Tuesday, July 12, 2011

Getting Old Sucks

Ok, everyone loves to read all about other peoples health issues.  At least that's the way it seems because that is all old people talk about!
So in honor of being "middle aged" I'm going to totally bore you with my recent medical crap.

As you know, I'm a beach writer. I take orders from my Etsy Shop to go to the beach and write things in the sand.  Then I take a picture of the writings and email them to the client. I love my business.  In a little over a year I've had about 400 sales.  

Well on Tuesday, June 28 I almost got taken out by a wave.  Normally I pay very close attention to the waves because I'm holding a camera in my hand! I am not afraid of the ocean, but this one just came out of nowhere and it actually scared me. I think it crashed down about 4 feet to my left (I was standing sideways)  I jumped out of the way and ran.  I probably didn't need to run, but I did.

Later that morning I had some sort of panic attack or something.  All I remember is that my chest was sore and I was having trouble breathing.   I thought it was from drinking too much coffee that morning and laid down for a while until the panicky feeling stopped. 


At 2pm the not being able to breathe feeling came back and  began to panic more.  Feeling like you can't breathe can really cause some freaky scared feelings.  I called my doc & they got me right in. 


EKG was clear, no idea what's going on, too young for heart stuff & no history of it. Here's some Xanax, go see a Cardiologist. 


Fine.  


Ok.  So that was June 28th.  I can't get an appt to see the Cardio until 7/6.  I feel ok most of the time, the Xanax does definitely help to keep me calm, but each day I notice more &  more that I'm tired and have a heavy feeling in my chest.  My day job is extremely easy & I work from home, so I'm getting lots of rest.  And for some reason my online classes are slow so I'm not doing a lot of talking either (I'm an online trainer by day).


Go see the Cardio on 7/6.  Clear EKG, but he wants blood work, a chest xray and to do some testing.  So I'm scheduled for an Echo Cardiogram, a stress test & I will have to wear a heart monitor for 24 hours soon.  Blood work & Xray are done on 7/6.


I get the report of a clear chest xray the next day.  Still haven't heard about the blood work, but figure no news is good news!


Thursday morning I have an hour long class to teach.  Mind you, this means I'm talking for an hour straight.  Nothing I've ever had to even think about in like 5 years when I first started teaching online.  About 25 minutes into the class, I'm getting dizzy and labored breathing. 


After class I lay down and eventually start to feel better.   I might have even slept for a little bit (so glad my kids are older now)


Saturday morning my husband actually witnesses me have one of these breathing issue attacks.  Even though I've already had a chest xray that came back clear, breathing issues can cause a panic attack, and it get progressively worse. . 


So off we go to the ER. 


4 hours and several tests later, including a CAT scan, the doc figures I must have bruised my chest wall because my heart looks great & so do my lungs.  This probably happened when I jumped and ran away from the wave on 6.28.


RX for Prednisone and Vicodin and rest.  


Here it is Tuesday 7.12 and I just did an hour long class. I took it a little slow but got through it without wanting to pass out.  So that's good. 


But this having to rest SUCKS!  I want to vacuum, but nope can't do that.


I want to exercise because I also quit smoking on 7/5 and now with the Steroid, I'm terrified of gaining back the weight!  Can't do that either!


So I'll sit here like an old lady and complain about my ailments to anyone who will listen (or read).


Thank you for reading this.  Your present for getting this far is the following coupon code for my shop.


MIDDLEAGE


It will give you 10% off anything in my shop!


Thanks!



1 comment:

  1. Yeah, I've been through some of those things and others. Sometimes I think getting old sucks, but then other times it doesn't seem all that bad. Of course if I had my choice I'd go back 40 or 50 years--knowing what I know now as they always say. Yeah, nice dream.


    Lee
    Tossing It Out

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