I Almost died
This incident happened a year and a half ago. I didn't get it on the blog because I had it all written out and lost it! I want it on the blog as part of my history so it is out of order date wise.
We just got back from Arizona recently and I spent almost everyday at the heart hospital taking tests to see why my heart races almost every night. And lasts for 6, 12 and 18 hours.
This blog is a prelude to my recent heart problems so I'm writing this one first.
The problem with my type of food allergy is that it won’t show up in a blood test. I have to find out what I can’t tolerate by eating a food and seeing how my body reacts to it. People don’t eat just one food item at a time, and it took me a long time to figure out that I was allergic to both wheat and milk. I kept going off one but adding the other back into my diet. A second problem is that I can get away with eating wheat or milk and then the next time have a reaction.
When Mike and I came back to Utah our condo was empty. We had to re-paint the already newly painted condo and put new carpet in it before we could move our furniture and personal items from the storage shed that has housed them for the past six months.
I don’t know why I didn’t take the time to do some grocery shopping and put some nutritious food items in the fridge. It was probably because we had to dishes, or utensils. Everything we owned was in the storage unit.
The first morning after sleeping at Amy and Jake’s house we went and bought paint supplies and headed for the condo. I stopped and bought donuts for Pam and Joan who were going to help us paint. I ate an egg and fruit and maybe my cereal at Amy’s so I had had a nutritious breakfast, no need for diet pills there, but that was the end of nutrition for about 5 days. And for some reason I thought I could eat donuts too.
Bottom line: I ate several donuts that that, and in fact, they were lunch. Lisa brought pizza and Pam brought a salad for dinner that night. I ate both. The salad was made from ingredients I could eat, but the dressing was a no-no. All bottled dressings are made with soy, and I can’t have soy. I have found one bottled dressing since that I can have. It is the only one I buy. Otherwise I use olive oil and vinegar or lemon.
We painted all day into the night. Mike and I slept on a blow-up bed we bought from Cabellas the day before. Otherwise there was not a stick of furniture in the house.
I had nothing nutritious the next morning and probably had another donut. As the days went by we ate from Maple Garden, a Chinese Restaurant, and Souper Salad a restaurant I love. Problem that night was that I had the vegetable beef soup which is delicious, but has wheat in it. And I think I ate a bread stick which I absolutely never do. Go figure! When I crash, I really crash.
Anyway, four days later in the evening a sweet neighbor Pam whom we love and is moving, brought over two homemade cinnamon rolls. They were huge! Like 6 inches by four and three inches high.
I thought I was being a good girl after all the cheating I had done, and cut a 1 inch strip off and ate it. The problem with a 1 inch strip off a 6 inch cinnamon roll is that you still have a cinnamon roll, it’s just smaller.
Our painting was done, (well mostly, that is. Some of the white which is the 2-tone paint didn’t get done, and the kitchen never did get finished. It looks good though, and will probably never be finished.)
Our new carpet was laid, and our furniture and personal items were brought in and after nearly killing ourselves are mostly put away.
I gave it up at midnight and told Mike I couldn’t do anymore and was going to sleep. He was still putting the entertainment center together and said he would be a while.
At 2 AM I woke with a racing heart! I was disoriented and realized that I was also swollen, and like a dummy took a water pill. I went back to bed but couldn’t sleep and in fact, wouldn’t let myself go to sleep because I was aware that if I did I would never wake up again.
I go down on my knees and said a pray, got back into bed, and within minutes knew I needed to go to the hospital.
I went out to get Mike thinking he was asleep in the couch, but found him still working on the entertainment center.
I told him what the problem was. We said a second prayer and knew instantly that we needed to leave for the hospital.
It took 8 hours and lots of medication to bring my heart beat back to normal! And my potassium levels were 3.3. The doctor told me that people check out at 3.5. My heart was beating 150 beats per minute.
The first thing the doctor said the next morning was, “What did you eat last night?” I told him my story and he said that eating all that wheat, and sugar had sent my blood sugar up to diabetic numbers and quickly fell to hypoglycemic numbers, which in turn made my heart race.
That morning was our granddaughter Elyce Brown’s first birthday. I missed it because I was in the hospital and when I got home that day, I wanted my bed! Period!
