thinking back to when I felt the "weirdest"---Once at mom's after drinking two glasses of orange soda, I had felt like I was going to die, if not from the dizziness, then from the horrible nausea. We had tested my blood sugar on my step-dad's machine and it registered in the 140s then, too! We had thought at the time that the machine had messed up. (DIABETES?!) The other day, I felt extremely ill--I thought it was from eating wheat and dairy from a peach and blueberry cobbler I made...could it have been the sugar??? Today could a big glass of orange juice, combined with not eating have sent my glucose levels through the roof??? Its food for thought. Maybe I've found the starting point for getting better.....

Anyways, I am at home now--thanking God with all of my might that I didn't have to stay there--didn't have to die there. I am home with Andy and Landon, my whole family is praying for me...I am blessed. ABUNDANTLY.

Thank you, God!"