I'm not a religious person. I have the greatest respect for religious institutions and all people who choose to practice their desired beliefs, whatever those may be. Where my respect ends is when someone feels the need to impose those beliefs on me, and further insisting on trying to "fix" my lack of religious beliefs.
This past Wednesday, the seemingly inevitible happened- I fainted at work. Since I'd already had an abbreviated conversation regarding my health with my immediate co-workers, it was hopefully not quite as traumatic for them. I came to after about 3 minutes, tried to sit up with the help of 2 athletic trainers (perks of working in an athletic department!), and then fainted again. 911 was called, EMTs arrived, and off I went to the hospital since my blood pressure was being slow to rise back up.
Initial thoughts on the ER were decent- they drew blood off my port instead of sticking me (yay!), ran an EKG, and all the normal routine. Then the doctor came in. He asked me if this had happened before, I of course explain yes and that I have Autoimmune Autonomic Ganglionopathy. He had never heard of it before, and couldn't even repeat it back and instead of looking it up, said to the nurse that I had Superventricular Tachycardia and Hypotension. Um... no. Yes, I might have had a moment of SVT and of course I had hypotension (low blood pressure)- I had just fainted! If only my health was that simple, I would have said so.
He then asked about all of my meds, and then asked if I would ever like to be off all of those medicines. I couldn't decide between stopping his line of thought with a rude and sarcastic comment or just being a nice agreeable patient in the moment. In the presence of co-workers, I decided to be agreeable- why yes, of course I'd love to not have any of this anymore. He then asked me if I believed in miracles- I didn't really give an answer. He then asked the million dollar question that I had seen coming from a mile away- Don't you believe in God?!
Ding! Ding! Ding! We have a winner! I'll take how to lose my patient's respect for me in 2 seconds for the win! Good grief......
I answered politely and to the point, to which he responded- Do you mind if we talk further on this? Yes, yes I did. I would like just to get the results of my bloodwork, make sure there's nothing wrong, and then go home. To his great offense, he then proceeds to talk defensively about a book that he thinks that I should read and how I shouldn't find too 'offensive'. For the record- I wasn't offended by any of this; I was more just wanting to get off the subject and focus on the medical crisis I was currently having. Anywho- it's about a mind over matter and what you want can be reality if you just stay focused. He wrote down the title and author on a prescription pad and handed it to the athletic trainer that came with me.
Are you freaking kidding me? Hey dum-dum! If wishing made it so, I would be out of this wheelchair, horseback riding, and able to find housing without having to jump through 17 hoops to make sure everything's accessible!
Ok, apologies on the mini-rant. The nurses were, for the majority, great, and I couldn't speak more highly of my co-workers. My boss and one of them, and an athletic trainer went to the ER with me, while another took Max to her place and took the best care of him for the night. I'm told this is a perk of a small school and that nearly every person knew the same night and was sending texts of well wishes. It definitely wasn't something I had expected coming from a larger university, but it was a very welcomed surprise and benefit.
I've been in Nac for 3 weeks today, and I'm already feeling like a part of the little SFA community. This just helped to reaffirm that I definitely made the right choice.
Bonus- There are 2 hospitals in Nac with emergency rooms, I'll be trying the other should the need arise again.
Picture: I was unknowingly sent on the ambulance with an SFA blanket. We take school pride seriously here- even in the hospital! Lol :)
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