Tilt Table Test
So on Wednesday I finally experienced the Tilt Table Test. Austin and I left at 6am, me behind the wheel for the trip to Billings. It was a long, boring drive, and Austin slept through most of it. Whenever I go to Billings, I remember all the trips Emma and I took back and forth between home and school, that long, dreadful drive that we'd pass with conversation and singing.
We arrived in Billings and immediately took a wrong exit, had to turn around and find the right exit, which is so far that you start to think you are no longer in city limits. Upon hitting it, I recalled that it was the exit Emma and I always took, since it leads right to campus in the end. We drove down the road and to the clinic. Things moved surprisingly quickly. We arrived at 8:30ish, half an hour before my first appointment. I was asked questions, made to sign forms, and had my heart listened to. The second appointment, upstairs from the first, was the same way, only more questions and with a very friendly woman named Virginia. Her office smelled similar to my perfume, but when I asked she was uncertain what I was smelling and said she did spill her coffee earlier.
We left there thinking we had some time to kill before finally going to the hospital. Thus, we got lost in an effort to find either the exotic pet store or a McDonalds. A nurse called and informed me that they could have me in right away, so we then had to turn around and struggle our way back to the hospital.
We promptly became lost in the hospital, but found our way. I signed more papers, meanwhile eying the alluring cleavage of the girl behind the desk. It was hard not to, she wore a low cut shurt and had a necklace with a shiny gold pendant wedged in there. Austin and I walked away from her giggling to ourselves like children.
After a brief sit in the hospital surgery waiting room, I was led to a room where I lay fully dressed on a hospital bed as an IV was placed in my hand. Austin was directed to sit with me so they could keep track of him. Eventually a man named Tom came with a wheel chair and I was whisked away, with Austin reluctantly in tow. Austin was directed to a waiting room and I was wheeled in to a lab where I was greeted by a woman who struck me as very swedish, but I'm terrible at knowing nationalities. She had a thick accent and blonde, double braided hair tucked away under a surgical hair net.
I was taken to a larger room with machines and a large, strange table in the middle. I was seated on a smaller table next to it that I thought was another bed. A very friendly woman prepared me, having me lay flat on the table and make sure my feet were flat against a platform at the foot of the bed. She placed blankets on me, apologizing for the super cold of the room, which I would later come to appreciate. She pulled a strap over my legs, put devices on my chest, shoulders, and legs, a blood pressure device on my right arm, a few more straps on my arms and chest, and taped the blanket so it would stay in place over my body. She and the man, Tom, joked about my liking his music, which I did, but he didn't believe I really knew who The Beatles and Tom Petty were. Ha.
Finally, the nurse at my side asked "You ready?" and I said yes. The table started to slowly tilt upright until I was basically just standing on the bed platform, only inches from the ground. I stood there, blinking, uncertain. The blonde doctor had mentioned that I should keep them informed of how I'm feeling during the process, but I forgot to say much. I just stood there. Soon I started to wish the nurse would lay the bed back down as I began to feel weary. The blood pressure device on my arm would constrict now and then, leaving my right arm in incredible pain when it released. I began to dread it constricting, and as the minutes passed I found myself feeling nauseated.
"I feel queasy."
That was the first of few things I would say. The nurse wrote some notes as she continued to monitor me. I found my breath was coming shorter and I was beginning to feel very hot. I began to be unaware of the music that was playing. The arm band constricted again. My vision was slowly filling with a purple static, and my skin was burning.
"I'm going to puke."
I felt my head lurch forward as my body prepared to vomit and hands rushed to grab me.
I became aware, barely, of a whirring sound, and that there were now two people with me, the nurse and the doctor. She was asking me if I was ok. I was panting, and absolutely drenched in sweat. I realized I was now laying flat again, and could not find my voice, but just struggled to regain awareness of my surroundings. Slowly I began to remember what was going on, and as the doctor again asked if I was ok, I managed to inform her."SWEATY."
The nurse continued to monitor me. I could hear myself very breathily asking, "do I have to do that again?", to which she laughed a little and said no, they got what they needed. It must have been about 30 minutes before I felt ok again. All I wanted was to get the hell out of there and go cling to Austin and tell him what happened. I couldn't figure out if I fainted or not. After some time they removed everything from me and I was helped to my wheelchair. The nurse gave me some water and some saltines. I shakily held the items in both hands as if they would explode if they touched each other. Soon I was wheeled out and taken to the waiting room, where the doctor followed me to Austin, and then we all went to an adjoined room where she explained everything to us.
Basically they had proven there was definitely an issue to be dealt with. My heart rate and blood pressure dropped after I'd been standing for some time and my body reacted. I just sat there, still holding my cup of water in the left hand and crackers in the right. The doctor smiled when she was finished and I thanked her, almost hugged her. She had proven I had a problem, and even had answers. It could be treated. It was amazing, and I was so grateful to her, but I really didn't have the strength to show her.
We made our way out and to the car, me still clutching my cup and crackers out in front of me as I told Austin what a horrible experience I just had. We got in the car, Austin behind the wheel, went to Hardees, and left town.
