After swelling up like a balloon, as a result of taking a new drug, Minoxidil for blood pressure. I was swollen, miserable and angry. I was angry because I feel like a guinea pig while the doctors play trial and error with my body. Angry, I called my beloved Dr. Z and let him know of my displeasure with his attempts to regulate my blood pressure. Keep in mind, my only goal is to stay alive here. At one end I've got influence from a friend telling me to discard all of the drugs and just live my life and on the other end of the spectrum, I've got an over-zealous doctor trying to cure my high blood pressure and become the new boy wonder. Somewhere in the middle is the ground that I wish to exist upon.
After the doctor telling me to increase my diuretics threefold, I did precisely as he said and sometime after dinner, around the time that I was taking my last bite of chicken, vegetables and rice in a stewed tomato sauce. I felt the instant attack of something unusual. Without warning, I suddenly was dizzy, nausea, light headed and confused. Scared went along with the other symptoms too. I went to the sofa and laid down for a few minutes and quickly fell asleep. I awakened about 20 minutes later and felt worse if anything and was wondering if my heart had anything to do with is uneasy feeling. Along with that feeling came a panic feeling and I checked my blood pressure and it was high, but not unusually high for my previous events.
I don't get frightened easily, but when something hits you suddenly, like a baseball bat hitting you over the head, you tend to pay attention. I called a friend that typically is helpful, but tonight she had her own issues and suggested I go to the emergency room. Leaving my dogs at a time like this sounds silly, but the older boy is in his final stages of life and pretty unpredictable, but my friend convinced me that I could be of no help to him if I were dead. Hanging up, I realized I was once again alone.
She was right though. As much as I literally HATE emergency rooms, I felt I was definitely a candidate. I took precautions for the dogs, let them out and took them to bed. As soon as they were tucked nicely in bed, I sneaked out the garage door, but could feel their breath on my feet as I closed the door. They were not to be fooled.
Wondering if I could actually drive, I took my chances because an ambulance was out of the question. I found a parking place and walked the distance to the ER entrance. I was lucky, they were almost empty. I was told to have a seat and was eventually interviewed by what many would describe as an army Sargent. She was about 45, overweight and had no sense of humor. She asked me if I were in pain and I started telling her it was more of dizzy and disoriented. She looked at me and said, it's a yes or no answer! I couldn't help but laugh at her. I think we created a nonverbal dislike for one another. After my brief interview with Sargent Not-so-nice, I was told to wait again. As soon as I sat down, I overheard a women be told that she would be admitted as soon as there was a room for her and then heard my name yelled out.
I was stripped of my insurance information and told to wait again. This is where things got better. Whew! I was lead into the ER and given instructions to strip and put on a gown. The last thing I heard was, it fastens in the back. I took off my shirt and put the thing on backwards on purpose. I wasn't trying to hide any boobs! Suddenly I was rushed by first a doctor with a foo man chu mustache and a gray crew cut. He seemed normal, intelligent and had a good way about him. He was clearly in charge. Followed by him were a man to get an EKG, a nurse to draw blood, a gentleman to cart me off to x-ray and returned within 7 minutes. I was told to wait and then a man about 51 years old, (I asked ) was assigned to me as my nurse. We made small talk and I found that he was a former fire fighter that was hurt during duty and went to nursing school. He lived in Prescott and had a great love for old Jeeps. He made the time go by quickly as we chatted. He hooked me up to the monitor and told me he'd be back.
Within a relatively short period of time, the doctor returned with my test results. Everything was in order, but I was severely dehydrated from the severe water loss. It can create all of the symptoms that I experienced. I was given an IV to replace some of the lost fluid and frankly, I started feeling better almost immediately. My head cleared and my thinking process was restored. Evidently my male nurse had finished his shift and a new nurse was assigned to me. I was laying in this bed with an IV stuck in my arm and she asked before she left if there were anything she could do for me. I realized I had been wearing my thongs on my feet, ever since my trip to the x-ray and they were getting uncomfortable. I asked her if she could take my thongs off of my feet. She looked at me with a smirk on her face and said, "Am I glad you said feet"???...
