Brooke, such good news for you and your family! 💘
I can't wait for the day when I get to experience the joy of grandchildren.
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First, S07, don't feel alone in your struggles. You're in good company.
BUT... the good news is, my lifetime of experience tells me that if you never, never give up, chances are good you will succeed. It sounds trite, but it's true. The race is long.
Stay strong! Good luck! :hug:
It does not matter how slowly you go as long as you do not stop.
Confucius
Aw, thank you! I'm still plenty afraid but I've learned to keep pushing forward anyway.
I'm about a week or so from finishing my MFA degree!
Brooke and Berniessurfboard - congrats!
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Warning: Long story ahead.
I had a bad time last Friday. I was at the Jason Aldean concert. I hadn't been feeling myself for about 2 weeks prior and was having stomach pain the day before. I got the VIP package which had a room with games, cash bar with drink ticket, snack table, and a preshow performance area. I was sooooo puny I had to sit down. Well there was NO chairs in this VIP area so I had to sit in the bathroom in a stall just so I could rest before the show. I walked from that area to the arena, and missed the first half of the first openers set trying to get there, feeling faint and sweaty. I got to my seat and stayed there. I tried standing up for my favorite song and fell backwards. I thought I tripped.
Well, as I was getting up to leave I felt WORSE. I made it up the stairs to the exit and collapsed at the top of the stairs. I sat down and a security guy happened to be coming through and saw I was in distress. I said I was having chest pain, dizziness, shortness of breath, and feeling extremely faint. So he radioes in for extra people and they find a wheelchair and take me to the first aid room. There is a nurse there and then I passed out. And woke up. And passed out again. This happened like 3 times I'm told. They took my vitals (I was surprised to see a local arena with monitoring equipment!) and my BP was very low, oxygen was low, and my pulse was fast. Also my blood sugar was very low. After passing out the 2nd time they called for EMS and they came took me in the ambulance and started IVs, got me on oxygen, and put me on monitors and did a EKG. My EKG showed no heart attack (thank god) but a fast and thready heart rhythm. It so happens that the big trauma center is like 5 minutes away from the arena, so they finally took off and there was two guys in the back with me and luckily I didn't pass out any more. I had an adrenal crisis, a life threatening problem caused by a condition. All symptoms caused by this.
Now for the backstory, I have adrenal insufficiency. What that means is I make no stress hormone on my own - also known as cortisol. My fight or flight system is broken. Even a little bit of physical or emotional stress can be dangerous. I have to have mega doses through my IV for any surgery and in any serious illness. I've always been on a lower dose of daily cortisol than normal because it causes weight gain. Well I just saw my endocrinologist (hormone doctor) and he's doing bloodwork and tripling my daily dose of cortisol. It's been happening more often than ever before. I had an adrenal crisis back at Christmastime. That time it was the flu. I also had it with anaphylaxis two years ago when I almost died. Double whammy - anaphylactic shock AND adrenal crisis. If I didn't go to the ER when I did I wouldn't be here.
So I find out the reason I wasn't feeling well is I was running very low on cortisol. I had no energy, bad stomach pain, and some muscle weakness. I was having trouble climbing the stairs in our house. I had lost 30 pounds in 2 weeks and not on a diet. I found all this out afterwards, of course. I had weighed myself about 2 weeks prior. I was shocked. I just felt not myself at all.
I'm feeling MUCH better now and my energy is back where it should be and I have no pain or weakness right now. I'm just waiting on the bloodwork and further instructions from my doctor. I also have an emergency injection kit that I have to take with me everywhere I go, and have to carry it on me. I had a vial and syringe at home but as serious as it's getting, I need to be better about carrying it with me and having extras and making sure to not forget it. I'm also getting a Medical ID necklace made to have on me at all times from now on.
Pretty scary experience. I've had about 5 of these in my life of varying severity and 3 are fairly recent, which is concerning to me and my family. Luckily my dad went with me and was able to relay my medical history and medications to EMS while I was out of it. My mom was also across town shopping so she met us at the hospital as she brought us to the concert and was going to pick us up.
So if I haven't been on the Border lately, that's why. Just been feeling like crap until this week when my meds got changed. Even just the IV steroids in the hospital made me feel better than I had in weeks. Should have went to my MD.
Oh my gosh, Walsh Fan! That is so scary - I hope you're ok!