We’re getting some nasty weather at the moment:
Eww.
My blog has been quiet for the past week+ because 2012 is trying to kill me. No. Seriously, it is.
Last week, we had to rush my mom to the ER at 12:30 AM because she fainted twice. She had been incapacitated all week with head pain that her neurologist wrongly diagnosed as trigeminal neuralgia and put her on a high dose of painkillers that primarily treat seizures. The head pain has been on and off since around Christmas, so she assumed it was her sinuses until her other doctor said they were normal after testing. That’s when she was sent to a neurologist and misdiagnosed even after a brain MRI was administered.
So she took her medication as prescribed, but it wasn’t helping. We know now that it made her worse. The doctor assured her that it takes a few days for the medicine to take effect, so she continued taking it. Long story short: The medication was making her terribly sick, constant nausea and no pain relief. She couldn’t eat or drink much all week and attributed it to her head pain. Unbeknownst to me she was also suffering from sudden profuse sweat attacks—on her head only. I did not know this, if I had I would have been more vigilant in her home treatment.
I was downstairs in the kitchen putting dishes in the dishwasher when I heard a bang come from upstairs so loud that I thought the washing machine fell over or something of that magnitude. I ran upstairs to see what happened and found my mother in her bathroom on the floor sitting in the cat’s food dish. I asked her what happened and she was groggy and disoriented but trying to tell me she was just using the bathroom. Dustin had already gone to sleep so I went to get him immediately. In the few seconds I was gone, we returned to her bathroom to find her passed out again, only this time slumped over the bathtub backwards! She came to and I told her I was calling 911, but she was resisting and started going back to her bed. Dustin told her that we’re taking her to the hospital or we’re calling the ambulance, either way she’s going. She finally agreed and I helped her get dressed. She could barely stand up, Dustin carried her to the car.
I was freaking out on the inside, I was so worried. I’ve never seen her in this state before in my life and I didn’t know what was wrong. Other than the head pain, she was fine just hours earlier. Now I was worried she was going to die and the hospital was 18 miles away. Dustin drove as fast as he could, speed limits be damned. We kept trying to talk to her, worried that she was going to pass out again.
We got her into the ER and they hooked her up to an IV immediately and asked questions while I registered her. Diabetes? No. Heart condition? No. All the usual questions.
Her blood pressure was extremely low and kept going lower, hence the fainting. The lowest we witnessed was 56/30 – I was a little more than freaking out by this point, I was on the verge of collapse myself.
They took blood work to send to the lab right away, administered an EKG, which was normal, and then sent in the x-ray cart. Her BP kept dropping; it would go up and then drop like a rock. She’s never had low BP, it’s always been normal or slightly high.
An hour after being on the IV and several drops in BP later, they realized her IV wasn’t working properly. Are you kidding me? Ugh. It started to go up once they got fluids into her.
Her lab results came back and they were AWFUL. Low on everything. The normal levels for iron are between 50-170 and hers was 18! Almost everything came back low except for the toxicology which showed she had too much of the medicine in her system that her neurologist prescribed. The highest level was 12.0 and her levels were 15.6 because they tripled her dose when she called to complain that it wasn’t working. She’s only 4’9”, she can’t handle maximum doses of tegretol for a condition she didn’t even have.
They called her primary care physician at 3:00am and she was supposed to get there by 6:00am but she never showed, and according to the hospital she has a reputation for being very late or not showing at all. Nice.
Her BP started to go up, but was still low. They wanted to admit her to the ICU for observation, but needed her doctor to come before they could do that—hospital policy, yada yada.
Finally, at 8:00am, doctor wasn’t there yet so they pushed her through after being in the ER for almost 8 hours. Her doctor finally came to see her at noon that day and barely talked to her for more than 2 minutes. They gave her an echocardiogram that morning and that too was normal, thankfully. Her vitals normalized and they discharged her later that afternoon after spending the night. She also saw another neurologist while she was in-patient and the neurologist told her that she doesn’t think it’s neurological—which is surprising considering she was diagnosed and treated for a neurological condition a week earlier. Hmm. The new neurologist wanted her to follow up with an office visit, but the first appointment she could get was for March 7.
We switched her primary care physician who clearly doesn’t care much to the wonderful doctor that Dustin and I go to.
