My Tilt Table Test

A few weeks ago, I had a tilt table test in Oklahoma City at the Oklahoma Heart Hospital.  My cardiologist had us do the test to help us solidify what exactly has been going on and it was really nice to be able to finally "tie a ribbon" on things (for more of my story see here).  The blessing is that my heart is perfectly fine.  The down side is that (to put it simply) my body no longer copes with gravity well (yes, I know that's a problem! :)  When I'm up and around, my blood pools in my legs because my brain is not sending the proper signals to keep it where it needs to be.  You can understand how this can cause a whole range of problems!!!  Something else we learned is that I don't have enough electrolytes in my body to help with keeping my fluids in (even though I drink tons of water), which in turn doesn't keep my blood where it needs to be.  So then my blood pressure ends up dropping and I feel really awful! :)  As the gentleman at the tilt test suggested, I've drastically increased my salt intake (more than I already had) and have been drinking a lot of gatorade (we found a healthy solution :). I also have a really interesting tilt exercise to do that basically puts me in the same position I was in during the test - this should hopefully help to re-train my body to cope properly with gravity.  

The blessing is that the past few weeks I've noticed a big improvement and have been feeling much better - which is so very nice!!!  I'm also excited because Lord-willing I believe I can finally see the light at the end of the tunnel and should be feeling all of the way better within several more months.  

On to a few pictures and a little more of the story of the day...

We were going to go to the city as a family, but because of some pressing issues at home (the water leak being the main issue) mommy and I ended up going just the two of us.  We had such a fun time together (we'd never really done anything like that before) and really enjoyed running different errands around the Edmund area!!!  It was such a special time!!!  I didn't feel very great that day, but the fun we had really took my mind off of it - I hardly even noticed that I felt bad - I just had too much fun!!! :)  

Me and the gentleman that did my test. 

(this is after the test was over)

The test was very interesting.  I was on the tilt table, strapped to it in several places, hooked up to several monitors, and then I was tilted up to almost standing at  about a 15 degree angle back.  At about the 1/2 hour point, my blood pressure dropped very low, I felt really sick, and I passed out!!!  That was probably one of worst times I've felt in my life!  About a minute after he laid the table back down I came back around.  The gentleman told us there was a good possibility that I'd pass out, but I really didn't think I would because I never had before (what I did realize after the test though is how close I've come on numerous occasions over the past couple of years to passing out and haven't - I automatically go sit/lay down if I feel really bad).  Then there came the point right before I passed out that I felt so miserable and thought to myself "I'm going to pass out!" Just as I was thinking this I heard the gentleman tell mommy "She's going to pass out, but she'll be okay" -that was interesting!  Thankfully the test went well, we found out some great information and I can safely say that I hope I never have to do that again! :)  After we finished up there our orders were to go get a gatorade and something to eat, so we did.  Even though I hadn't had anything to eat or drink since 6:00 that morning (and by this time it was 4:00 in the afternoon) I really didn't feel like eating much of anything (I was still pretty sick from the test).  Mommy and I had an enjoyable rest of the evening before coming home.  What a pleasant day it was!!!

One of my new daily occupations - tilting for a 1/2 an hour! :) 

(It actually turns out to be a pretty good opportunity to get some reading in!)