Going to the ER…

Yeah- that was a trip…

As you may know, I have some anger and sadness and grief about this whole experience.

And I’m still trying to find answers as to why I had the episode…

The first thing that annoys me just a little is people telling me to chill out about it, because they had the same thing and they were fine- blah blah blah… To begin: if the Doctors don’t know what caused my episode because I don’t fit the “normal” profile, I have to trust that they might just know something…True, it might not be anything, but it might be something…

The next thing that bothers me is that I’m not great with the unknown. We keep ruling things out, and off I go to get another test…and am no closer to answers.

Of course, the Doctor recently sent me for a whole bunch of bloodwork. I mean, testing for like 50 different things. Some of these were repeats of my ER trip…

Do you know what the worst thing you can do to a thinker who is curious and always looking for answers? Give them access to the test results…before they meet up with the Doctor…

So I’ve been looking at the results of every single test. And comparing them to the results from the ER visit…

And wondering why four tests have different results- I was normal and now I’m not…well…you know what I mean…normal is relative…

I have new fun and exciting tests on the horizon…and probably retaking the tests that show different numbers…

I have some ideas of what could be wrong…some things seem to add up…based on my Googling anyway. But I’m not a Doctor. I don’t even play one on my blog… I’m just a person with a little tiny grain of intelligence and access to the Internet…

And I wait…

111 thoughts on “The Medical Recap”

  2. Unfortunately during my hiatus I missed your ER post. I’ll have to search for that.
    I empathize with you about the unknown regarding illness. My entire life of chronic illness is shrouded in the unknown category. 🤦🏽‍♀️

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  3. One of the things I love about reading your blog LA, is your self awareness. It can be tricky sometimes to untangle the various emotions surrounding situations. I had a situation several years ago that left me angry and sad, depressed and concerned. I was eventually able to put words to the tangled emotions, but it took some time. Ever see the inside of a golf ball? (it looks like compressed mass of rubber bands ) that’s how I felt inside. Rooting for you from the heartlands! DM

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  4. I know what you’re feeling. I’m hoping you don’t have any more episodes but if you do, and you’re like me, you’ll feel anxious and depressed, which is almost worse than the vertigo. I suffered through almost two years with it before I was taken seriously and finally found something that works. Although it’s not foolproof and I still have minor episodes. Don’t give up searching for answers. You’ve already done more than I did after just one episode.

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  5. DM is correct about your self awareness! I have had to take my husband to the ER in the middle of the night. At that time, I was like a robot on auto pilot. I guess self awareness comes after. This summer is going to be a hot one. I am already feeling I have to stay healthy….we must stay healthy.

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  6. Wishing you well… Lately I attribute every health issue to hormonal sources. I’m a few years behind you but we both know that plays a part most of the time for us post-50 women. I hope you have an invested, proactive doctor who will find the answer to your episode.

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  7. ER visit… I thought I have read all of your posts, missed that one? Does this have to do with your dizziness? When did that happen? Going to the doctor is NOT FUN, and like you say, sometimes they seem to take the same tests over and over as if a day will make a difference. All I can say is “Hang in There.”

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  8. Unfortunately medicine is not black and white. They must follow a road map of things that were charted in the past in order to map together a prognosis. Doctors are not Super-beings, they are just humans, trying to help the rest of us by making educated guesses. Hopefully they will be able to get you some answers soon!

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  9. I totally get that you are concerned about unknowns and doctors don’t always get it right. You can actually learn quite a lot online, though your conclusions are just one more opinion (and that’s a GOOD thing). It’s important to assess yourself, because no one is more concerned with the outcome than you. Best wishes on figuring it out and getting healthy.

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  10. I hope your answer is good and comes soon before the whole episode drives you to distraction with having to make guesses that are a lot easier for the professionals.
    So many kind people were helpful to me during my recent downtime from doctors and nurses (may blessings rain upon them) to my followers comments when I blogged. I’m glad you have the same grea support.
    Huge Hugs

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  11. LA – I’ve been thinking of you during this time of the tests you have experienced.
    Medicine is not perfect – that is why physicians ‘practise’ medicine. It is good that your physician is taking good care of you and being thorough.

    It is difficult to live with uncertainty, but uncertainty exists, for all of us.
    I don’t know what the future holds, but I trust The One who holds the future. ⚘
    All will be well. 🤗

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  12. Having experienced Vertigo twice in my life I can tell you it is frightening. You want answers and no one can really point to one thing. The first time was when I was much younger and had just finished with my period and the doctor said it was a build up of fluid and it went away. Second time was not explained and thank goodness it only lasted a day or two. I think access to the internet is an accident waiting to happen, try to write down questions you have before meeting with your doctor and do not talk about what you have read online because they will just dismiss your questions. Hope you get some answers.

