Sunday, May 13, 2007

I Fainted

On Friday, I had a syncopal episode at Starbucks and made a clear 90* fall backwards from where I was standing onto the floor. They called 911 and first a policeman came and then an FDNY EMT came and then the paramedics came. It was the most dramatic experience of my life. When I came to, I told the barista who was hitting my cheeks that I was nauseated and she kept saying, "she's nauseous" so that someone would get a bag and I kept thinking, "I said nauseated." Anyway, the paramedics strapped me into a rolling chair thing and brought me out to the ambulance where I wasn't doing much better. In the ambulance, I couldn't stop shaking so they covered me with a blanket and because I was still nauseated and dizzy, they put an oxygen mask on. By the time we got to the hospital, I was wheeled in on a stretcher with an oxygen mask while shaking uncontrollably. Did I mention it was the most dramatic experience of my life? We went to Beth Israel and when the nurse in the emergency room asked if I had ever been a patient there, I said, "I think I was born here." He replied, "Oh, maybe you'll get a discount." It took four tries for the nurse to get a clear EKG because I couldn't stop shaking and she was trying not to get frustrated with me. It was nice. When she was done, I was starting to get better so I called my mother but she didn't pick up. I called my father and left a voicemail. Then I tried my mother again. She answered and said, "What's the emergency--I'm at the dentist?" I didn't know that while she was there she missed five calls and had a voicemail that kept beeping, so I said, "I'm at the hospital." She said, "you win." All the tests came back fine and I didn't have time before Shabbos for a CT Scan but I probably suffered a minor concussion and that's why I didn't come back from lunch break.

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7 original thoughts out there

Blogger Loganius said...

Oy!

That's crazy! Hope you get better!

Sunday, May 13, 2007 10:27:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Likewise. That's a pretty dramatic story. Have they been able to determine *why* this happened? Were you exhausted? Dehydrated? Overwhelmed by the tempting aroma of Sumatran free-range coffee?

I hope, for everyone's sake, that you're all right and resuming normal activities.

Monday, May 14, 2007 9:26:00 AM  
Blogger BrownsvilleGirl said...

I was not exhausted and the blood test showed that I wasn't dehydrated. Why I fainted is probably a combination of a few things going on at the time, but we'll never know...

Monday, May 14, 2007 11:28:00 PM  
Blogger sara said...

wow! was this what you meant by didnt feel well on sunday? crazy stuff woman- feel better!

Monday, May 14, 2007 11:34:00 PM  
Anonymous Anonymous said...

Still not strong enough :-(

Wednesday, May 16, 2007 1:02:00 PM  
Blogger BrownsvilleGirl said...

I know that's not me, but even I got confused.

Thursday, May 17, 2007 1:44:00 PM  
Blogger Grant said...

My wife has the same issue. She was diagnosed by an awesome doc in Idaho as having Neurogenic Cardiosyncopy and has been able to control it with meds.

Friday, May 18, 2007 2:46:00 PM  

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