Mom is feeling much better and we’re keeping her hydrated. The sweats have subsided for the most part, but she’s still not 100%, she still has symptoms, like vertigo if she hits her head on the pillow the wrong way. Very strange considering her MRI was normal and the CT scan in the hospital was also normal. Not a stroke or heart attack or anything visibly brain-related. She has been resting and doing as little as possible. I don’t want her to exert herself in any way. I’ve never been so frightened in my life. So thankful that Dustin was so helpful and loving. He always saves the day because he’s amazing like that. 
She’s going to see her new primary doc this week once her insurance is switched over and the release form for records is sent. I’m thankful she’s doing much better but I’m still very, very worried and want to figure out what the heck is going on. Not knowing is the worst! She needs to see a spectacular endocrinologist and whomever else can help solve this mystery. Her symptoms are linked to a million different things, so nothing about this is painless and straightforward.
I hope 2012 ends better than it has started! lol
So we’ve had several other chores to tend to since my mom is resting. Once again, Dustin comes through for everything. He cleans the litter box and takes Caesar for walks in between waking up at 4:30am every day to work and make phone calls. Truly the most magnificent human being you can imagine. Super cute too! 
Caesar adores him and I think the feeling is mutual…
We had an appointment early this morning with an appraiser. I have had trouble sleeping—as you can imagine—so I got about 60 minutes or so of naptime before we had to leave the house at 8:30am.
The weather started getting bad on our way back and by the time we got home, the ground was covered with a fairly thick layer of ice. It was time for Caesar’s afternoon walk and Dustin took him out like the trooper that he is.
He and the cats are so camera shy! It’s so hard to get any of them to look at the camera. 
Harnessing up…
He’s such a good boy! He puts his little legs right in the harness. So adorable. 
Anxious to go!
Yikes. So slippery!
Dustin put some rock salt out with our salt-spreader.
Caesar was sad that he didn’t get his long walk today. #firstworlddoggypains
“Daddy, who is that crazy biznitch taking pictures of of us while she’s warm and dry inside the house?”
Sniff, sniff.
“Oh, I recognize her now! She has Pupperoni. Hurry, let’s go!”
“We’re baaaaaaaaaaack!!”
My eats have been whatever. It’s been an exhausting few weeks, both physically and mentally, food hasn’t been my priority.
I’ve been eating a lot of low-sodium v8 juice cheater’s tomato soup and this mish-mosh of lentils + veggies I threw together yesterday…
I made a batch of red lentils that didn’t turn out right. I must have overcooked them because they looked like they exploded, lol. I salvaged them by using them in crock pot veggie soup because mushy doesn’t matter in soup. Soup is the epitome of mush, heh.
If you consider throwing random fridge + pantry staples into a crock pot without measuring a recipe, then this is the “recipe”:
- 12 cups water
- 1 no salt added vegetable bouillon cube
- 4 stalks celery, chopped
- 3 carrots, peeled + chopped
- 1 (16 oz) bag frozen chopped cauliflower
- 1 large sweet vidalia onion, chopped
- 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil or coconut oil
- 1/4 cup balsamic vinegar
- 1 TBSP garlic powder
- 1 TBSP course black Hawaiian salt (or sea salt, Himalayan, etc.)
- ~1 teaspoon turmeric
- 1/4 cup dried parsley
- ~1 teaspoon black pepper
- 4 cups
pitifulcooked lentils
- Throw all ingredients in crock pot except for cooked lentils; set on low-medium for 8-10 hours or until veggies are softened and the flavors marry.
- Add in cooked lentils an hour before serving.
Makes as many servings as you want it to.
Best recipe ever, right? haha. It was simple and tasty. Definitely add a quality cooking fat to it because many vitamins are better absorbed in the presence of fat. I’ve been eating it with a big scoop of nutritional yeast for added protein and B vitamins and more cheeziness never turned me off. It’s really, really good, plus filling and comforting, exactly what I need on these super stressful, cold winter days. You can get creative with the veggies and add in just about anything you have and it will probably taste yummy. Zucchini, bell peppers, spinach or kale, bok choy, basil, butternut squash, sweet potato, string beans, broccoli, peas, etc. All great additions and great for you. 
I think I’m going to go to sleep at 7:30 tonight because my inner 97-year-old is calling. These bones and eyes need some rest and relaxation. I’ll even take just the relaxation part!
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