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  13. Answers are important. It’s incredibly frustrating when you can’t get them. As are the repeated tests. I google everything as well then in part drive myself crazy but I think having info (correct or not) gives you a bit more power to ask good questions, explore avenues that might be good leads, and in general be a part of your treatment rather than just a participant who ends up waiting on the sidelines. I am not one to simply sit back and wait to be told things. I think you’re that sort of person as well.

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  14. Oh no! I missed your ER post, but from reading responses i assume it was vertigo related. First, let me say that I suffer from vertigo and it’s miserable. M sort that you had an attack. It can be scary. Over the years I have been given various reasons why it happens. The first time it happened I called 911. I couldn’t lift my head without vomiting from the spinning! And after it passed a few days later I went to a neurologist who said it was a type of aura to a migraine. Sometimes it is. I also noticed during barometric changes. I get it when my allergies are awful and during menopause it happened frequently. Dental visits triggered it too. So who knows why it happens.

    I had a severe attack last week and it was hell. Oh… it’s also hereditary. My father used to get it and my younger son has bouts of vertigo when the weather is bad. So it runs in families.

    Soooo…. if you are looking for an answer I’ve never been given just one reason. I don’t go anywhere without meclizine. If I get an episode I take it. I also keep it by my bedside along with a bucket. Because vomiting accompanies the spinning. And I just live my life with it. It sucks. But it’s just another part of life that I’ve learned to endure.

    I hope you can see someone who can help you treat yours.

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    1. It’s just awful isn’t it?! I have a new pcp and I think he’s going to solve the problem because he’s really listening to my symptoms. He’s ordered certain tests and I see him in a few weeks, but I have a feeling I’m going to get some answers

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  16. When I was diagnosed with Hashimoto thyroiditis I started to pay attention to blood tests and then noticed one test in particular, the “thyroid peroxidase AB”, which gave me wildly different results from different labs. It showed I had a problem, but the test did not seem to be a good measure of the level of the problem or whether the dietary changes I was making were working.

    The same went for the systolic reading on a blood pressure machine. If it seemed too high, I just pressed the button again and got a new reading which was often lower.

    Anyway the best medical advice I’ve received, in my opinion, has come from the internet and that seems to be to take some simple remedy or fix my diet.

    And the most accurate medical test I’ve ever taken has been to step on a bathroom scale.

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    1. My son’s girlfriend and one of my best friends were both diagnosed with Hahimotos within the same month last year. I had never heard of it before. I hope your treatment is working for you.

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      1. I decided against medication and put together a diet based on Steven Gundry’s recommendations for weight loss. My doctor didn’t recommend doing what I did, but it seemed to have worked (to my satisfaction). At the very least my weight is now normal and it has been for years now. I hope your friend and son’s girlfriend find the solutions they need.

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  17. Excruciating to wait for test results. Hope all will be fine but that doesn’t lessen the anxiety in the meantime. Patient portals with test results have plenty of advantages, but without context and explanation it can be frightening to see the numbers especially if something is flagged. Wishing you the best.

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  18. Uncertainty has a way at eroding who we are while we wait for our new normal. I applaud you for continuing to advocate for your health and hope you find answers soon. I wish I had advice for you, but I still haven’t mastered the “wait.” Dark humor is my relief.

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  19. Been there, more then once. I do believe Doctors want to help us but there are some things that never get answered. There is a mystery to humaneness, since God created it and doctors are not a god of anykind. Just human with some training that few have and if there are a good doctor they can admit, we just don’t know. Yep , sometimes they don’t know.

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  20. I’m sorry you’re going through this. How frustrating and scary. We have a friend who just spent three days in the hospital, went through a battery of tests an has no diagnosis. Also, as far as getting medical advice on the internet, the worst thing happened to me when my son was in kindergarten. He had a chronic cough, sinus infection and asthma. The ENT ordered a CT scan. The tech who performed the scan said, “Look at that!” and called me over. He told me my son had a cyst or tumor in his brain right behind the the optic nerve. I immediately went home to google it, lost two nights of sleep until my son had a doctor’s appointment to review the scan. The doctor never mentioned the cyst. I brought it up and he said, “Oh that’s nothing. He can live his entire life with that cyst and he won’t be affected.” He said the surgery to remove it was way riskier than leaving it alone. The doctor was also furious with the tech to point it out to me! You can’t imagine all the scary info I learned about it on the internet!

