I had to go back to the hospital for the second time in a month. They still have no idea what's up. I had the worst doctor as my primary go-to during my stay. At the very end when she couldn't figure out what the problem was she told me that I'm having these symptoms because I'm depressed. She also said I'm not disabled and I'm young. I said, Actually I am disabled in body, but not in my spirit. I do have a heart condition that prevents me from walking long distances. I have a cane with a seat as well. I also have a handicap parking space. Before all this I was happy and loved going to school. She got this look like....yeah right. I even told her I'd walk around the building with her and show her how high my heart rate gets. She said no. I've had some really great docs and some horrible docs. She stunk! Go back to bedside manner class and realize that when you can't explain things just tell the patient so that that person can look elsewhere for help!!

Ok that was my rant and now I'm done. I'm going to list some things I'm thankful for. I have to think positive.

1. God
2. My family
3. My dogs (Gabby and Millie)
4. I can walk
5. I can see
6. I can eat and breathe!
7. The winter air
8. Christmas is coming
9. warm blankets and my house
10. hope.

Current Mood: aggravated

Well unfortunately things went down hill very quickly after I posted that last note. I started having waves of like adrenaline and tingles down my arms and back. It was horrible. I've never felt so bad in my life. They had no idea why! Turns out this hospital was not very competent and I will never be going back there again. But God got me through it, thankfully. They released me not know what was going on still and about a week later we got our answer from a new doctor. I had a sinus infection. My sinuses were 80% blocked. A nurse friend of mine told me that it can effect the brain and excite the nerves in your body. Hence the tingling. So 16 days later I'm doing much better. It was really scary for a while because I had no idea why I was feeling bad. When a hospital tells you they don't know what's going on after doing a lot of tests that can make someone worried!

All is better now!

See ya later!

Kate

Current Mood: amused
Current Music: believe- Josh Groban

Well I've done it now. I developed a cold over the weekend and didn't realize that taking a cold medicine would make my heart rate go crazy and make me feel like I was going to pass out! I was literally on the floor and couldn't move or my heart rate would jump to the 200's. Crazy-ness! So I had to get an ambulance ride over to the hospital where I got a lovely IV full of saline. I was pretty ok until 5 the next morning where I discovered that my heart rate was in the 130's laying down hardly moving.

I got an appointment with my heart doctor and he put me in the hospital. A couple of people in the office have told me that I did not look so hot! I believe it. I've been in extreme pain before, but this was completely different. My body felt like it was crumbling apart! So here I am. I've been in the hospital since 6:45 last night and might be here till Thanksgiving depending on how I'm doing. I think that because of my POTS I get dehydrated very quickly so it's a double whammy. I think i'm feeling a bit better, but we'll see. I'm missing two of my finals before Thanksgiving break which is a bummer, but my teachers so far have been understanding. On the plus side the food in the hospital has been quite good. I had a bit of blueberry pancakes and a biscuit. Still not hungry. I didn't eat at all yesterday except for some jello in the hospital so that's probably a factor. I can't believe this all happened because of two stupid liquid-gel cold and flu pills. NEVER AGAIN! I told the nurse she can burn the pills if she'd like. She got a kick out of that.

Till next time (and hopefully out of the hospital by then!)

Kate

This blog is to document my day to day life and how it feels to have a disability as a young person. I'll also be documenting the way people who I know and do not know react to my illness. I think this will be a really interesting social experiment and I hope it opens people's eyes when it comes to not judging young people who park in the handicap space. Yes, of course some teens are just using their grandmother's placard, but some actually have to use it. I do not want to use my placard nor do I want to use my cane, but that comes with my disability and it helps me get through the day.

Just to let you know a little bit about me... I am a college student who has a illness most commonly known as Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia which in layman's terms can be translated to whenever I stand my autonomic nervous system (which is basically the automatic pilot of the body, it regulates important things like digestion, heart rate, respiration rate, salivation, perspiration, diameter of the pupils, and bladder function. So really important stuff!) malfuntions and my blood is not circulated properly causing pooling in my legs. My heart has to pump about three times harder than a normal person in order to move the blood around my body. This causes me to feel dizzy, I can't stand for hardly anytime and sometimes I pass out if my blood pressure drops and my heart rate is high. I also have a hard time concentrating.

There is really only one test in my humble non-medical opinion that can diagnose POTS or orthostatic intolerence. That would be the dreaded tilt table. No one really told me what I would be experiencing and I want to let people know what they are getting into when they have to go through that. Basically this test is normally performed in the hospital under the watchful eye of a medical team. You are hooked up to an IV and strapped into a table (looks almost like a Frankenstein table but less scary and no monsters! :-) ) You are told to lay still for about ten minutes so they can collect your base heart rate and blood pressure. Then they raise the table to where you are standing (some people pass out so thankfully you are strapped in!) and told to stand still for around 30 minutes. Sometimes if you don't pass out they give you nitro glycerin which stresses the body out and causes the heart to have to work harder. I passed out at that point. There are some doctors who will just stand you up and see if you faint or if you heart rate goes up 30 beats within standing up. I've done both. It really depends on what doctor you go to see.

I'm hoping to update this at least once a week if not more.

God bless!

Kate (your sarcastic orthostatically intolerant seat cane wielding field reporter... :-) )

Current Mood: amused
Current Music: Tired of Being Sorry