Catching Up

So in the past month a lot has been going on, it's crazy to think that it's almost November already! With the world busy outside my window, here I sit alone in my apartment. Not by choice, by demands...the doctors are saying I have come down with H1N1. Not that any of us would really know, they aren't doing any testing. I have a cough...then I got a fever, so apparently that's enough to say H1N1. What that translates down to me is, I am to remain isolated and not allowed to return to work for 7 days, or longer, depending on when my fever resolves. It's already been a long couple days and I feel myself getting restless, so I hope these books I'm trying to read can hold my attention for another 5 days.

September was a busy month, starting with the sprint triathlon that Matt and I did. I wanted to go as a team, but Matt needed to go individual before he deployed...sadly, that meant I also had to do it individual if I wanted to compete. However, this tri went quite a bit better than the one I did back in May. While it was extremely difficult and I didn't do very well, I finished. I also had my breathing and heart pain much more under control, so that was reassuring.

As most of you could guess by my previous post, the following weekend we had a family reunion for my grandparents 60th anniversary. We had a great turnout that included 4 generations =) Sadly, not everyone was able to make it so hopefully we can have another shot at it before too long. Either way it was great to see the grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins and all the babies!

The days between the weekends were filled with hanging out with Matt prior to his deployment - it included lots of sushi, big dinners with all the friends and tons of laughter.

Soon after I headed to Dallas, TX for a work conference. It was ok...nothing too exciting to report and Dallas didn't really offer a whole lot to encourage a return trip. My co-workers and I did venture out of the hotel to include visits to the House of Blues, Hard Rock Cafe, Gilley's (but they didn't have the mechanical bull, and that was the ONLY reason we went...), Texas State Fair (where we saw mini herefords, pig races, dog freestyle dancing and an 1,100 lb pig), and the 6th Floor Museum (where Kennedy's assassin was positioned). We kept busy but the stay seemed to be overshadowed by the attempted bombing of a gorgeous skyscraper 5 blocks from my hotel...needless to say, after that report hit the news, my sleep was a little more than restless.

September was busier than October has been, but where has October gone then? Needless to say it's included lots of meals with friends and even more football. The weeks are filled with work which has been overwhelming at times, but it's going well and the busier it is - the faster it goes. Last weekend was a huge surprise to Miah, Christina and I, as Matt was able to come home on an unexpected pass. Once again, we (not quite all as Matty had his graduation from basic the same weekend) were back together. We ate, drank, played, and laughed while we enjoyed our last time together for quite a while. The time we all shared together didn't make us sad to separate, it just made us more excited to reunite once everyone comes back home.

Now, here I am. H1N1. Home. Alone. It's been ok. Time to rest. Time to reflect. It's been a crazy past couple months. And I'm sure a few insane months will follow. I look forward to see what life will bring. Even though I'm sick, it's been a long time that I've been this happy and content. In some areas, it feels like I've hit rock bottom where it can only go up from here, which I know it will. In other areas, I'm on top of the world and no one can take that away from me.

Give it a Try

Well, the results are in folks.

Basically I have gotten diagnosed with a condition that seems to be defaulted when everything else has been cleared. My heart is structurally doing everything it needs to be doing. The circulation is working as it should. And my oxygen levels are where they should be. What does that tell me? I must be crazy.

However, good ole Doc told me that there is a diagnosis for this. It's call Inappropriate Sinus Tachycardia. Sinus Tachycardia is where your heart rate increases with exercise or exertion. Huh, every one's does that (unless you are dead I suppose) so I find it interesting that there is actually a medical "diagnosis" for it. However, with mine being labeled as inappropriate, it means that my heart rate increases more than it needs to or it should. This seems to be due to an unknown cause but can be exacerbated by some foods and stress and stuff like that. As it came without a cause, it is supposed to go away on its own - which could take anywhere from months to years.

While every doctor seems to just want to give medication without a exact reason, my doc has been pretty good and understanding that I need a good reason to take the meds, or it just won't be happening. Maybe the other docs had reasons to push this new med on me, but hey, I want to be educated on it first...no education, no go. Apparently there is another medication, in a different family than my sloth-creation meds that is supposed to do what my first one didn't do. It's supposed to balance out my heart rate. The first medication - my body didn't respond to and just made me super tired. This new medication is supposed to not lower my heart rate overall but just keep it from getting into the 180s and 190s. If it works that'd be great. I also am ok with the fact that I won't have to be on it forever because this "condition" is supposed to go away as mysteriously as it came....and with that, it is day 1 of my trial medication...

Now You See It...Now You Don't

So yesterday I went in to have my Holter Monitor installed for step one of my testing...as my Dr. told me, do everything I want to be able to do except swim (well duh, I don't really want to jump into water with something electrical hooked up to my heart). The doing everything includes running, biking, going up the stairs all day at work, any anything else on a regular basis when I feel my symptoms...so I did. Today, I'm slightly sore and super tired, but that may be impacted by not being able to sleep last night...

