The Faint of Heart

Well this is not how I anticipated my week going.

I came down with a bad cold Saturday night, after getting home from a road trip to Ames. I had the worst body aches – you know, the kind where even your hair hurts. I went to bed early hoping it was just tiredness from the trip but I awoke on Sunday feeling just as crappy.

I rested as much as I could on Sunday – as much as a 1-year-old will let you. Took a nap in the morning and laid on the couch most of the day watching football. I was in bed immediately after Desperate Housewives was over – hey, a girl’s gotta have priorities!

I tossed and turned all night and knew that I should not go to work on Monday. But, my FIL was coming over to spend time with Munchkin and I figured I wouldn’t get much rest at home. Besides, I have a desk job – how taxing could that be? So I went in to work. That was my first mistake of the day.

Got to work and had a relatively quiet morning. I had taken some DayQuil and Ibuprofen which seemed to keep the aches at bay. Wasn’t congested or anything but my stomach was queasy most of the day and I did feel light-headed. I had an orange for a mid-morning snack and then some soup and crackers/cheese for lunch. That’s not as much as I normally eat but I was afraid I’d puke if I ate too much. Second mistake of the day.

I tried to push the fluids, and thought I was doing a good job. I’ve blogged before about how I am a slow drinker and have a hard time getting my water in for the day. Monday was no exception. So, I didn’t get enough to drink. Third mistake.

After eating, I went for a walk around the mall with some co-workers and we found some really fun new things (more on that in this Friday’s edition of Annexed). I was actually feeling fairly decent, aside from the heavy coat of “ickiness” that comes when you’re sick. I had a meeting at 1pm so I headed in there to get everything set up. The room was hot and had almost no circulation. I had a fan going right next to me but it did nothing to cut the air.

As soon as we got started, I felt it. My stomach was really feeling nauseous and I started to get shaky. I was drinking a 7-Up and kept sipping it hoping that would help. It didn’t. I tried to lean my head back in the chair and get comfortable, praying that I would be able to make it through the next 3 hours of meeting – thank God I wasn’t the one facilitating. After about 20 minutes it started to get worse. I seriously thought I was going to throw up and did NOT want to do that in a conference room full of people. So I casually got up and snuck out of the room, making a beeline for the bathroom. That was at about 1:20pm.

A cleaning lady was in there but I didn’t care. I ducked in the first stall and sat down. My whole body was shaking, my stomach was doing flips and my vision was starting to get blurry. I put my head between my knees because they always tell you to do that if you feel light-headed or dizzy. It didn’t help. I took off my glasses and set them aside. Then the dream started.

I don’t remember what it was about but I know I had a dream. It was a nice one too. Suddenly I opened my eyes and for a second had no idea where I was. Then I saw the underside of the toilet and realized I had fainted and was on the floor of the stall. I managed to get myself up and sitting again. That’s when everyone came running in. Apparently the cleaning lady had run out to get help when I fainted. It was the folks from my meeting shouting my name and asking if I was ok. The co-dependent in my almost said “yes, I’m fine” but then I realized that was far from the truth so I eeked out a “No, I just fainted.”

My dear co-worker Vicki came in and asked if I could open the stall door and I did. She came in with cold clothes for my neck and head. I looked at my watch and it was 1:35pm. I remember asking how long I had been out and no one knew. It was a whirlwind then. People were taking my pulse. Everyone had an opinion on what happened and what should be done next. Eventually they all agreed I should go back to my desk and Vicki helped me get there.

Someone suggested calling Security so they did. I remember feeling a throbbing in my head and that’s when I realized I had hit it pretty hard on the floor. My knee and ankle hurt too (I would later realize that I had fallen forward and twisted to the right, hitting my upper back on the stall door and then my head and knee on the bathroom floor). Security got there pretty quick and started asking all kinds of questions. What happened? Had I been sick? Did I eat/drink enough today? Was I on any medication? They decided it was necessary to call 911 and get me to the hospital. The paramedics literally got there in less than 5 minutes.

