Home Sweet Home

The whole family has arrived safe and sound back in Louisiana. The appointment with my doctor on Friday went as expected. She went over everything again (we basically just chit-chatted about random things that don't really concern my health haha). My dad thinks that the dysautonomia/POTS may have caused my gastroparesis so I am now Case Study #1 at the Mayo Clinic to see if there is some link between the two. My doctor did say that most people grow out of POTS between 20-23 so we will see how long it takes me. I am going to start doing everything tomorrow. The five things that I need to do are: 1) sleep 8.5-9.5 hours a night, 2) eat as much salt as I can stand without changing the flavor of foods, 3) drink 2-4 quarts of fluid a day, 4) exercise 30 minutes a day (she said it should be breathy-sweaty), and 5) I have to take the medicine she prescribed me twice a day. I thought this was going to be easy compared to other things that I have gone through but I think I am going to have a hard time. I am already stressing out about it with all of the makeup work and normal work that I have to do, especially in the next week. I am praying about it and as I like to say, "I'll survive. I always do." I think this is going to be hard just because of how involved I am and the fact that I don't have a whole lot of time to spare as it is. But I am willing to make it work because this can make me feel better. One thing I told my doctor during my first appointment was that I think I am working at about 70-80% (health wise) and I want to be at 100% or as close as I can be. Before we left my appointment on Friday, she told me this should get me working at 100% and that made me smile from ear to ear. She also gave me hug (and y'all know I'm a hugger!).
My dad came up with the idea that I should start an organization that spreads POTS/dysautonomia awareness to doctors and pediatricians in particular. If anyone has any information on how I can do this, please talk to me! I think this could be the start of something amazing, if I can just get it going.
I want to thank everyone for all of their prayers and support! It really means the world to me. Some days are really hard (like today) and to know that I have people that care for me and love me, really makes me feel...I can't even put it into words how happy and grateful it makes me feel.
I want to give a shoutout to the Mayo Brothers and Father Mayo (somewhere up in heaven) for starting one of the most phenomenal medical institutions in the world. If y'all ever get a chance to learn about the history of the Mayo Clinic, it is some pretty awesome stuff! I am going to leave y'all with a quote today from Dr. William J. Mayo (one of the founders of the Mayo Clinic), "We must not forget that happiness is a state of mind, not necessarily of body, and that life is what each person believes it to be. The sick man needs faith, faith in his physician, but there comes a time when faith in a higher power may be necessary to sustain his morale."
Until next time,
A :)
P.S. I'll be posting all of our pictures from the trip on Facebook either tonight or tomorrow!
P.P.S. My creatinine levels are down to 0.9 (which is great!) but even the Mayo kidney doctors couldn't figure out why I went into acute renal failure or what caused it.