The first time I remember having an “episode” was in January of 2013. I was sitting in a bible study class, watching a video on a big screen and the room started to spin. I told my sister, Emily, that I didn’t feel right and I stumbled to the restroom where I sat for at least 30 minutes trying to feel “normal” again. I was dizzy, nauseous, sweating (it was probably near 70° outside), trembling, had a hard time controlling my bowels, and felt very weak.
I had no idea that it was related to any sort of tumor. Previous to this episode, I had some dizzy spells and brain fog that I couldn’t explain. I was diagnosed with high blood pressure right after my first daughter was born in 2008. No issues during my pregnancy, but right after my c-section, they could not get my blood pressure to go down. I was put on a prescription for high blood pressure and haven’t been off of it since then.
I went to the emergency room and was told that my blood pressure medication needed to be adjusted because my blood pressure was very low when they examined me. They chalked it up to having “too much medication” for my high blood pressure issues and sent me home to get my dosage adjusted with my primary doctor. In the months that followed, I had several more episodes but figured I was just tired or needed to eat.
One time, maybe a month or so after my first episode, I was doing yoga at a studio near my home and my husband came to pick me up from the session. I had already spent quite some time cooling down and relaxing before he picked me up, I felt fine. When David arrived, I stood up and walked towards the car. I began to feel very dizzy and my vision was blurred. I had a headache, I was short of breath, and felt like I was going to vomit. To top it off, I started to have a panic attack.
Side note: I have experienced panic attacks since I was in my teens. I was diagnosed with major depressive disorder, generalized anxiety, and panic attacks in my 20s. I receive medical care and therapy for these issues as well.
By the time my symptoms and panic attack had died down, about 5 to 10 minutes later, David and I decided that maybe I was just overdoing myself and needed to eat. He took me and my daughters to a Mexican restaurant nearby where I drank about a gallon of water and ate some chips. I couldn’t manage to eat much more than that. David and I chatted about what was going on and I knew that at the time, I was under a lot of pressure. I had lost my job in December of 2012, we were moving into a brand new home in a few weeks, and my daughters were 4 years old and 9 months old. We thought maybe I was just dealing with a lot of stress and planned to speak with my doctor about it the next time I went.
I had no idea that I wouldn’t get the chance to see my primary doctor before my next episode…