What a NICE guy! I was totally surprised, because I thought most cardiologists would be stiff and formal.

When I told him that I’ve decided that “some people are fainters” isn’t working for me anymore- he said that it was completely ridiculous that any doctor would ever tell me that.

He was shocked that I went this long before getting a cardiac work up since this has been going on so long (like since I was a kid). The questions he asked me were spot on, like he knew exactly what this was. He’s going to do some ruling out tests before we go toward a plan of treatment.

First on the list is an ultrasound of my neck and head (04/23). After that, I'll be hooked up to a heart monitor for 24 hours. If that doesn’t show anything (and he suspects it won’t), then I’ll be hooked up to a heart monitor for a MONTH and I’ll press the button whenever I feel the faint coming on. He said that this might not even show something because you have to catch it as it happens.

After that he’s going to do a tilt-table test and suspects (as y'all do) that it's Vasovagal syncope. I feel like I'm in GREAT hands, FINALLY.

It's been interesting to note that since I've been laid off from work, the fainting episodes are few and far between. That tells me that this is stress related. Heat also affects it- long hot showers are not in the LEAST pleasurable for me because after a short while I feel like I'm having a panic attack. He told me that this fits in with this being a cardiac problem and that my heart is speeding up for some reason in the heat. Weird.

This afternoon, I'll be spending more of my health insurance $$ and visiting the oral medicine dude. Today he's taking an x-ray of my lower face to see what needs to be done (if anything). I'll be curious to see what my face looks like after it's supposedly healed. I don't believe for a minute that it healed properly because I'm in too much pain.

This soft diet stuff is getting really old, by the way. Thank goodness for Dairy Queen. tee hee.