Illness and Injury

Yesterday morning about 2.30am, I started having stomach cramps. No biggie, figured it was probably just something I ate. I was in and out of the bathroom until about 3.30am, when I took some Pepto and went back to bed.

Just minutes later, I felt like my skin was on fire, like every pore was screaming. I went back to the bathroom, and the next thing I remember was Becky yelling at me though the door, asking if I was alright. I groggily realized I was on the floor, and had no idea how I’d gotten there.

It appears I passed out, probably upon standing up in the bathroom, and fell forward, striking my head on the marble window sill, and falling to the floor.

The damage? Well, I have a nice corner-shaped knot on my forehead, a scraped up nose, one eye with lots of redness and swelling, a split lip and a banging headache.

Darla took me to the ER around 5am, and I ran the gauntlet — blood pressure, IV, EKG and a CAT scan. Aside from some pretty high blood pressure when I arrived (it was normal by the time I left), there was nothing unusual.

So, the verdict was a “common vagal reaction”. According to the paperwork I was sent home with, that is “a reflex response that causes the pulse to slow down. If the pulse is low enough, the blood pressure falls and causes fainting or near-fainting.” Combine that with a pretty decent head injury, and that’s one scary morning.

I’ve slept most of the last 24 hours, and expect I’ll continue to sleep more today. Between the stress of what was going on yesterday morning, the uncertainty of what would come out of the tests, and the pain from the clonk on the head, I’m exhausted!