Movies and Chicken Noodle Soup

There's something so great about working in a Cardiology department (or a hospital for that matter), there's always someone to catch you when you fall. Well, I didn't exactly fall, but let me tell you about how wonderful my friends and coworkers are. It's been quite a roller coaster the past week and a half. As you recall, last Monday I started to feel ill. Well, a week and a half later, I'm still sick. I have not been sleeping well at night because I'm constantly coughing.

Let's rewind. If you've been following, I have not been running at all because of my hands. I called my cardiologist, and the soonest they could get me in was May 29th. I called again last week to ask if I could still run given the current situation, and I think I may have mentioned, my cardiologist was on vacation. The nurse from his office called me Monday and said that he had moved my appointment up to Wed April 30th, but that he also requested I see my primary about my hands before I come in. He doesn't think the swelling in my hands is coming from my heart when I run. I'm just happy he moved my appointment up.

I saw my primary, and he seemed confused when I told him my cardiologist wanted me to see him about my hands. I told my primary that my hands have been swelling when I run, he said since they were not swollen at the time of my appointment, there was nothing he could do. I didn't expect that he could. He did however take a listen to me and check me out for my cold symptoms, and told me I had a bad sinus infection. That explains why I wasn't getting any better. He prescribed me some antibiotics and a nasal spray to clear it up.

Yesterday, I took my first dose of antibiotics at work when I ate my lunch. After lunch, I was with a patient when I suddenly felt very warm. I paused for a moment to take my lab coat off. When that didn't help, I turned on the air conditioner in my room. Still wasn't helping. I was starting to feel very nauseous and light headed. I finished up with my patient and excused myself. I asked one of the nurses I work with for my supervisor and said I thought I needed to go home. She took one look at me and asked if I was okay because I didn't look good. I told her I didn't feel well, and felt as though I was going to pass out. She helped me to a bed in one of our exam rooms, got me a cold washcloth for my head, and got a nurse practitioner. Both of them stated I looked extremely pale. They took my pulse which was over 100, and my blood pressure dropped to 90/50 mmHg.

They went to talk to one of the cardiologists, and he asked them to do a quick EKG on me. By the time they hooked me up my heart rate had come back down to my baseline, and I was starting to get some of my color back. The EKG was normal which I expected. They gave me water, and a blanket and turned down the lights to let me rest. None of my coworkers wanted me to drive myself home, and many of them offered to drive me. I text my friend Nita to see if she could pick me up on her way home from work. She agreed, and she even left work early (which she didn't need to do, but I appreciated). My coworkers kept checking on me periodically while I was waiting for Nita, to make sure I was still okay.

Nita dropped me off at home and I went straight to bed to take a nap. I woke up, made a light dinner, showered and was back in bed by 9ish. Unfortunately, I woke up around 2 am with what I felt like was a fever again. I was very achy, and tossed and turned. I finally fell back asleep around 4 am, but still ended up calling off work today. My body is so exhausted from the lack of restful sleep at night, and I'm sure my immune system is working overtime. I can feel fluid behind my ears, and feel it shift when I move my head a certain way, which is probably partially the cause of how I felt yesterday. Today is day 2 on my antibiotics, and I'm hoping they start to kick in here soon! So for today, I've been napping on and off on the couch and watching Disney movies all day.

I'm so thankful for my awesome friends and coworkers. It makes my days in and out of work much brighter being around such great people all the time, and they're always willing to help in a time of need. I'm keeping my fingers crossed I start to feel better this weekend, and I will update as soon as I see my cardiologist next week.

QOTD: What are your favorite movies to watch when you're sick in bed? Favorite magazine to catch up on?