Day 11: Fainting Spell

Today was a "bad day" (in the words of my mom).


My dad stays overnight at the hospital on Fridays and Saturdays since he doesn't have to work over the weekend. So this morning he was the one at the hospital when "it" happened.


We keep a little notebook of what happens in the day, what the doctors/nurses report to us, and to track any questions that we might have for them. Here's my dad's report on this morning's events...

1 - Got up from bed and sat on a chair and did some reading
2- Food arrived. Everything was dry and sealed; cereals, milk and banana
3- Got up to go to the bathroom. While waiting for housekeeping to finish working the bathroom she called out that she was dizzy.
4 - Sat her down and she started to throw up. Only saliva came out. After throwing up she managed to go to the bathroom and ate her breakfast (english muffin in addition to cereal, milk and half a banana)
5 - notified nurse about the incident. He (Ethan) checked her BP in 3 different positions. Showed up that BP dropped when standing.

*As she ate her breakfast my dad talked with my mom asking her about when she was feeling dizzy and when she was throwing up. She didn't remember any of it -- she must have blacked out.

Turns out that her blood pressure dropped significantly. Probably due to the meds that she's been taking to manage her high BP. And she's dehydrated.

They gave her a blood transfusion and gave her some electrolytes as well. They are going to monitor closely her BP and her BP meds. She was given electrolytes (ah -- "pet pole" is back) and will be given a liter of fluids each morning. Hopefully these measures will help her to not feel so dizzy and she won't have anymore fainting spells.

She's been fine the rest of the day. She was able to walk a couple of laps around the floor. She ate well during her meals -- without any meds.

While she had a little bit of a spell this morning, overall the day wasn't THAT bad. The doctors were able to see what's a little bit of a problem area and have figured out what needs to be done.

Pray that these measures work.