My Emotional Roll-Coaster Week

Many positive and not-so-great things happened last week--all worth updating my blog about. I have been meaning to write a post for the last few days but have been distracted by a variety of things.

ICU VISIT: My neighbor, Gail, from my hometown--whom I have known practically my entire life--and who was the neighborhood mom growing up, always keeping an eye on us kids and making sure that we would stay out of trouble has been in the Intensive Care Unit for the past two weeks. She had a massive stroke and has been slowly improving each day. I was with her and the family for about ten days visiting in the ICU. I learned a lot about love and life. Too much to sum up in a blog post. 

NEW JOB: I got a new job as a Parent Supervisor and Educator with MN Families United! I will be working on child protection cases--supervising parents when they have their mandatory visits with their children. I will also be doing some parent education--which I have to do some more research on. I had my training yesterday and it went really well. I am so excited to be helping children and families become emotionally and mentally healthier.

TED TALK: My TED Talk is less than a month away and I have finalized my speech. Now I am just working on memorization and performance. I am so thrilled, excited, nervous, anxious, etc. to give it and to see everyone else's talks.

HEAD INJURY & ER VISIT: Early morning Monday (Feb. 25), I got up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom when I became dizzy, then fainted and hit my head on the way down. Dizziness and fainting happens inconveniently and frequently in my life. People don't realize how many times I have fallen, gotten dizzy, or even injured myself because of my POTs. However, just because it happens to me on a more frequent basis--doesn't mean that it isn't terrifying and isolating because it is. I didn't realize I had hit my head until later that day when I found a bruise and goose-egg on my forehead. I was still feeling shitty but not bad enough to go into the ER. 

Tuesday is when the throbbing pain in my head started and I found it difficult to concentrate, my legs were feeling extra weak, I was nauseous and even more dizzy than the day before. I didn't know what to do. It took me all day to finally decide that I should talk to my mom about if I should go see a doctor. for my head. We both thought I had a mild concussion. We decided that I should go to Urgent Care and she wanted me to find someone to bring me. I asked my cousin, Dana, and she was fabulous. When I arrived at Urgent Care, they were hesitant to even see me--the nurse said that if someone faints that they send them to the ER immediately. I saw a doctor and she said that I should go to the ER. So, I did. 

Dana dropped me off at the ER--she couldn't stay because she had her dog in the car with her. I also told her to go because it was getting late. I have been to the ER a few times by myself before. I thought I would be fine. I was wrong. I had an anxiety attack. It was awfully scary and an overall terrible experience because of my anxiety. I was feeling isolated, antsy and alone. Yet, I didn't want to bother anyone because it was late, on a week-day. I got myself through it by breathing and trying to sleep until the nurses needed to talk to me.

While I was in the ER, they found my potassium was low (just like my Nov. ER visit). #trending 

Since my potassium was low they gave me some nasty potassium powder mix to drink--which I did. It unfortunately upset my very empty stomach. I had a stomach ache for a few days after my ER visit. 

I ended up getting discharged late and had a lot of trouble sleeping. But Wednesday was my recovery day--I slept all day. That was helpful. I had to practically force myself to eat because of the nausea and the upset stomach. I knew that food would help my stomach from the pure potassium that I had drank the day before. My medication also affects my potassium levels, which could explain why it was low.

Low potassium affects our heart muscles and I am a lot more sensitive to having lower potassium because of my POTs. I have decided to have this terrible experience be a helpful one in my self-care future. Meaning, I am going to start taking potassium supplements or adding more potassium to my diet.

I do have a mild concussion from my fall.

I want to thank my mom for talking me through things, Dana for the ride and for caring so much, the loving family of Gail for making me feel like a part of your family, Deanna Thompson for her wise advice and patience with me, my friends Immanuel and Madison for forgiving my my lack of emotion from this shitty week, and everyone else that has shown their love and support for me in the last few weeks, especially last week.

I am honestly trying to get better.

More updates to come, as the days creep closer to my LSAT and TED talk. Thank you for all of the love and support.