Thursday, August 25, 2011

Double Black Out

Well, this has been one exceptional week, for many reasons.

First, I started at a new school which I LOVE. My job is incredible!

Second, Bryan had to go out of town this week. He was at the Anadarko field office in Carrizo Springs. It's so close to Mexico that he could see a Mexican flag flying as he drove up. He was there with 3 other men that he works with.

Even though he was out of town, this may not have been has significant as it was except the following things happened:

Wednesday afternoon Mom decided to come stay over at our house since both Bryan & my Dad were out of town. (Dad was in China.) As it happens, we had a massive thunderstorm (the first in a while!) with some serious thunder and lightening, and quite a bit of rain to boot. Although the grass and trees were probably very appreciative, the power lines did not love the storm. Our power went out around 8pm and stayed out until sometime between 1:30-2:00am. We had to walk around a pitch-black house looking for either a lighter or flashlight, and then locate candles. We finally did!! The power-out made going to the bathroom, brushing teeth, and changing clothes for bed a little more interesting :)



We decided to camp out on the sectional in the living room for the night, which Maverick found a little strange. Since he wasn't in his usual spot, he was really restless and didn't get much sleep. I was so relieved to have Mom there instead of being there by myself for the first time without power!

The next day MORE drama happened!

I went to PureFitness to work out - this time with a personal trainer. I'm a very driven and motivated person by nature, so whenever a trainer tells me to do something I do it regardless of how hard it is. Later I found out some of the things she asked me to do she really didn't expect me to do, but just said it expecting me to not be able to finish, but to see "how far I could get." I find this rather terrible because like I mentioned- I don't stop unless there is something seriously wrong.
Well, at the end of the hour we were finishing up with free weights, and I was starting to feel a little weird while doing some bicep curls. I told the trainer that I needed to stop, and she kept saying "just a few more" (if she knew me better she'd realize that I NEVER say I have to stop unless it's really serious) ... and sure enough I had a seizure a few moments later. Yes, a seizure. Thankfully I had just dropped the weights and got on the floor right before it happened, totally ignoring the trainer and knowing that something was wrong. The seizure was followed by me blacking out for a few minutes. By the time I came to, the gym manager had contacted the paramedics and the ambulance was there. Thank GOODNESS my Mom was staying with me and had just gone to run a few errands and was already at the gym to pick me up. She was able to be there, and I can't say how much I appreciated that while laying on the floor of a huge gym with a bunch of people staring at me :( There were 3 paramedics and a police officer hovering, all doing different things - hooking up oxygen, taking my temperature, testing my pupils, pricking my finger every couple of minutes to check blood sugar, checking my pulse over and over and over, taking my blood pressure over and over and over .... and the list goes on. Then they hooked up 18 (18!?) different electrode things to me (my legs, arms, tons on my chest, stomach, etc) to check my heart.

I would like to note that I was was incredibly embarrassed. Humiliated. Mortified. Can I really show my face at the gym again?

My blood pressure was at a dangerously low level, and they weren't sure what caused everything to happen, so the paramedics really wanted me to go the hospital for further testing. Mom agreed, so off I went in the ambulance while they continued giving me oxygen, put in an IV, and kept checking my blood pressure hoping it would go up. Which it did eventually - and I started feeling much better.

At the hospital I got poked and prodded even more, had blood drawn from a separate arm for them to run labs, had an EKG done, and a CAT scan - all of which were inconclusive.

They told me that if I have another episode like this, that they would need to conduct further testing on my heart in case there is a dis-rhythm (?) or something that's causing me to occasionally pass out.

A couple of the milder moments:



It was crazy. I am fine now and feeling much better - nothing more than a headache and sore spots from the needles and electrode things. Hopefully it doesn't happen again!!

Power outage and fainting? That's TWO black outs in less than 24 hours ... what are the chances?

I'm so relieved Bryan is finally home, and Dad's on his way back now. I really am so glad my Mom was with me through all of this!

School tomorrow, so I've got to go get some sleep. Let's hope the power stays on tonight!

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