Medical mystery cliff notes!!!

Seriously, I know no one actually reads this blog anymore... everyone has moved on to way cooler things like Instagram! I am totally in the minority but I still believe in blogging! But just in case, to save even one person a little time, here are some cliff notes as to my last blog post. Who in the world would want to sit and read that (especially with how I ramble) I don't know - but let me save time....here ya go! :)


After passing out with big time heart palpitations, shortness of breath, and vertigo at 2:30 a.m. on July 23rd, I had:

• 4 abnormal EKGs indicating a possible heart attack

• Blood test confirmed no heart attack, but possible blood clot 3 days later... CT scan confirmed no blood clot
• Unexplained pulse rate that would shoot through the roof upon standing
• Failed a treadmill test turning gray  with oxygen levels dropping to 64 ( below 90 is abnormal)
• Weeks of bed rest as cardiologist told me I might have a stroke, plus I was so out of it my body was not functioning properly I could hardly do anything due to ongoing chest pain, extreme vertigo ( I felt as though I were spinning ALL.THE.TIME!), and shortness of breath just in the littlest of activity (like walking to the bathroom). 
• Echo cardiogram confirmed small hole in my heart... but doctors weren't positive it's what was causing all my symptoms...next step would be heart catheterization but since I was starting to feel somewhat better after there was finally talk of this we elected not to...for now
• Bounced around to lots of specialists... lots of waiting, lots of bedrest, LOTS of terrible vertigo, memory problems, on and off chest pain continued, shortness of breath...
• One really huge low was having home health deliver oxygen tanks to my house and having to be on oxygen... it was devastating to say the least. 
• Finally a big break through: The Pulmonologist sent me to an ENT who ordered testing for my vertigo, which found that my inner ear had been thrown off... likely due to lack of blood flow to the brain the night I passed out. Not an explanation as to WHY I passed out but a big explanation as to why I was having the ongoing, horrible vertigo... it really messed me up! As a result, I started Vestibular physical therapy with an AWESOME PT who taught me techniques that retrained my brain as to it's new normal after having my inner ear thrown out of whack. Finished (well still doing it at home) with him and after 2 months this has helped me immensely! Still in the works but SO grateful to have figured that out! Who knew that the inner ear could mess you up so bad? I couldn't see clearly, I couldn't take in very much info without my brain feeling completely overwhelmed... it was so, SO awful! Just a piece of a larger puzzle of this crazy medical saga, but a HUGE piece to finally have solved!

Still not feeling "normal" but so much better, the week before Thanksgiving I went to my newly established general physician, who did a thorough blood work up on me (which I swear they did at the hospital, but apparently it wasn't thorough enough)... found that I had severely low levels of Vitamin D (most people are deficient), Omega 3 and Iodine... also found out this week after extensive hormone testing that I am really low in a few hormones, including Progesterone, which can cause lots of problems, including heart issues. The doctor doesn't think these deficiencies CAUSED any of these problems starting back in July, but definitely could have contributed to them.

SO gratfeul to finally have a good doctor and to be figuring some of these things out... and SO glad after FOUR AND A HALF MONTHS(!) to finally be feeling like I'm actually going to make it through this. Feeling so awful for so long was so frustrating, and after being told that I possibly had a fatal illness, Pulmonary Hypertension (the only diagnosis that my symptoms perfectly matched up with), it was pretty scary for a while. We still don't have ALL the answers, like for sure what made me pass out that night, but for now I'm just so grateful to be on the upswing and so grateful for the time I have been given with my cute family. I'm ready to move on and I'm looking forward to feeling healthy for the holidays, and to even maybe catch up on this dang blog so that I can remember these important experiences, called LIFE. :)

Happy Holidays everyone!