“I struggled with how to summarize the pain, sickness and loss as well as say thank you to the POTS Care team….there are not enough words to describe Dr. Driscoll and her staff.”
This is a fantastic testimonial that tells LInda’s journey from experiencing the discomfort and frustration of not knowing where her pain was coming from in 2017, to finally having the answers she needed in 2020! It was a long and grueling process, but now Linda is back to enjoying her life! Meet our team and let us help you too!
January 1, 2018 (new job as VP of Sales September 2017) I came down with a horrific stomach flu. The pain in my stomach was unbearable. I made two trips in a week to the ER. I finally recovered. Then 3 weeks later the same horrible stomach flu but it didn’t last as long. We chalked it up to I didn’t give my body time to recover. Then another 3 weeks of the same thing and a trip to the ER. I had 14 trips to the ER, one including Cleveland Clinic. This continued while I worked. I would throw up before a meeting and know I had an hour before I threw up again. I would work all day, come home and straight to bed. My weekends were bed bound except for that once in a great while I would have a normal day. Came to hate those days because I would think I beat it! Only to be sick the next day. 3 Gastro Doctors, one Functional Medicine Doctor and 3 times hospitalized only to be told all is normal. That was my life in 2017. Plus throwing in your boss tells you to take short term disability because she is frustrated my illness hasn’t been figured out yet. I lost my career I spent 20 years building.
January 2019 after 4 months of waiting I did this crazy Tilt Table Test. I walked in thinking this was a waste of time. During the test the Neurologist said ok stop this is abnormal, she failed. I was sooooo excited and said “wait does this mean something is wrong with me?” And he answered yes.
My PCP admitted me so I could see a neurologist immediately (my PCP who I found in 2017 is amazing and knew there was something wrong. He ran almost every test in the book). I was finally diagnosed with POTS yeahhhh. Only to learn to find a Dr. who knows about POTS is near impossible and to see one who “might know” about POTS takes forever.
I finally had that appointment at CC, by now I was on a beta blocker and steroids twice a day and salt tablets. I had gained 100lbs. I was just horrible. He listened, understood, gave me a packet of info and more tests. He recommended I go to Cardiac Rehab which I did. I followed every instruction like a book. Getting better was my job. Except…..I wasn’t seeing results. I would say Dr. I am doing everything and he would pat my shoulder and say you are just keep doing what you are doing. Or he put me on different medicine. This continued until March 2020 when I went to POTS Care.
My story about my journey with the POTS Care team:
I received Dr. Driscoll’s number from a lovely patient I met at one of CC Shared Medical Appointments. She wanted to call and do research but was too sick. I said no problem I will call. So I called and Megan (I believe again still a little brain fog) asked questions to qualify me and kept getting more and more excited knowing they could help me.
Here is what is mind blowing: they ask to see all your health records and images to review prior to you coming. This helps put the pieces together? How many times have you asked yourself “Why can’t these Dr’s talk to each other, figure it out. Communicate is what I yelled when one after another specialist switched my meds.
We made the appointment for March 2020. Coronavirus pandemic had forced shut downs and we thought can we make the drive to Dallas? Will our appointment we anxiously awaited be cancelled? Well it was thanks to the team for taking every precaution!!!
We arrived and opened the door to an entire team with smiles on their faces and virtual hugs (virus). We spent 3 days there. Reviewed what they found in my records, asked a lot of questions.
And after day 1 of meeting Dr. Driscoll, reviewing my records together. I was sent to the hotel with some medicine and supplements. I took them and in the morning my coat hanger pain wasn’t as bad. I felt a little better. Day 2 more supplements and discussion plus eye exam and woke up day 3 noticing my symptoms were a little less.
Day 3 Dr. Driscoll went over my underlying condition that was causing POTS and how we were going to treat it. We drove home this time I was awake and talking unlike the trip down.
I arrived home Saturday and Sunday my Dad had a massive stroke. Needless to say stress is my biggest trigger. But there I was consoling my sisters taking charge of the communication. Talking to my crying father who just wanted to come home. But I was getting through it!!! It wasn’t easy. I had days I would come home to throw up or electric shock feeling thru my body. Having the tools and knowledge from POTS Care I was able to be there to help. And they reminded me to make sure I took time to rest. I needed my body to heal!!
Nausea woke me up everyday in 2018, 2019 and within a month I woke up and guess what, no nausea. It was a miracle. No more trips to the ER, no more hospital visits, able to withstand heat and enjoy our boat (something I wasn’t able to do before). And as each week passed I saw symptoms improving some going away some sticking around. The POTS Care team was with me every step of the way checking on me. Trust me I am not 100 percent. It wasn’t an instant cure but knowing my underlying cause and how to handle my flares helped!
It took a lot of hard work, learning how to manage stress, find your triggers, if you have a flare how to get through it….you will have flares but you will survive it!! And the fact I was able to manage to improve while dealing with my father’s recovery is truly a blessing. Without Dr. Driscoll I would have been bed ridden with nausea, migraines, fatigue, panic attacks, anxiety etc. and not able to be there for my Dad. I would say now I am 50/50 couch bound. I can do something for about 20 minutes then need to rest on the couch. I also have days that every symptom comes back and I need to figure out why. My body is still healing! But I also have great days and I enjoy them to the fullest!! (Maybe too much since it tends to leave me on the couch more then normal) It will take sometime but if I continue to use the tools provided by POTS Care I will get there. And added bonus I lost 32lbs since leaving Dallas in March!!!!
I read the posts on Facebook’s support group and just want to shout …. YOU DO NOT NEED TO SUFFER CALL POTS CARE.
Myself and my entire family are excited to see the fun Linda return!!! And so am I! I owe that to the POTS Care team !!!!!
