My favorite lyrics to recite during tests etc:
"If the burden seems too much to bear / remember / the end will justify the pain it took to get us there." -Relient K ( http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B0En7JZ0KQc&feature=related )
Today's tests have been a lot more challenging physically than yesterday's. The endocrine test (Cortrosyn Challenge) didn't go too well. Basic procedure: take blood sample, inject Cortisol (?) through an I.V., take another sample at 30 and 60 minutes. Most people have no reaction to this test. I had lots of symptoms...flushed, palpitations, stomach pressure (new), full body tremors, very cold extremities. They let me lie down (my first real hospital bed!) and brought my mom from the waiting room back to the room where I was.
It was a really rough hour, but maybe a blessing in disguise since we met an AMAZING nurse who talked to us about the possibility of POTS. She said she's been seeing teens/young adults with Dysautonomia for 36 years, and often the doctors are -- to be quite frank -- just ageist and sexist about it. "Poor you, teen girl. Not ready for college so you have all these psychosomatic symptoms. Tsk. *Depression! Anxiety!* All right, who's next."
Just gotta prove them wrong.
We were able to get an earlier appointment than scheduled for the Autonomic Reflex Tests. They performed a sweat test, a deep breathing test, and a brief 10-minute tilt-table test. Mom took really great notes of my numbers and symptoms throughout. The technicians for these tests were probably the best yet -- really encouraging and helpful. RHR 103, blood pressure right around 115/70. When they tilted me up to standing, my HR hit 135 at about 9 minutes (same as at LF Hospital), but my blood pressure averaged out to only about 100/60. Lots of crummy symptoms again.
All tests and appointments today combined, I think I had my blood pressure taken about 25 times. Poor squished arm.
**Note. We just looked up the internist on the internet (hahaha. I'm so easily amused.)--our go-to guy at Mayo--and his specialty fields are geriatrics and psychiatry. Oookay, so maybe that's part of the reason he was really interested in my mental health. =P
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Yay for competent doctors!
ReplyDeleteThough I think that just because "the college transition" makes a lame diagnosis doesn't mean you have POTS per se; there's all sorts of non-POTS stuff that may (or may not) be at work here. Keep an open mind.
Again, I hope you get plenty of rest between these tests.
Movie quote:
"After all we've been through, the worst has gotta be over."