They asked me all the same questions and then some more. They took my blood pressure (90 over something) then had me stand up and took it again (80 over something). They told me they were going to take me to the hospital and helped me on to the gurney. They strapped me down and whisked me away. Everyone was staring. The funny part is that one of the EMTs started talking to me about how hopping the mall was back in the day and how it seemed like a ghost town now. LOL. Tell me about it dude.

They loaded me in the ambulance and off we went (they didn’t use the sirens though, darn!). The head guy immediately hooked me up to an IV and started asking more questions. He also gave me something to keep me from throwing up. I was appreciative of that. We were at the hospital really quick and the docs were waiting. They zipped me off to a room, hooked me up to chest monitors, drew blood and then left me.

Vicki had followed us over there and kept me company in the room. I really appreciated that. Kept me from worrying and helped pass the time. We watched VH1 Behind The Music on Jennifer Hudson and then another one on Eve. We both agree that Eve needs to wear a bra more. Vicki took a few pics of me too.

Vicki says I look too healthy in this pic. LOL. Trust me, I was feeling crappy.

Close-up of the knot developing on my head

The doc came in and said that my white blood cell count was low, as was my calcium. She wanted to do a CT Scan of my chest and an MRI of my head (apparently they need confirmation that I have a brain). They also ordered a pregnancy test.

I was whisked off to the CT area but the preggo test results hadn’t come back yet and they couldn’t do the scan until they had that. I could have told them I wasn’t preggers but they had to check. So I waited. And waited. A shift change happened and my gal left. I waited some more. Finally the results were back – no baby – and they took me in to do the scan. After that, I was carted off to have the MRI done. They took every possible angle of my head there could be. I was in the tube for 35 minutes. It was actually kind of nice because it gave me some quiet time to rest. Once that was done I went back to the room.

The results came back and low and behold, I do have a brain! Phew! 🙂 Everything checked out ok and gave them no further leads on the white blood cells or calcium readings. At that point, doc said they were going to let me go and suggested I follow-up with my regular doc in the morning. CJ was there by then and took me home.

Tuesday, I got in to my doc’s and he confirmed that I have a concussion from hitting my head on the floor. Must have whacked it pretty good to rattle my brain so! He said the low readings are probably due to the virus I have but he drew more blood just in case. I was told to stay home from work for a few more days.

So, that’s my story. Today I feel worse than yesterday. The concussion is intensifying the cold symptoms making the nausea and dizziness worse. My knee is doing better today though. I’m hoping that this is the “bottom” and tomorrow I will start feeling better.

A couple big lessons I’ve learned: 1) it’s ok to take it easy, 2) I need to ask for help when I need it and 3) I really do need to drink more than I do. I’ve had a lot of friends send well wishes and I do appreciate all the love. It helps more than you know!

5Nov2010

Annexed, The Premiere

Posted in Annexed by teamtradermom

Starting today, I’m going to devote every Friday blog to a new series that I like to call Annexed. It’s basically about the craziness and weirdness that surrounds me at my new work location*. I swear, this would make a killer sitcom and it would be a big hit. “The Office” meets “Outsourced” meets “My Name is Earl”. Got ya hooked already, don’t I!

The scene:

Our “office” is located inside a mall that is, for all intents and purposes, abandoned. At one time, this mall was a hustling, bustling place to be seen but now it’s pretty much been left to rot. Here’s a quote from deadmalls.com that pretty much sums it up, “Southroads was built into the slope of a bluff, and the dark interior always reminded me of the mall used in George Romero’s original “Dawn of the Dead.”

Pin'N Out In Bellevue!

The only occupants of the mall are a Mexican church, an awards/t-shirt shop, a barber who advertises military “kutz”, a Greek restaurant, a “musclehead” gym, and a police station (which sells t-shirts of pigs dressed as cops riding on a motorcycle with a dog in the sidecar. No, I’m not kidding). Every other bay in the mall is abandoned and many of them still have stuff lying around inside. And they all smell.

