Emergency Rooms

When you wake up in the morning do you ever anticipate that, Today I will be spending the day in the emergency room? I don’t.If my calculations are correct I have only been in a hospital about 9 or 10 times total in my life. Only 2 of those were for me the rest were for friends. This morning Bill had a dentist appointment at 7:30. Originally I was going to go with him and take the car and go have my blood drawn for my yearly check up. When I woke up I had a headache from the left over pain in my jaw from the teeth extractions so instead of having my blood drawn and then waiting in a dentist waiting room for 30 mins I decided to sleep an extra hour and Bill would come back by and pick me up. So I go back to sleep and wake up at 8 feeling much better and take a nice long shower and get ready for Bill to pick me up. He was supposed to call when he left the dentist about 8:30 to let me know he was on the way. I sat here on the couch for a few mins after 8:30 when finally he called. I pick up and he tells me that we have a problem. Apparently on his way to the dentist he had another episode. It was not as bad. He was driving and felt that he was getting ill again. Bill being the luckiest man I know was of course only a short distance from a Fire Department. He pulled into the FD’s front lot, got out knocked on the door and when they opened it proceeded to crash to the floor. This time, however, he did not lose consciousness fully. The firemen rushed around taking his vitals and contacted the paramedics that didn’t happen to be in the building and shortly thereafter (a little over an hour) he started feeling better. At which point the firemen loaded him up and hauled him down to the hospital near his personal physician (different hospital then last time). Unfortunately since it had snowed this morning Bill had taken the Jeep. After my initial freak out I made phone calls until I could find a wonderful friend (Thank you Tanya!!) to pick me up and take me to the Jeep so that I could then get to the hospital. I get to the hospital and we wait and wait. Since this time he did not pass out and stop breathing so he was not a priority. They ran a few tests before I got there and X-rayed his chest again. The new ER Doctor (Doctor Spies) was much better at communicating with us then the prior ER doctor whom I did not like the first time I saw him. This doctor was determined that “These things DON’T just happen.” After a few other tests and the results continuing to come back negative he decided Bill needed to see a Cardiologist. Bill’s cardiologist was in the building next door but he was not in today. By this time (3:30pm) they decided to send us next door to the Cardiologist that was on staff. We went next door and sat in the room for almost an hour before we got to see the doctor. The doctor reviewed all of the files, The ER documents from Bellevue, the ER documents from Renton, the doctors’ reports of all 5 of the doctors Bill has seen in the last month. He walked in the room and said that he is 95% sure it is Vasovagal Syncope. It is causes a drop in blood pressure so that your brain is not getting enough blood so your body just… stops. It is apparently very common. The blood pressure medicine he is taking apparently is known to aggravate this condition. The Cardiologist changed the medicine Bill takes and sent us home.

So we think this may be the resolution. We are still hesitant to accept something that sounds so simple and also because Bill has taken this particular Blood pressure medicine for over 10 years. I am glad that we may have an accurate diagnosis and hope that it is truly this simple. I guess at this point only time will tell. Needless to say Bill won’t be driving anytime soon. LOL So that’s the deal. Sucks to sit in the ER all day and sucks that it happened again but glad we had someone else that was more determined to get it figured out. At least tomorrow is Friday. I think I need a vacation.

Stress Level?

How do you determine what your stress level is? This is something I have battled this week. In the past my stress has manifested as physical ailments. Upset stomach, headache, etc. or it has been obvious through my level of crankiness. The past week I have been upbeat and not much in the way of stomach problems. Last night I finally broke. I have not felt like I am stressed. I have been sleeping well and no more headaches then I would say is normal but knowing this morning I am going to the dentist I thought I would see more signs of stress. It turns out that over the years I have trained myself to just ignore stress. This is not something I feel is entirely healthy. I am sure it serves a purpose of getting the "job" done but is it really healthy to completely ignore your stress? This morning I am completely aware of my stress. LOL My stomach is churning, I feel like hiding in the closet and crying about it. I HATE the dentist. I am terrified about how I am going to do and what might happen. I know I have to do this. The pain I have been living with is not healthy and the infections I have had in my mouth are causing harm to the rest of me. If I am going to work hard to lose weight and become healthy I have to be healthy all over.

