My Current Diagnosis: I'm Not Dead Yet

I just got home from the doctor. Charlie is making me some lunch. I'm really not feeling well and quite frankly, I'm even more scared now than I was before my visit to the doctor.

I told the doctor everything that has been going on in regards to my dizzy and fainting spells as of late. We went through a bit of my medical history including my past with Poly-cystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS). It was concluded that I would need a series of tests to check out my heart, blood flow, vein pressure, etc. I also need a bunch of tests run on my blood which I will know more about on September 15th when I have to return to the doctor.

First thing they did was attach a bunch of those little electrode things to me - one behind each ear and one on each of my sides. This was to test the pressure of my veins and my heart rate. Next I was given a new set of electrodes - one on the inside of each wrist, each ankle and several below my breast. This was to measure the flow of my blood.

My heart rate is too high. The current recommendation is for me to start taking Beta Blockers. Yeah... at 24 years of age. What is basically happening [well, more like may be happening since we aren't 100% sure yet] is my heart is beating too fast and when I become anxious or excited, my blood pressure skyrockets and then drops which is causing me to get dizzy and faint because I'm not getting enough oxygen to my brain. Current diagnoses until my blood work comes back is that I have Syncope - which is just a really fancy word for fainting.

The beta blockers if I for sure have to go on them, are going to make me sleepy which should be okay because I'm supposed to take them at night. It should give me a full night's sleep and reduce my anxiety which dah dah dah daaaahhh.. Is likely being caused by how damn stressed out I am over this custody battle. Thank you state of Georgia and South Carolina for giving me health issues.

Next on the list is my problem with PCOS which I am definitely still having. In fact, it's likely causing me a lot of problems right now - most notably my weight gain and my inability to lose any of which I gain. We're not going to bother with it for right now. First thing is to keep me from fainting and then we'll go on to fixing my PCOS.

I may need a cat scan. I may need a lot of crazy things. We'll have to see what my blood work says.

Going to the Doctor

I have an appointment on Wednesday at 9:10 to see our doctor. I'm scared... absolutely petrified. They wanted to know if I needed to be seen today and if I were feeling faint right then. Charlie says they probably would have called an ambulance had the answer been yes. So we just told them I needed to be seen this week - so Wednesday it is.

I really wanted to go to one of Hailey's therapy appointments this week but I fear I won't be able to. I don't think I can make it. I can hardly make it to my own kitchen and back right now. I went to warm up some leftover spaghetti and I felt faint four times in a 6 or 7 minute span. The last thing I need right now is to faint in front of Hailey. The poor child has been traumatized enough this year.

I'm sure whatever is wrong with me will be figure out this week. Pretty sure my case doesn't belong in an episode of House or anything. But nevertheless, I'm really scared. I'm mostly scared because I don't know what I should fear. I mean, this could be anything. I don't know what sort of conclusion I have to possibly look forward to and it's freaking me out even more.

My Own Health Insurance

I finally have my own nifty health insurance complete with shiny, plastic card. It's through Charlie's job and it's Blue Cross / Blue Shield. What's so blog worthy about all that?

Well, it's the first time I've ever had REAL health insurance before.

Okay, not that anyone's health insurance is fake - it's just that I've never had any that I was actually paying for. I've had health insurance through my parents, medicaid during my first pregnancy and then TriCare during my previous marriage. So finally I have health insurance not paid for by my parents or the government. It's kind of a big deal to me.

I'm rather excited. Sure, the cost sucks and the $20 co-pay for each doctor's visits kind of sucks too - especially since I'm so used to everything being free with TriCare. But it's mine and that's all that matters! So now if I decide to break something, I can go to the doctor. Hooray!

Fortunately, Hailey is still on TriCare and will be until she's 18 (or maybe it's 21? I'll have to double check that). So all of her medical costs and prescriptions are still completely free and let's face it - she's going to be at the doctor a heck of a lot more than I will be.

Anyways... So right now I have a temporary card that just has Charlie's name on it - but I can use it for myself if I need to. When my card comes, it'll still have my damn maiden name on it (I really need to go change my name).