The company I work with resides in a large area of the mall – what used to be a Younkers department store. They also have another bay outside of that, called The Annex. Hence, the name of the series. It’s all coming together now isn’t it? I love it when things come full circle!

The Characters:

Scooter Man's is not as nice as this, and it's not red. But it does have the basket!

Everyone that plays a part in this new work life is a perfect “character”. Aside from the “normal” office folk, we have a British woman who is one of the few people keeping me sane (Annexed was jointly created by her so I have to give a shout out to the Vickmeister!), vendors from India, Texans and a New Yorker. Then there are the characters that don’t work with us but instead lurk around the mall. There’s a guy on a scooter (you know, like the ones they used to advertise on TV all the time – “it can make a full 360 turn!”) who drives up and down the hallway saying hi to all the pretty women. I think Scooter is drunk most of the time so it’s slurred and comes out like “HIIIIiiiiii….” Then there are the mall walkers. There is a group of elderly men and women who meet there every morning and walk the mall, then sit at one of the old card tables and chat. There is even a sign on the wall that shows how many laps equals 1 mile! Suh-weet. That will totally come in handy when it’s the dead of winter and I need to get my mileage in!

The Extras:

Every show has to have special guests from time to time and this one is no exception! This week, the special guest was The Polling Place. There are apparently 3 districts that use The Mall as a polling place and they set up right inside the entry doors. I got a couple of frowns as I walked through on Tuesday morning. I think they thought my heels clicking on the tile was too much of a distraction for the voters (who sat at card tables filling out their ballots – no screen or anything for privacy). Whatevs.

The Highlight Reel:

1. One of the Indians invited himself back to my house to play with my daughter. This was before he found out that I work and my husband stays at home. He told me we were “reversed” and gave me a look that said, “That shit would never fly back home you crazy woman who thinks she’s equal to a man!” I’m pretty sure he won’t be coming to my house now.

2. The Brit and I have taken to walking the mall for Therapy every afternoon. Yesterday we saw a man on the other end of the hallway who had a limp and was flopping his arms about. He scattered when he saw us.

3. The Odor of The Day is “varnish mixed with mildew”.

4. The Brit had to call 911 on her way home yesterday as there was a crazy homeless man hitchhiking IN THE MIDDLE OF TRAFFIC! He started off on the side of the road (not on the shoulder or a sidewalk, but literally on the side of a lane on the highway) but as he hitched his thumb to catch a lift, he would stagger into traffic. Awesome.

5. Speaking of traffic, on Monday I saw a woman pushing a baby stroller down the same road as Exhibit #3 above. Again, on the highway, in the lane of traffic. More awesome sauce.

So now that you have the back story, you are all set for the upcoming episodes of Annexed. Stay tuned kids – you won’t want to miss a minute of it! You’ve officially been Annexed!

*Note to all you compliance geeks – no worries, I won’t share anything about the work itself, the company I work for or the names of any employees. This is simply a fun look in to the crazy underworld that is The Annex.

29Oct2010

Amazing Success!

Posted in Work and Professional Life by teamtradermom

Yesterday was the first annual Heartland IIBA Conference – and it was a HUGE success. I am so happy with how everything turned out. It was a long day, got there at 6:45am and got home at 5:30pm, but so worth it. I am the President of this organization but can not take the credit for the event. We had a separate committee plan it and they did such a good job. It really sets the bar high for next year’s conference!

We had 5 speakers – which I helped to acquire so I will take some credit here 🙂 – and they were all phenomenal. We got so many comments on how great the presentations were. There was a lot of interaction from the audience too which shows how much they were getting in to it. All of the speakers commented that this was one of the best planned and executed conferences they’ve been to! This is saying a lot as most of them do this for a living and have been across the country speaking at these types of events.

There were over 100 attendees and the feedback was very positive. The facilities and food were great. The participation was awesome. The give-aways were a big hit. All in all, it went off without a hitch and was just perfect! Couldn’t have asked for anything better.

