Diagnosis

The fainting saga has likely come to an end, thank goodness. I had an appointment at the Faint and Fall Clinic at the University today, and here's what they said:

1. There are a couple things I can do to increase the amount of time between feeling faint and actually fainting, but they won't alleviate the symptoms.
2. Most cardiologists would have put me on a pacemaker because of my 8-second gap in heartbeat
3. They're putting me on medication.

I'm interested to see if it's going to work - it takes about 4-6 weeks I guess, and then I'll go back to the clinic in 3 months. I just want to be able to go through a week without feeling like I need to sit down or I'm not going to be able to function, which right now, isn't happening. I don't faint every week, but I still get lightheaded/dizzy/faint and the occasional blackout at least every week. So there will probably be more stories to come about how things are working and more dr. visits later on.

Graceful...Part IV

Well, today was another adventure in the realm of my body and fainting. My doctor scheduled me for a Tilt Table Test at the U today. 8am - Morgan and I rolled into the cardiovascular clinic for the test.

Let me tell you, it was an interesting experience! Blood pressure cuff on each arm, sensor on my left wrist, IV in my right arm, gazillions of EKG leads all over the front of me. The IV took a while to get in, and the nurse had to call a woman from "the stick team" to actually get the needle in...ouch!

Then, I'm supposed to lie on this table for 20 minutes (as all this hooking up, needle sticking, and velcroing is happening). Then, a doctor comes in and I'm set up in an almost standing position (still strapped to the table). This is supposed to remove any support from muscles or the skeleton that may affect my heart rate/blood pressure, etc. So my body is left to its own devices - or at least the blood pumping system is.

About 3 minutes into the test I started feeling kinda funky and then my vision went starry and I began to blackout. The doctor and nurse were asking me how I was doing, and when I responded "I can't see" they took me down from the standing position and into lying down again. As I came to, my hearing was really muffled and I couldn't hear very well, but was able to make "grunting" noises in response to the doctor's questions.

They started pumping fluids into my veins to help me recover more quickly - and that did help. A full liter was gone by the time I left the office. The nurse started talking to me about what had happened and said that she'd never had someone pass out so quickly in the test. The doctor said it was DEFINITELY positive for Vasovagal Syncope, and that I actually passed out twice in the passing out. I guess my body started to recover a little from the first episode and then went back down into passing out mode again. The nurse said my heart actually stopped beating for 8 seconds, and she hasn't seen that kind of pause in a while!

How timely this was is interesting. The U is just starting a "Faint and Fall" Clinic in November with an expert in the field of fainting/collapsing/what-have-you. They said they're going to get me an appointment there as soon as it starts up, so that I can talk to a doctor there about what's happening and how to avoid these episodes.

So there you have it - the continuing saga of graceful fainting.

Graceful...the continuing drama

Well, a week after the last post entitled "Graceful" I did not attend my voice lesson due to lightheadedness, I could no longer stand, so my roommate/coworker took me to a local clinic to see a doctor. He wasn't sure what was happening and ordered some blood work to check out my kidney/liver function, thyroid, and iron count. I went in for a follow up appointment a week later, all the tests had come back normal, so now it's time for more tests.

On Wednesday, I had an echocardiogram, and this coming Tuesday morning I will have something called a "Tilt Table Test", which should be interesting. I guess if the Tilt Table comes back positive, he'll diagnose me with something called Vasovagal Syncope, but if it comes back negative, I'll be referred to cardiology and have to monitor my heart for a while or something like that.

Please pray that my doctor would have continued wisdom to identify and remedy the problem in my body.

Graceful...part two

Today brought another onset of lightheadedness complete with bouts of blacking out...and though I didn't actually lose consciousness today, I would describe what happened as passing out. Goodness - I was taken to Student Health Services this afternoon and they weren't able to find something wrong with me...he said it sounded like hypoglycemia, but when my bloodsugar was checked, it was normal, as was my blood pressure, and heart rhythm. Most of the people I work with, as well as my roommates are now encouraging me to see a doctor about what's going on...so we'll see where that goes. It's just weird!

Young Minds

Tonight, while babysitting, I read a book about stars to my young charges. It had all sorts of cool facts that I found quite interesting, and really cool pictures of space and stars, etc.

What was really cool, was that I showed the 6-year-old one of the pictues and pointed out where a supernova from 3,000 years ago still had light shining in space. This was confusing to him. He continued to ask me questions about space and stars and sky and anything else he could figure was related to the supernova still shining light after 3,000 years. But the first thing he wanted to know was how long 3,000 years was.

This conversation lasted quite a while and eventually led into talking about clouds, gravity, and the water cycle.

Some of the concepts he grasped, others, he did not, but he's got a curious mind that wants to know more and wants to know "why"...which I think is awesome. I've read other books to him before about sharks and water creatures, and we've talked about sea monster legends, and how big whales and squid can be! :)

I love watching young minds get curious about the world and ask questions, even if they don't totally get the answers right now...the fact is, they're hungry to learn, and I love that.

fun.

That's the word that sums up today!

For the last 5 weeks, we've been in one room that's a couple minutes walk away from the building we're living in, and today, we had to move out. So that meant packing up the toys and games and hauling them in vehicles up to the other building. Not so fun. The fun part came with what we discovered in the closet...a long cardboard tube that resembled what comes off a paper towel or toilet paper roll. This was then used to play Ninja. Upon breaking in half, it was then used as swords and multiple sword fights ensued employing quotes from the movie "The Princess Bride".

After about a 30 minute lunch break, we reconvened in the new room, where the kids started building a fort using yarn, chairs, and blankets. I was impressed by their creativity. While fort building was taking place, two kids at a time came out with me and tie-dyed shirts! My hands are still stained from the dye, and this was hours ago! All the kids were able to do a shirt, only one of the kids doesn't have one, but he's 14 months...we'll make one for him later when Katie and I do ours.

Tonight was interesting as well, there was a "project fun night" and the opportunity to climb an outdoor rock wall, bungee jump on a trampoline, as well as mini-mini golf. Originally I'd planned on golfing, but was sucked in to the bungee crowd. It looked sort of fun, but quite frightening, but somehow, I was coerced into getting up on one. It was definitely fun, and I'm glad I did it! The sensation of one's stomach jumping into one's throat is not easily forgotten. There were several times I couldn't touch the trampoline with my feet and was just dangling in mid-air...so weird!

All-in-All, a fun day! I've now got to sleep and get ready to hike with some of the kids in the morning!!!

Playing Mom

I love playing Mommy.

So much.

I don't think I can really describe how much I love being a "mom" to the kids that are in my care. Getting to play with them, Make things with them, Comfort them, tuck them into bed, read stories, and just sit and "be" together.

I babysat some of my kids from childcare the other night and we made Knight's Helmets from newspaper and then took pictures together and then read Dr. Seuss stories.

It has been amazing to get to be with the children here, and it really has strengthened my desire to be a mother. I made spaghetti with one arm for the first time the other day (my other arm was occupied with a baby). And a 2-year-old fell asleep on my shoulder this week...AHHHH!!! I can't even describe how much I want that.

"The sweetest sounds to mortals given are heard in Mother, Home, and Heaven" ~ William Goldsmith Brown