Emergency Pit Stop

I keep on forgetting to post this handy FLC diagnostic reference that Muriel Finkel of Amyloidosis Support Groups sent out a few weeks ago. It will probably make no sense to the layperson, but I figured I'd post it to anyone that was interested in it. It is a nice cross-reference to compare your free light chain levels. This document comes to you at no charge; the medical degree to understand it all, well, that costs a little bit more.

I'm afraid to say that I have had a bad patch of days recently, mostly due to some blood pressure issues. When my blood pressure is low, I am tired, a little disoriented, get non-specific chest pains, and generally feel like shit.

On Tuesday, I took a trip to NYC on business, and ended up overexerting myself. I woke up Wednesday not a happy camper. To add to the mess, my GI tract got upset with something, and I began to dehydrate. Needless to say, the combination of the exhaustion and dehydration made my blood pressure plummet. It was about at the level of a small rodent.

After several hours of feeling like death incarnate, I decided to go to the local hospital to get checked out. Better to be safe than sorry in these matters. I really like the hospital in my town -- it is literally a stone's throw away, and due to the light traffic it gets, you tend to be taken care of very well. They did a number of tests (along with a chest X-ray) and fed me some fluids to get my electrolytes back in balance. After a long while, the lab results came back. The doctor said that the results were "excellent", and sent me on my way.

Today was a little better, but a still a little rough. I'm going on a trip tomorrow, so I'll be doing everything I can to make sure that this doesn't happen again.