It was the best worst experience of my life. I'm so thankful I had it done, and I would never do it ever again.
We arrived in Billings and immediately took a wrong exit, had to turn around and find the right exit, which is so far that you start to think you are no longer in city limits. Upon hitting it, I recalled that it was the exit Emma and I always took, since it leads right to campus in the end. We drove down the road and to the clinic. Things moved surprisingly quickly. We arrived at 8:30ish, half an hour before my first appointment. I was asked questions, made to sign forms, and had my heart listened to. The second appointment, upstairs from the first, was the same way, only more questions and with a very friendly woman named Virginia. Her office smelled similar to my perfume, but when I asked she was uncertain what I was smelling and said she did spill her coffee earlier.
We left there thinking we had some time to kill before finally going to the hospital. Thus, we got lost in an effort to find either the exotic pet store or a McDonalds. A nurse called and informed me that they could have me in right away, so we then had to turn around and struggle our way back to the hospital.
We promptly became lost in the hospital, but found our way. I signed more papers, meanwhile eying the alluring cleavage of the girl behind the desk. It was hard not to, she wore a low cut shurt and had a necklace with a shiny gold pendant wedged in there. Austin and I walked away from her giggling to ourselves like children.
After a brief sit in the hospital surgery waiting room, I was led to a room where I lay fully dressed on a hospital bed as an IV was placed in my hand. Austin was directed to sit with me so they could keep track of him. Eventually a man named Tom came with a wheel chair and I was whisked away, with Austin reluctantly in tow. Austin was directed to a waiting room and I was wheeled in to a lab where I was greeted by a woman who struck me as very swedish, but I'm terrible at knowing nationalities. She had a thick accent and blonde, double braided hair tucked away under a surgical hair net.
I was taken to a larger room with machines and a large, strange table in the middle. I was seated on a smaller table next to it that I thought was another bed. A very friendly woman prepared me, having me lay flat on the table and make sure my feet were flat against a platform at the foot of the bed. She placed blankets on me, apologizing for the super cold of the room, which I would later come to appreciate. She pulled a strap over my legs, put devices on my chest, shoulders, and legs, a blood pressure device on my right arm, a few more straps on my arms and chest, and taped the blanket so it would stay in place over my body. She and the man, Tom, joked about my liking his music, which I did, but he didn't believe I really knew who The Beatles and Tom Petty were. Ha.
Finally, the nurse at my side asked "You ready?" and I said yes. The table started to slowly tilt upright until I was basically just standing on the bed platform, only inches from the ground. I stood there, blinking, uncertain. The blonde doctor had mentioned that I should keep them informed of how I'm feeling during the process, but I forgot to say much. I just stood there. Soon I started to wish the nurse would lay the bed back down as I began to feel weary. The blood pressure device on my arm would constrict now and then, leaving my right arm in incredible pain when it released. I began to dread it constricting, and as the minutes passed I found myself feeling nauseated.
"I feel queasy."
That was the first of few things I would say. The nurse wrote some notes as she continued to monitor me. I found my breath was coming shorter and I was beginning to feel very hot. I began to be unaware of the music that was playing. The arm band constricted again. My vision was slowly filling with a purple static, and my skin was burning.
"I'm going to puke."
I felt my head lurch forward as my body prepared to vomit and hands rushed to grab me.
I became aware, barely, of a whirring sound, and that there were now two people with me, the nurse and the doctor. She was asking me if I was ok. I was panting, and absolutely drenched in sweat. I realized I was now laying flat again, and could not find my voice, but just struggled to regain awareness of my surroundings. Slowly I began to remember what was going on, and as the doctor again asked if I was ok, I managed to inform her."SWEATY."
The nurse continued to monitor me. I could hear myself very breathily asking, "do I have to do that again?", to which she laughed a little and said no, they got what they needed. It must have been about 30 minutes before I felt ok again. All I wanted was to get the hell out of there and go cling to Austin and tell him what happened. I couldn't figure out if I fainted or not. After some time they removed everything from me and I was helped to my wheelchair. The nurse gave me some water and some saltines. I shakily held the items in both hands as if they would explode if they touched each other. Soon I was wheeled out and taken to the waiting room, where the doctor followed me to Austin, and then we all went to an adjoined room where she explained everything to us.
Basically they had proven there was definitely an issue to be dealt with. My heart rate and blood pressure dropped after I'd been standing for some time and my body reacted. I just sat there, still holding my cup of water in the left hand and crackers in the right. The doctor smiled when she was finished and I thanked her, almost hugged her. She had proven I had a problem, and even had answers. It could be treated. It was amazing, and I was so grateful to her, but I really didn't have the strength to show her.
We made our way out and to the car, me still clutching my cup and crackers out in front of me as I told Austin what a horrible experience I just had. We got in the car, Austin behind the wheel, went to Hardees, and left town.
It was the best worst experience of my life. I'm so thankful I had it done, and I would never do it ever again.