Being the Prez, I was the go-to person when there was something to be done that didn’t fit in a particular category. I was the emcee most of the day, directed people and traffic, acted as the “heavy” when speakers started to run over time, worked out some things with the vendors, took pictures, answered questions and more. I felt like a bride at a wedding getting pulled in several directions all at once! LOL I love being active and involved though.

The only down side to the day? I woke up with a cold. I was achy and a bit stuffed up when my alarm went off. Bollocks! But, I’m the president and I had to be there. So I took some Dayquil, a few Ibuprofen, grabbed an OJ and off I went. With all the adrenaline of the day, I felt pretty good for the most part. It wasn’t until late afternoon when things started winding down that it started to hit me again. By the time I got home I was really tired and just wanted to curl up in bed. BUT, instead, I had to play volleyball!

Playing volleyball while sick can go one of 2 ways – I can either play really crappy or I can play amazingly well because I’m extra focused. Last night, it went the way of the latter – I played awesome! Our team had so much fun and won 5 of our 6 games.

Now I’m so glad it’s Friday. Have a relatively low-key day at work and then CJ and I have a date night! We were supposed to go to a Halloween Party but with the craziness of the last few weeks, have had no time to get costumes ready so instead, we’re going to take advantage of having a sitter booked and go out! Munchkin is staying with my parents all night so we can hopefully get some much-needed sleep.

Have a great weekend!!

P.S. I was on the radio yesterday morning! Sort of…One of the stations here has a segment called “Top News” where they read the Facebook statuses that appear in their Top News feed. Apparently mine was yesterday! My status was regarding the conference and having a cold. I didn’t actually hear it but several of my friends did, which is totally cool!

27Oct2010

Random Thought Wednesday

Posted in Health and Weightloss, Holidays and Seasons, Work and Professional Life by teamtradermom

I lost 2 pounds this week! The funny thing? I have no idea how. It goes against all laws of nature. I have eaten like nobody’s business this week! I’ve had s’mores every night for dessert. Yesterday I ate my way through a goodie bag of sweets – Kit Kat, Reese’s’ PB Cup, Skittles, and M&Ms. Granted, they were the fun size ones but still, it’s not good to eat 4 of them in a row and then polish off pumpkin seeds. BUT, never-the-less, I lost 2 lbs. and no one can take that away from me!

I have to lead a workshop at work today and I’m really nervous about it. What if the computer doesn’t work? What if the attendees think it’s a waste of time? What if we go way off track and don’t get anything done? These are the thoughts going through my head. When it comes right down to it, I’m sure it will be fine. I also have to remember that not everything rests on my shoulders and in the grand scheme of things, it’s really not that big of a deal.

Tomorrow we are having a big conference for the organization that I am the president of. It’s our first all day event and we have literally been planning for it all year. There are over 100 people registered along with 5 speakers coming from all over the country. It’s pretty big. And I’m the prez. Oddly enough, I’m not nervous about it at all. This is 3 times bigger than my work even today yet I feel good about it. Maybe that’s because I know it’s been well planned whereas the work one was sort of thrown together. At any rate, tomorrow marks a huge milestone for our organization and I’m really excited about it.

I am loving this fall weather! It’s cold and rainy and I love it! Wearing warm wooly sweaters, boots and drinking warm beverages is awesome! I also get to use my seat warmers on the drive in. There’s something special about having heated buns when you arrive in to work.

Several weeks ago I was really excited for Halloween and now that it’s almost here I’m so “not in the mood”. Sorry Halloween, I think I feel a headache coming on. It’s not that I don’t like Halloween, it’s that I’ve had ZERO time to get anything ready. Between getting Munchkin’s costume ready, work, planning for tomorrow’s conference, painting the house and trying to actually sleep and stuff, I’ve had no time to get myself a costume. And as of now, I have no energy to do it in time for a party on Friday. We had some good ideas too. Who knows, maybe I’ll get inspired and throw something together. Or maybe CJ and I will just take advantage of having a sitter and go to a movie instead.

I think that’s all of my random thoughts. Well, at least the ones I’m willing to share! Have a happy hump day!