Ft. Myers - Day Nine - Home
Headed Home
Only Jenny could make a simple trip home this eventful!
To backtrack a bit, Jenny had passed out a few times over the course of the past year, one of which ended with her in the emergency room. By the time she got to the ER, she was back to her old self. Doctor ran a few tests, including an electrocardiogram to insure there wasn’t anything abnormal. The doctor gave her a clean bill of health and explained that this was a very common occurrence in young people, especially young women. He provided some safety advice if this dizziness and fainting should happen again, and sent us on our way.
She would pass out a couple additional times over the next few months, but we felt all was well and just part of growing up.
We still weren’t overly concerned that she passed out twice during the trip, but were thinking it was time to head back to the doctor when we got back.
Thanks to Pat, we were very early for the flight. We settled in for the long wait for boarding, and munched on morning snacks.
As we were finishing our food, about a half hour or forty five minutes before boarding, Jenny started telling us she was dizzy - a precursor to her passing out. Pat was sitting next to her and talking her through the episode. She often gets incoherent and worried, saying she is dizzy, she doesn’t feel well and other similar things. Typically after a few minutes, she will pass out briefly and then feel better.
This time she wasn’t passing out and continued to be ‘out of it’ for nearly 45 minutes. At this point we were very concerned, and figured there was no way we were going to make the flight - not only was she incoherent, but she couldn’t stand or walk. We asked the gate agent for a paramedic, and figured we were finding another flight or driving home.
Within a few minutes a police officer arrived on a Segway. Jenny was feeling a bit better but still a little loopy, and asked if he she could take it for a ride. He told her it would be fine as long as she paid his pension. We all had a good laugh, and thought this was a good sign for a moment or two, but then she was back incoherent for a bit.
Our trip home was two days after the state of New York established a containment area in New Rochelle due to the Covid virus out break there, a dozen more colleges went to online classes only and sports leagues suspended their seasons. News earlier in the week was about a covid related death in Ft Myers, one of the first outside of Washington or New York. Pat is getting increasingly concerned that people are going to be worried about corona virus and start getting agitated.
The early rounds of boarding are starting.
A few minutes later and the paramedics arrived. They start asking her about anxiety and panic attacks, assuming that’s all it is. We explain the previous episodes and what we have heard from other doctors. They sort of listen, and start taking her vitals. Jenny is starting to come out of the fog a bit and can answer their questions fairly well. Her vitals are fantastic, even surprising the paramedics a bit. They sort of shrug it off as a panic attack, and clear her for boarding!
The gate agent stopped over to check up on Jenny, and we quickly told her she was doing much better and was cleared for the flight. She turns to walk away, and the then turns around again and asks if boarding early would be helpful. Well, as a matter of fact, it would!
We get boarded and settled into our seats without further incident. Just as the plane pushes away from the gate, Jenny asks where we are, and what is going on. This could be a long flight…
As it turns out her head was finally clearing, and the rest of the trip home was just fine.
Jenny has checked in with her doctor and is trying a couple things, including a heart monitor for 14 days. She is feeling much better and the fainting spells have stopped, at least for the time being. Obviously we are all monitoring closely.
Thankfully we thought ahead and got home on a Friday, and had a couple days of relaxation before heading back to work…just in time to run into a week of work from home time due to the corona virus. This turned into an mandatory additional week, and then another two more weeks. But that is whole other story…