OC vs LA County

You might ask why the title? Most of you know this, but...

Well, I grew up and still live in OC (Orange County) and I now work in LA (Los Angeles).

I learned quite a bit yesterday about these two counties. I ended up at USC County General / ER. Yes, that's right. First I must say, I would not recommend the county hospital. Why? The homeless and the criminals from the LA county jail are welcomed there with open arms. Okay, maybe that is a bit extreme. But they were there yesterday, as I'm sure they are there every day. Who knew? I sure didn't.

It all began as I was driving to the Anaheim train station yesterday morning. I normally go to Irvine, but I was going to be meeting a girlfriend (Shannon) for dinner yesterday evening and so I drove to Anaheim (within walking distance of her office and driving distance to The Block, a local outdoors mall).

As I drove (15 mins into the drive) I began to feel as if I was going to Pass Out. I didn't feel dizzy or light headed. I felt heavy headed, as if gravity was pulling me downward. And I wasn't sure what was going on? I thought to myself should I pull over or should I keep going? I started to take deep breaths, rolled down the window for some air, and within a few minutes it seemed to pass. Oh...and btw, I highly recommend pulling over to the side of the road.

So, here I am at the train station. I climb a flight of stairs to the top (platform) and wait for the train. It arrived within a few minutes and as I turned towards it I felt the same way again. Not a good feeling, btw. So I stepped aboard and greeted my train friends (Susan and Teri). My favorite conductor (Tami) was on vacation. She misses all the fun (j/k). And my other friend, Kristine doesn't work in LA on Thurs or Fri (Lucky girl), so she missed out, too.

I told my friends how I felt. They asked if I was going to be okay? Sure, I thought to myself. One asked if I had breakfast. I said, "No". I usually have oatmeal or a muffin when I get to the office (8:30 a.m.). Another asked if I had water. I said I had herbal tea. Another suggested it might be my heart, or it would be a good idea to make certain it wasn't by getting it checked out. So Teri offered me her Trail Mix bar (Thanks Teri). Susan gave up part of her breakfast (a banana) and part of her morning (see below). I ate the bar and had a few bites of banana. Then the conductor (Scott) gave me a bottle of water. Thinking that this all would help, by the time we got to LA (Union Station) nothing had changed. And I was feeling as though, if I stood up I would hit the floor. So, even though I considered taking the Amtrak back home, I opted to go to a local hospital to get checked out.

My friends were great! I can't say that enough. Teri and Susan waited until the EMT's arrived. Susan offered to ride along and go to the hospital with me. I can't begin to say how comforting it was to have her there with me. I was nervous enough as it was (as you can only imagine), but if I had to go it alone, I'm not sure I would have been in the same condition when I arrived at the ER. BTW...it was Susan's and my first time in an ambulance. And "No", they did not use the siren and lights. A big disappointment to Susan (Ha!).

As they rolled me in I was thinking, "Okay Toto, we're not in OC anymore". The condition of the building was so very sad. The smells I can't even begin to describe, other than urine, homeless people and possibly even a moldy old hospital building. But I must say this, everyone there seemed very friendly. Thank God! And I mean that. They were probably that way because I wasn't the norm. They must have known I was WAY out of my own element.

I arrived around 9 a.m. Susan had a friend come pick her up shortly after and I waited while they ran tests (EKG, Blood lab work, Chest xray). They had me hooked up to a monitor (blood pressure, pulse, etc). Jim arrrived around 12:30 pm. Thank goodness he did. I pretty much wanted out (at least an hour before he arrived). Little did I know we had several hours to go. They didn't release me until almost 4 p.m. My tests came back within normal range, but it was recommended by the doctor, along with Jim and Jim's dad that I go see a cardiologist to rule out any heart issues.

You know how I said I carry my camera 24/7 in the previous blog journal (below)? Well, it got a little boring in the ER (for me) and though I didn't think to grab my camera because it was at the very bottom of my bag covered with yarn (several different projects), I did remember to grab my cell phone camera.

I have a friend (Celeste) who takes pictures of her feet when she's on trips. I took a picture of my feet while in the ER. Note the delicious lunch (sarcasm) they served me. I ate some of the carrots and a few potatoes. The rest just frightened me.

I'm hoping to have some answers the first of next week. Praying that they rule out anything wrong with my heart. Then it's a matter of finding out what may have caused it (Anxiety, etc.).

I suppose it might have been a really bad case of anxiety? I had a heated discussion the prior day with someone from our office? I left the meeting feeling pretty awful. I could have been stressed because we supposed to go to Arizona over Veteran's weekend (which we ended up cancelling because of this whole mess). The same weekend 6 years ago Gary died of a heartache when we returned from a trip to AZ. I'm not a paranoid person (by any means), but I did think about this after the fact and wondered why I would? I could have been stressed from work due to an upcoming Grand Opening and board meeting?

All I know is I'm a bit worried, but hoping for the best outcome. The unknown can be so frustrating.

Please keep me in your prayers. Especially on Monday when I have my stress tests, cardio echo, etc.

Thanks for reading.