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  23. I feel for you – there’s so much rubbish about this type of experience. Waiting has to be one of the hardest things to do around ill-health, as it makes you feel powerless, worried and anxious. Like you, I research everything, as I like to know as much as I can so that I make good decisions when the opportunity to make them presents itself. I hope you get to read some really great books while waiting for the solution to be found. As for those offering their experience stories – it is inevitable sadly. Most mean well, few realise how unwelcome it is. I hated it too, especially as everyone else seems to think you should smile gracefully & be grateful. Grrrr. Good luck with it LA.

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      1. We have a good friend whose symptoms were baffling everyone. He’d been to a cluster of different specialists for tests and got a cluster of different diagnoses, but none of them made a difference. Finally he went to Mayo and within two visits they had a diagnosis and regimen that made a huge difference.

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  27. I’m so sorry LA, this is simply the most frustrating aspect of our health care system, waiting and waiting for a diagnosis is unsettling at best, a panic provoking experience for most. I’ve done the google searches before, deciding I know more than the MD’s, I tend to settle on the most dire causes, and then that’s all I think about. I’m hoping you’ll find out the truth soon and the news will be good. Prayers coming your way, C

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  30. sigh, my friend was driven to a major anxiety attack and had to be hospitalized because the battery of tests he was getting to figure out what was wrong with him was getting him no where. After the breakdown, he scheduled tests in the out of town hospital he was and got immediate answers. I feel for you, I hope you get answers.

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  32. The unknown is like big old fat albatross that sits heavily on our shoulders. I hope you get some answers soon. I have to say I greatly admire your pluck. This line made me smile: “I don’t even play one on my blog”. Hang in there, you have my sincere sympathy.

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  33. Ahhhhh, that is so difficult, LA. If I may, I get that you are a thinker, we all know, and well, quite frankly, love that about you….yet, please don’t google too many websites about what might be wrong. I only write that as a consideration out of care for you and your mental sanity…I hope that you get answers, real ones, soon, my friend. ❤️

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  34. You know what happens with these unsolved, mystery issues? We babysit them.. sometimes for years. Updates, re-scans, follow-up tests..no conclusions, no “cure”, no resolution.. medical concerns that become squatters in our charts and in our brain if we let them.

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  35. Sorry you are going through this hard time! it is so frustrating to have Drs be perplexed, when you really want answers and yes Google is not the place to go! You will be writing out your Will if you look at Google too long!
    Hoping for answers for you and for peace of mind as you wait!

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  38. Hang in there, I’ve been through something similar and I know how frustrating it can be dealing with multiple doctors and varying degrees of professional vagueness.

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  40. As a human being with anxiety (health anxiety too), I feel this. I hate it when people tell me to relax about symptoms. The only thing I can say is that I understand how you feel and I hope you get answers to your questions soon.

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  41. Positive thoughts for your health journey. It is frustrating not to know what is causing your symptoms.

    I’ve been down the Dr. Google road. I diagnosed myself with measles and tonsil stones(even thought I had my tonsils taken out). Neither of the diagnoses were true of course.

    Today I am wondering if I am mildly allergic to peanuts.

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  42. LA,
    I’m so sorry you’re having to go through this. You are describing one of my worst nightmares; which is why I’m reluctant to get any tests. I know it’s something. I know a bunch of things. Until I know for sure, though, I am Schroedinger’s cat and I’m just fine with that. I hope you get the answers you want and that whatever’s the source is easily curable! You have a bunch of readers you have your back, no matter what, for whatever it’s worth! Mona

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  43. My sympathies LA. I hate that when things don’t fit into a definitive diagnosis……and I especially hate waiting for tests and then waiting for results and then waiting for doctors appointments to discuss results, only to be given possibilities.

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  44. Waiting can be so hard, and reading test results before talking to the doctors can be tricky. On the one hand, knowledge is power, but it’s so very easy to misinterpret results if you aren’t a medical professional. I just pray that all is well for you and that (I’m assuming this is the dizziness issue?) the cause is discovered and that it is something very, very, minor. Hang in there!!! And I will pray for you too.

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  47. Before the age of Dr. Google I had a medical reference book with symptoms and a drawing of the body. If you answered yes to a question one followed the yes arrow to the next question. Does anyone remember them? I hope you get your answers soon.

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  48. Worry is good, up to a point, because it makes you take care of yourself. Beyond that it’s bad for you.

    And yes, I probably am annoying you by telling you, in a subtle way, to chill out, but it’s my duty as the voice of reason to tell you that worry won’t cure you of anything.

    🙂

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