I went home to the Dynamic Duo shortly after that, but the nurse and I did laugh for about 5 minutes on that one...
Mel
9/19/08
After the doctor telling me to increase my diuretics threefold, I did precisely as he said and sometime after dinner, around the time that I was taking my last bite of chicken, vegetables and rice in a stewed tomato sauce. I felt the instant attack of something unusual. Without warning, I suddenly was dizzy, nausea, light headed and confused. Scared went along with the other symptoms too. I went to the sofa and laid down for a few minutes and quickly fell asleep. I awakened about 20 minutes later and felt worse if anything and was wondering if my heart had anything to do with is uneasy feeling. Along with that feeling came a panic feeling and I checked my blood pressure and it was high, but not unusually high for my previous events.
I don't get frightened easily, but when something hits you suddenly, like a baseball bat hitting you over the head, you tend to pay attention. I called a friend that typically is helpful, but tonight she had her own issues and suggested I go to the emergency room. Leaving my dogs at a time like this sounds silly, but the older boy is in his final stages of life and pretty unpredictable, but my friend convinced me that I could be of no help to him if I were dead. Hanging up, I realized I was once again alone.
She was right though. As much as I literally HATE emergency rooms, I felt I was definitely a candidate. I took precautions for the dogs, let them out and took them to bed. As soon as they were tucked nicely in bed, I sneaked out the garage door, but could feel their breath on my feet as I closed the door. They were not to be fooled.
Wondering if I could actually drive, I took my chances because an ambulance was out of the question. I found a parking place and walked the distance to the ER entrance. I was lucky, they were almost empty. I was told to have a seat and was eventually interviewed by what many would describe as an army Sargent. She was about 45, overweight and had no sense of humor. She asked me if I were in pain and I started telling her it was more of dizzy and disoriented. She looked at me and said, it's a yes or no answer! I couldn't help but laugh at her. I think we created a nonverbal dislike for one another. After my brief interview with Sargent Not-so-nice, I was told to wait again. As soon as I sat down, I overheard a women be told that she would be admitted as soon as there was a room for her and then heard my name yelled out.
I was stripped of my insurance information and told to wait again. This is where things got better. Whew! I was lead into the ER and given instructions to strip and put on a gown. The last thing I heard was, it fastens in the back. I took off my shirt and put the thing on backwards on purpose. I wasn't trying to hide any boobs! Suddenly I was rushed by first a doctor with a foo man chu mustache and a gray crew cut. He seemed normal, intelligent and had a good way about him. He was clearly in charge. Followed by him were a man to get an EKG, a nurse to draw blood, a gentleman to cart me off to x-ray and returned within 7 minutes. I was told to wait and then a man about 51 years old, (I asked ) was assigned to me as my nurse. We made small talk and I found that he was a former fire fighter that was hurt during duty and went to nursing school. He lived in Prescott and had a great love for old Jeeps. He made the time go by quickly as we chatted. He hooked me up to the monitor and told me he'd be back.
Within a relatively short period of time, the doctor returned with my test results. Everything was in order, but I was severely dehydrated from the severe water loss. It can create all of the symptoms that I experienced. I was given an IV to replace some of the lost fluid and frankly, I started feeling better almost immediately. My head cleared and my thinking process was restored. Evidently my male nurse had finished his shift and a new nurse was assigned to me. I was laying in this bed with an IV stuck in my arm and she asked before she left if there were anything she could do for me. I realized I had been wearing my thongs on my feet, ever since my trip to the x-ray and they were getting uncomfortable. I asked her if she could take my thongs off of my feet. She looked at me with a smirk on her face and said, "Am I glad you said feet"???...
I went home to the Dynamic Duo shortly after that, but the nurse and I did laugh for about 5 minutes on that one...
Mel
9/19/08
No comments:
Post a Comment