well, i almost checked out for good last night. after lifting weights earlier in the day, i went back to work, picked up my kid, came home, had dinner, and was about to read to her and put her to bed, when.. she had a little energy left and wanted to play tag. we were just running around the house and all of a sudden i was hopelessly dizzy. i laughed at first but then i realized this was serious. my entire world moved inexorably to the left. i went down somewhat hard to the floor, but managed to get into a seated position. the intense dizziness would persist for the next 4-5 hours. my daughter freaked out but i somehow kept my composure enough to get her to get my phone, as my dizziness was showing no signs of letting up. i called my mom and barely remember the conversation.
miraculously, my brother was less than a mile away at a hardware store, and was at my door in less than five minutes. my sister came over a little later and shuffled kiddo off to her house for the night, and my brother took me to the emergency room.
i'm sure the hospital people thought i was drunk, shuffling into there in my work shoes and crappy jacket telling them i was suffering from dizziness. i got back there and as the nurse started to take my blood pressure i immediately vomited, as the nausea finally took its toll. i was mostly incoherent in the hospital, but i remember an EKG, a cat scan, peeing in a cup, and a nurse who turned my arm into a mess doing bloodwork.
the doc finally came in and mostly talked to my mom, as i was a sweaty babbling eyes-closed fool. they put me on a saline IV and pumped a liter of water into me and i seemed to recover a little composure. his diagnosis was vertigo brought on by dehydration.
well it's been 24 hours and i can tell you i've never drank more liquid in my entire life. i'm still not 100% and am worried that it's my inner ear, or possibly this broken wisdom tooth (!) that i've neglected for more than a year. i'm going to call the dentist in the morning.
i guess what i'm saying is that this was a wake up call, and i want to live. seeing the face of my daughter as i was going through this was more motivation that i ever could have hoped for. i hope this never happens again.
my family has been amazing during this, as usual. my sister got m to school and my mom picked her up and brought my dog down here to my parents house, where i've apparently set up camp. i have an important mtg tomorrow at work that i may have to call into (or ask for a reschedule). the vertigo is still coming and going but not nearly as intense as it was. it's more like, i'll get up and all of a sudden i'll be listing to the left like i'm on a boat. the fact that it's still around 24 hours later coupled with the acute onset has me scared as hell.
i'm going to question everything now of course.. stress, diet, exercise, etc. this is seemingly my healthiest year physical wise (and my worst year emotional wise).. it's really no surprise which side is winning. i'm about damn ready for this year to be over though i'll tell you that.
i need to have some friends in my life. being isolated has given me no solace. /sigh
here's the workout of doom, as i'll call it.. don't try this at home?
•Barbell Squat:
•135 lb x 5 reps (+63 pts)
•185 lb x 5 reps (+86 pts)
•185 lb x 5 reps (+86 pts)
•205 lb x 3 reps (+90 pts)
•185 lb x 5 reps (+86 pts)
•185 lb x 5 reps (+86 pts)
•Barbell Deadlift:
•135 lb x 5 reps (+63 pts)
•155 lb x 5 reps (+72 pts)
•185 lb x 5 reps (+86 pts)
•185 lb x 5 reps (+86 pts)
•185 lb x 5 reps (+86 pts)
•Barbell Bench Press:
•135 lb x 5 reps (+63 pts)
•155 lb x 5 reps (+72 pts)
•155 lb x 5 reps (+72 pts)
•185 lb x 5 reps (+86 pts)
•185 lb x 5 reps (+86 pts)
•Wide-Grip Lat Pulldown:
•90 lb x 10 reps (+24 pts)
•90 lb x 10 reps (+24 pts)
•90 lb x 10 reps (+24 pts)
