It has been an insanely busy year. Now that summer is here, things have calmed down just a bit. I'm working on knitting pattern submissions and crocheting a rather crazy looking rag rug. I'm also trying to de-clutter, which is not my forte.
Taylor (my 16-year-old daughter) has been having medical problems for over a year. She has seen doctor after doctor in search of answers. Her list of symptoms is WAY too long to list, but her major symptoms are ventricular tachycardia, extreme fatigue, weakness, tremor, difficulty thinking, very high heart rate, very low blood pressure, and did I say extreme fatigue? We have been told that her symptoms are a result of the war in Iraq (huh?), depression and anxiety, MY depression and anxiety, her imagination, fibromyalgia, electrical problems in her heart, etc, etc, etc. I have been told by many very brilliant doctors that there is nothing wrong with her and that I am doing her a disservice by allowing her to be home schooled through our school district. What they don't get is that she can't go to school. She is too ill.
Finally, we found an absolutely amazing doctor who actually LISTENED to us, payed attention to her long list of weird symptoms, and put the puzzle pieces together. He did a tilt table test to confirm her diagnosis and (drum roll, please) she has POTS. Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome. She also has Neurocardiogenic Syncope. These are specific types of dysautonomia, which means that her autonomic nervous system does not work properly. The main treatment for this condition is to increase salt and fluid intake by A LOT. There are also medications, but we are hoping that she won't need them. For now, we'll just have to see how things go.
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