It wasn't an easy three days for sure. I was fortunate that my care at Swedish Hospital began in the ER with Dr. Marty O'Brian. He's one of the good guys. Unfortunately, one of the few good guys. He recognized there was a problem, admitted me, and started the quest to actually help me. My days & nights were filled with spinning rooms, good & bad caretakers, more fainting, multiple tests, dreaded labs, Lee's calming encouragement, and finally ~ an answer.
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| Everyone loves a good strobe light test when the room is already spinning! :) |
The hospitalist, Dr. Brigham requested help from a neurologist and a cardiologist. This was obviously a good call, the problem was that she didn't call on MY doctors. I needed help from the doctors that know my history and current treatment plan. Pulling in new doctors isn't always as helpful as one may think. The neurologist had no interest in communicating with Dr. Round. I'm not a pro at confrontation so it just turned into a stressful battle to be heard. My family and Lee were my rocks in this. I'd been beaten down and they gave me the strength and encouragement to fight for what we knew was best for me. The neurologist didn't take it well that I insisted her plan be placed on the back burner, but she finally accepted it. In a wonderful twist of fate, the cardiologist was a friend of my dear Dr. Fenster. Talk about a ray of light in what was becoming a very dark hospital! Dr. Cho consulted with Dr. Fenster and together they discovered that the syncope was being caused by some heart abnormalities. He prescribed and new drug for me that would increase my blood pressure and hopefully keep me on the conscious side of life. :)
Here's to hope & simple solutions.