Anyway, work was the challenge with this monitor. No, I take that back...dressing for work was the challenge. They don't take stature into consideration when issuing these things. The cords could reach from me all the way to Timbuktu! So, I settled for a basic tee. I loved it actually, but not as "work casual" as I should be. Good thing my boss didn't see me =) Hey what else what I supposed to do when it went clear up to my collar bone? What a relief it was to take it off this morning! Hopefully I'll hear something by the end of the week...

Relief

So some of you may know and some may not about my recent studies and tests. Way back in March I was running with one of my closest friends and trying to prepare of the mini-triathlon in May - which I did write about in my posting of Hardest Thing, however the trials didn't end there. With the triathlon not going well (to put it as optimistically as I can), I wanted to treat the asthma more aggressively.

I spoke to a few people at work and decided to go a a highly recommended asthma doctor here in town. After all the tests, he looked at me with a concerned look and said, "There's definitely something wrong, but it's definitely not asthma." He wanted me to go to see an ENT doctor because my "throat was a little red" and have a cardiac echo done. First was the ENT, who did a scope down my nose, down my throat to look at my vocal cords. Most of they time they use Lidocaine to numb and for a pain reliever, but because I'm allergic to Novocaine, he said "we just won't use it." WHAT??? Well, stupid me, thinking that the Dr. knew what he was talking about, I figured it would be ok without. I asked, "Does it hurt?" His response, "Well it's not a procedure I'd ask my doctor to do, but everyone tells me it's not as bad as they thought it'd be." I pulled up my big girl panties and pretended to be tough. I couldn't pretend for long. You know when you bump your nose and your eyes immediately water??? Well, mine were pouring tears faster than Niagara Falls...which continued up to a half hour after I left the doctors office. As many of you know...my nose was broken when I was a wee lil thing...leaving it crooked. Try to put a scope down a crooked nose - no I take that back, DON'T! Instead of realizing it wouldn't go down one nostril, he tried to push a lil harder....oh my gosh, I thought I had experienced pain before...ah, no, this is real pain: jamming a lil metal flashlight camera thing directly into the already sensitive cartilage of your nose. "Ooops won't go down that one, let's put it down the other one again," was his only response...not a sorry, nothing. So, the third time he stuck that scope in my nose, he finally used it. Afterwards he asks me "So was it as bad as you thought it'd be?" (With tears still running down my face mind you) All I could muster our was a very agitated and annoyed "...Yah." Then he tells me he THINKS I MAY have vocal cord dysfunction and the only way to fix it is speech therapy, but that doesn't cause chest pain. He wanted to schedule me for therapy. No thanks, Mr. I Now Despise You.

Next, I was hopefully that my cardiac echo would show something fixable, so I could treat it with whatever, then move on with my life and be as active as I hope to be. Heck, I had a June triathlon to compete in. After chest x-rays, blood draw and an hour + ultra sound, nothing. Zilch. Dr. Bubak, not satisfied with the results wanted me to see a cardiologist and probably have a stress test since most of my pain and symptoms come upon exertion. So...back to another doctor's office. He was correct and a stress test was ordered. Early this month I went in for the test, did the walk/jog and they hurried me back to the bed for another echo. Even though I had shortness of breath and chest pain, the results showed nothing. My heart and circulation was doing everything it needed to and my oxygen levels were perfect. Nothing concerning, but the only thing "interesting," as Dr. Paa put it, was my heart rate was very high. He wanted to give me a med. A med...without knowing what was causing it. I'm too young to be on mediation that will not fix the problem and just coat the symptom. However, figuring that he must know, he wanted me to try it for a month and we'd go from there. Two weeks after being on the med, I was a total sloth: sleeping during my breaks at work, taking at least a 2 hour nap and going to bed at about 8:30 or 9. I couldn't take it. I called the doctor and said I don't want the meds and I want more testing. The response I got? They've done all the testing they can and this is the only option for medication, so just reduce the medication by taking it once a day instead of twice. This answer did not satisfy me. (I forgot to take a picture of all the contraptions in the room where I did the stress test...sorry).

This week I called my regular primary doctor and said, "I want to be seen as soon as possible, I need future testing!" They got me in in three days. Friday was my appointment and it feels like a huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders. He heard me. A doctor that finally heard me. He told me to stop the medication (Hip, Hip, Hooray). He told me we'd do more testing and that we'd test until we have a solid diagnosis (Yoo Hoo). He told me that I'm too young to be on medications without knowing why...and I'm in too good of shape to be having these problems without real reasons behind them. While I don't have any answers to this problem, I have faith that I finally have someone that is willing to take a deep look and find the cause.

So while I'm still in this limbo, I feel better. He told me to go ahead and try to train for the September Tri, like I'd like to. It will help with the testing to make sure I know what and when my symptoms are triggered - at least for now. But he also is concerned and wants me to take it easy. I'll do my best to heed those words...