This morning the funniest thing is that the thing upsetting me the most is I can't drink water. They are going to put me out and I can not have anything in my stomach. I have trained myself for several years to drink water at every available oppurtunity. I usually drink about 3 liters a day and it is almost painful to be so dry like I am this morning. I don't trust myself to even stand in the kitchen or brush my teeth because I know my intinct will be to down some water. LOL I walked past a bottle of baby oil and thought how soothing that would be on my dry mouth. UGH!

Well I am leaving in 6 minutes. Wish me luck!

Leslie

Facing a fear - Dentists

I have an insane fear of dentists. In the past I have had a few very disturbing experiences at the dentist. One in particular was when I was 8 years old and was kicked in the mouth with a rollerskate and lost about 8 teeth in 2 seconds (luckily baby teeth). I remember waking up on an empty roller-rink floor lying in a pool of blood with dozens of people staring at me in horror. Then I don't remember anything more until I was strapped to a dentist chair and they were doing surgery (they hadn’t given me enough NO to knock me out so I came to in the middle of the surgery).

Because of this and of course the insanity that is the COST of going to the dentist I have made excuses for over 16 years not to go. I brush my teeth and floss fairly regularly (gotta love my SonicCare). I found out this week that I have an unnatural quantity of Cavity causing bacteria in my mouth. On the good side my gums are in decent condition except for a couple small areas where bone loss has caused them to recede.

Off track: Did you know that the first person to kiss a baby transfers their MOUTH health to the baby? Unlucky for me both of my parents have a high level of cavity causing bacteria (my mom had her last few teeth pulled before she was 30 and my dad only has about 6 teeth left, dentures were a normal part of my youth). If you are pregnant or plan to be pregnant make sure they whoever in your family that has the best teeth is the first to kiss the baby. J Back on track.

With the help of my doctor I have finally been able to make an appointment to have my teeth and gums assessed. My doctor has been talking to me about it for over a year because mouth disease can affect your whole body. With me trying to (finally) do the right thing and get my body in shape I HAVE to address the infections and bacteria in my mouth or I will only be partially healthy even if I get to my goal weight. I went to the dentist yesterday (without throwing up which is HUGE) and this morning I went to an oral surgeon. I am going to have to have a few teeth pulled including my impacted wisdom teeth. This will be happening next Friday. I am terrified but I am resolved that this is something I HAVE to do. I have justified in my mind that the pain I will go through getting things back on track will be far less then the pain I have lived with almost daily for the last 15 or so years. With the loss of several fillings over the years my teeth have fallen into a serious state of disrepair. It will cost me a ton of money but I also know that I cannot wait any longer to fix this. The hygienist at my dentist is wonderful. She put me at ease very quickly and as soon as the Oral surgeon walked into the room I felt comfortable. This is so odd to me since I have spent so many years absolutely terrified to even think about making an appointment.

If you are like me and have put off going to the dentist please do me and yourself a favor and go. Even if you are not in pain there could still be infections that can cause problems.

On a funny note the hygienist was so funny. When she saw the plaque that has accumulated on my teeth she was so excited by the “challenge” LOL. I think I like her. Heh

Stay healthy and whatever you are putting off for whatever your reason… get over it. I am.

On a side note: Shadow is getting healthier everyday and will go in for a sonogram of his liver next week.

Bill is doing fine. He had his 24 hour blood pressure monitor the other day and his blood pressure is higher then it should be. They think his "incident" may have been caused by that. More tests to be run soon so I will keep you informed.

Also: Any suggestions for soft foods I can eat after the surgery? Ice Cream is NOT a good plan with my cold sensitivity. :-)