About two weeks ago I started feeling short of breath. It would happen randomly, but was still pretty obnoxious especially considering the fact that I run 4-5 times a week and walk around the neighborhood most weeknights with Davido. I then began to notice other bizarre things like I'd either be starving or nauseous, but nothing in between. Then, I realized that my feet, ankles, and hands were swelling. Swelling to the point that I was having trouble putting shoes on. The final straw was when I put on jeans that fit a week ago, but could barely squeeze in to. I hopped on to the scale and discovered that I'd gained a little over ten pounds in less than two weeks. Now, I know I'm a big eater, but that is ridiculous! All this happened without me changing my diet at all.
I finally bit the bullet and called the Momma (aka Nurse Jenny). She scheduled an appointment for me with the doctor for after school on Monday. He took one look at me and began calling in the tests. Blood work, strep test, and ultrasound, and an EKG. He threw a flu shot in there for good measure. For a girl scared to death of needles, this was a series of torture experiments one after the other. Good thing the reading teacher in me thought ahead and brought a book (Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins-hit it up).
Two hours later it was determined that I would need a CT scan. Awesome. It was about five o'clock by this point and my sweet husband was beginning to wonder if he was ever going to see his wife again. Momma called him and he met me at the hospital for what turned into hours of fun (please tell me you're picking up on the extreme sarcasm here).
In case you didn't know, you're not allowed to eat before a CT scan. As previously mentioned, it was suppertime by this point and I was getting hungry, too bad my whining and protests were ignored by the hospital staff. They checked me in and gave me what seemed like a gallon of Crystal Light on crack. In all actuality it was the drink to prepare me for the scan. Then the wait began. Since I came straight from school I still had my computer with me and was able to get some school stuff done while I waited. About 7:30 the tech came back with a grim look on his face. A grim look is never good wherever you are, but especially in a hospital waiting room. It turns out the staff had been on the phone for the past hour trying to get clearance to switch me to a MRI instead of a CT scan due to the bizarre nature of my case. If only they had thought to tell the patient this we could have saved a lot of time and stress thanks to my direct contact with Nurse Jenny, but I digress.
At this point I was starving or at least it felt like it. David finally broke down and went to find a snack for himself. He was kind enough not to eat it in front of me, but just the smell of the Cheese Nips on his breath about did me in. I begged the tech to let me eat. It must have been the look in my eyes because he cleared it and my sweet hubby went in search of food for me. Thirty minutes later my tummy was full of Chick-fil-A, and we were still waiting.
Around 8:30 they took me back for the MRI. The ladies were super nice and answered all my questions, but the fact that I had to lay perfectly still in a tube for half an hour still had me freaked out. They hooked me up to an IV, turned on satellite radio in my headphones and slid me in. I'm not going to lie, I freaked a bit at first. It's not that I'm claustrophobic, but I have this thing about being able to move all my limbs. Bizarre, I know, but then again I'm a pretty bizarre person. Once they turned on the music and I got settled in, it really wasn't so bad. Oddly enough, it was actually kind of soothing. I started to relax and began taking breaths on command. What really helped me was naming my students. I went through each table in each of my classes and named all my students' first and last names. Who knew the kids could actually calm me down?!? Oh, the irony. . . After they MRI they sent us on our merry way back home. I took some of the diuretics they gave me to eliminate the swelling and climbed into bed. The minute my head hit the pillow I was out for the count.
That brings us to today. I have an echo cardiogram scheduled for later this afternoon, which will hopefully shed some light on that whole breathing conundrum. For those of you keeping track here is a list of the firsts from this experience:
- First ultrasound
- First EKG
- First trip to the hospital not to visit someone (though I've spent plenty of times there visiting the sisters!)
- First hospital band
- First time drinking the CT scan juice
- First time having an MRI
- First time actually having something wrong with me and it not being just my hypochondriac tendencies acting up.
oh my goodness...bless your heart!
ReplyDeleteI want to say "hope everything works out!" but I'm aware this is an old post...I'm just now checking out the history of your blog for all time. So... I'll keep reading.