In my current state a tilt test is kind of like being on a "kiddie" coaster. I have never been a fan of roller coaster to begin with because even at a young age I would pass out cold and then look like a limp doll by the time we were done. Which resulted in me being banned from six flags, legit.
For the first 30 minutes of the test you lay flat hooked up to every monitor that exists in the world and an IV. (for those that will ask it was a 5 try process which is really good for me!) Once they have made you "calm and relaxed" (like that is going to happen) they quickly raise you to an 80 degree angle while monitoring everything your body does. By the time I reached the 40 degree angle I got lightheaded and the doctor was like "yeah that's because your pulse is 120. This already confirms the diagnosis but we have to finish out the test anyway." So, the 80 degree angle it is. My BP dropped to 80/60 making me instantly more dizzy but then in about 2 minutes returned to borderline normal and my pulse went down to 115. I felt a little better for about 5 minutes when all of a sudden I had shortness of breath, chest pain, and numbness in my arms and face. My doctor said my pulse was now 125 and instructed the nurse to end the test early and lay me down before I actually faint.
The nurse then asked when we should do the medication portion of the test where they inject you with adrenaline and see how high your heart rate gets. The doc goes ummm I don't think that is a good idea considering we just had to end the test way early so we are skipping that. The test was supposed to take 45 minutes but lasted about 15 confirming the diagnosis and the severity of my case. Yay me! After I recovered she prescribed 2 medications. One keeps my heart rate down and the other one keeps my bp up in the hopes that it will help me be able to start physical therapy and in her words "hopefully you won't feel like sh** everyday anymore because this happens every time you stand up." That would be nice.
So that was my day. We discussed work and she said it is a debilitating disease and since there is no cure some people can never return to work but she thinks that at some point I will be able too we just don't know when. I may have to do phones or triage for a long time but at some point I will be able to semi-function. She said it is a state accepted diagnosis for social security/state disability so it should be approved as far as that goes and it should definitely be approved for long term disability. Best case scenario would be one month before I could return to work but that is unlikely to happen it all just depends on how quickly my body can learn to adjust itself.
Thanks, to my mom this is now the first thing I will see when I wake up every morning.
I have a sense of God granted peace today just knowing that I have a plan and a concrete diagnosis and medications that will hopefully calm my heart down. I am one tiny step closer to being prepared for this battle and right about now as long as I don't take any steps back I am okay with that. Now to go on a hunt for a physical therapist. If anyone knows a good one let me know!!! Thank you everyone for your support.
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