Mostly a good day. Okay, a couple bad things

[pegkerr]

I fainted at work today.

Believe, I'm not in the habit of doing stuff like this. The last time I fainted at work, to the best of my recollection, I was pregnant with Delia, thirteen years ago. I'd done my usual midmorning walk, and I went down at 3:15 to the office gym (after fetching my bo from the car) where I worked on the Discovery form for fifteen minutes. The usual routine.

At 4:00, I got up from my desk to take my empty coffee cup back to the kitchen. I wasn't in a hurry or anything. I rounded the corner, and as I was passing a colleague's desk, I abruptly stopped, placed the cup on her ledge, grabbed the ledge, and then as my legs buckled under me, I went all the way down to the floor. I didn't, however, lose consciousness all the way. I just suddenly lost all strength to support myself in a vertical position.

I have no idea why that happened. I hadn't skipped lunch or done anything unusual.

I shortly had a bunch of very alarmed coworkers surrounding me. It was quite embarrassing. After a few moments, I was able to raise my head enough to get up to sit in a chair. I insisted that nobody call an ambulance. One helpfully said that I should be sure to call my doctor and perhaps get a blood work up, because sudden fainting spells like that can be a symptom of diabetes. Great. That's all I'd need. They offered to call a cab for me to take home, so I wouldn't have to drive, but by 4:30, my usual leaving time, I decided I felt okay enough to risk it, so I drove home as usual. Carefully.

Then the car. I dropped the girls off at church (about a ten minute trip) for their trip to go work a shift at the local mission office for Feed My Starving Children. I'd already worked it out with Rob that he'd pick them up when they were done, so I was free to do what I liked for the rest of the night. I decided, impulsively, to drive to the mall about three miles away to go see Twilight.

Part of the way there, I realized suddenly that the heater was blowing cold air. I looked at the engine temperature gauge and groaned. It was edging into the red zone. I'd checked the radiator level this very morning, and it was full up to the top. And I'd checked the temperature gauge on the way home from work, and it was normal (my commute from work is about five miles). After I came out of the movie, I put in probably a gallon of water, and I still didn't get the level to come up to the top. So I have a radiator leak, I guess. I tried that goop that is supposed to plug leaks, but I guess this was too much of a challenge for it. The car is a 1993 Jeep Cherokee, which means it's hardly worth the money to put another radiator in. But with Rob out of a job, I don't have the money lying around another one. Well, I do, because I've been doing my best to squirrel money away when the unemployment runs out. I just don't want to spend it on a car rather than the mortgage.

[Um, nobody send me money. Please. You've done that already, and I really appreciate it. I don't want this post to be interpreted that way at all. Really, we'll work it out. I have a coworker I can commute with if worst comes to worst; I've already run the idea by him and he's willing. It's just--well, I'm whining, okay? Because this all just really sucks. I get to whine a little every once in awhile. I try to live my life and deal with the hand I've been dealt, and today, I just don't feel very brave about it. Sorry.]

So tomorrow, I call my clinic to ask about what, if anything, should be done about the fainting spell, and the car will go into the mechanic.

Oh, and if you're curious, I thought Twilight was mostly true to the book (that's not particularly high praise, because I was not majorly impressed with the book). As has been pointed out, they obviously didn't have the budget for top notch special effects. A popcorn movie made out of a popcorn book. Oh, well, it was what I was in the mood for. I had to leave the theater and come back to my real life soon enough.

Comments

[dichroic.livejournal.com]

Oh, gosh. I hope the fainting spell just turns out to be one of those things that happens once, for no reason - and never again. And that the car is a cheap fix.

[corinnethewise.livejournal.com]

I hope you are okay. Fainting/Dizziness can be really scary. And of course, car troubles, always when you least need them. I'll be keeping you in my prayers.

[sternel.livejournal.com]

Ugh, the collywobbles. I've had that happen -- once in Germany on a high school exchange. We were the honored guests at the mayor's State of the City speech on a hot July morning and I drank all my water, my juice, and my neighbor's water before the mayor was halfway over. Passed out when I got up to try to head for the shade when it was over. (The very hot German paramedics told me, when I asked them in German how I had ended up on the other side of the square, that if I could think to speak in German I was just fine!)

I've had it happen now and again since (that was, god, twelve years ago now) and it's usually just dehydration that does it. A rest and water and I'm fine. Visiting the doc is never a bad idea, but I figured I'd share to counter your co-worker's dire predictions with something more benign.

[lavendersleeves.livejournal.com]

::nods:: You and your car might even have a psychic connection.

[zencuppa.livejournal.com]

Eeeek!! I hope the fainting spell is a one time thing and that your car is cheaply fixable.

Andrea

[aome.livejournal.com]

Ugh, how disconcerting. At least you had the awareness to set your coffee cup down first. Hope today is better, all around. Any mechanically-minded friends you could pester to fix your car for less?

[lavendersleeves.livejournal.com]

unrelated, but this might improve your day a bit. It's a musical number about prop. 8

http://www.funnyordie.com/videos/c0cf508ff8/prop-8-the-musical-starring-jack-black-john-c-reilly-and-many-more-from-fod-team-jack-black-craig-robinson-john-c-reilly-and-rashida-jones

[pegkerr.livejournal.com]

Oh, I saw that! It's wonderful, isn't it?

[mrissa.livejournal.com]

Oh, it's so tedious to lose verticality and then have to spend your time getting people not to call the ambulance just when you'd like a little peace and quiet. I'm sorry. I hope it's a random thing that never happens again.

[flourish.livejournal.com]

<3 <3 <3

[malinaldarose.livejournal.com]

Well, as long as you don't make a habit of this fainting stuff, I guess we'll let you off this time and not start showering you with sal volatile.

Seriously, sorry about that -- it is embarrassing (I tripped over a chair in junior high once, and couldn't convince anyone that I hadn't fainted, though I was probably on the way to it; I'd just told the study hall monitor that I needed to go to the nurse's office). And cars. They just wait until the worst possible moment, don't they?

[naomikritzer]

I know someone who not only fainted at work, he actually had a seizure. We DID call an ambulance (actually, campus security) because we were all so completely freaked. He was not epileptic, had never had a seizure before, and to my knowledge, never had one again. It was just one of those weird things. Hopefully your fainting spell was one of those weird things that only happens once, and your car is a cheap fix. <3

[amethistdolphin.livejournal.com]

Vent away Peg, that is what we are here for!!! *huggles* take care of yourself, though fainting spells could be nothing, but they could be something serious. *huggles and luffs*

[pameladean]

Well, if a person could faint as a stress reaction, I wouldn't be surprised if you did. I hope it's nothing much. And I'm sorry about the car's timing. Maybe it was being too empathic.

P.