blessed for today

here is an update on what is happening in the crown fam.  one thing i can promise this will not be spell checked and may sound funny.  i am on lots of meds and my head is a mess.  but so many have been praying and i wanted you to know what was going on.  it has been a crazy few days and some of the scariest days of my life.  saturday was a wonderful day.  i did not feel the greatest, but got ready and my mom drove the kids and i to our sweet danica's b-day party at the park.  it was such a joy to be out in the fresh air and see friends.  by the time my body hit the bed that night, i was wiped out.  i had notice that my pain pills were getting low.  i decided to start weening myself back on them.  i figured i could push through the little bit of extra pain, and it was time for me to move forward.

sunday morning i woke up feeling kinda off.  by the evening i was feeling horrible.  i literally could barely move.  i was sweating, and every time i stood up my head would spin.  i felt like i was going to faint.  i felt ill, and it hurt to even open my mouth to talk.  i called my mom and asked her to come over.  i was pretty scared.  i actually laid in bed just praying in my head because i was convinced it was something bad. we decided i needed to go to the er.  now this is complicated because the hospitals in canton really know nothing about eds or my pots.  i was pretty sure i was having blood pressure problems and my pots was acting up.  the summa er in green has a few docs who know a little about eds, so my mom took me there.  by the time we got there i was not doing good.  my blood pressure was pretty high.  they ran tests and did a ct of my head.  they ran an iv and started me on fluids.  they gave my some diuladid(sp) since my pain meds were not working. i actually began to feel worse.  the doc came in and told me i needed to be seen by a spine doc because one of the screws in my neck was laying on a major artery in my spine.  she suggested city hospital.  unfortunately i did not feel comfortable going there since the er docs here did not even know what pots was.  she then said she could send me to cincy to see dr durrani.  i told her i was going for a check up on thursday.  she said "no i do not think you understand...you have to go now.  this is very serious.  i do not even want you to move."  i called tim at work and told him my mom and i were headed to cincy in an ambulance.  i remember laying there thinking that this may be it.  i told my mom if i did not make it on the ride down to please be patient with tim.  this would be so much for him to handle.  i told her how important it was for him and the kids to be together through this.  she agreed, and we both let the tears fall quietly.

the drivers for the ambulance came.  they were amazing and so kind!  the one who rode in back with me told me he was very concerned about my pain.  he worked diligently on the way down to get my pain under control with morphine.  he told me he was concerned with my blood pressure and that it was in stroke range.  God was with us on the drive down!  it was a horrible, painful ride, but we made it!  once in cincy we waited for durrani.  God love this man!  he came in looked at my ct and put my mind at ease!!!  thankfully the doc here did not understand what she was looking at.  my screw is very close to my major artery, but not touching.  it has to be this way because of how the artery runs through my spine.  but God gave durrani a gift of being able to put a screw dangerously close to my artery with out touching it!  durrani told me right away it was pots.  when i tried to wean myself off of the pain meds, i caused adrenaline surges in my body which caused my blood pressure to rise.  this led to all my symptoms.  he wanted to keep me in the hospital to control my pain and my blood pressure.  they began hydrating me and put me on a morphine pump.  they also gave me another pain med. this was the first time since surgery i was out of pain.  Thank the Lord!!!  i began to feel some what better.  by monday evening i was feeling worse again.  they ran more tests on tuesday.  all came back mostly normal.  because my vertigo and dizziness was gone, durrani let me come home yesterday.

i was given strict instructions to rest and to take my meds in the right way.  i am also supposed to get in to a heart doc who understands pots as soon as possible.  this is a tall order since there are not many of these around.  i also need a followup with a geneticist to get a true pots diagnosis.  right now i am listed as possibly having it.  i have to work on getting this under control.  to be honest i feel completely overwhelmed.  not only do i need to stay on top of my medical issues but my kids.  poor tim is exhausted from over time.  he is working so hard to pull us out of the financial hole we are in.  i looked at him tonight and wanted to cry.  his eyes tell the story of a man who is desperately trying to save his family.  my dear friend monica came a blessed me with a visit today.  we sat on my uncomfortable futon, comforting each other, and dreaming of a brighter future.  i am so blessed by your prayers, meals, and generous words!  please know they encourage me and bring me hope.  God is so good and he continues to pull us through.  i am blessed today!