In Which I Pass Out, and Much Follows

Long story shortened:

I stood up out of bed one morning and more or less fainted, then had what might have been a seizure, and so I called doctors and we did a ton of tests, one of which was the most unpleasant thing I've been through in years.
(If you are incredibly sensitive to stimuli of any kind, never allow someone to flash an industrial strobe in your face at increasing intensities while you are effectively immobilized on a bed. You will cry, and then the Tech doing the test will feel horrible.)

So now that all the blood work has come back "healthy", I'm still waiting on the brain scan results, and the doctors have no idea what happened yet and will probably be writing it off as "just something that happens when you pass out" without ever telling me how to avoid passing out, or explaining why, since that day, do I keep getting dizzy Every time I stand up instead of just occasionally.

Argh.

For the last time, yes I am drinking Plenty of Water.

Update: Bloodwork is fine. EEG is fine. I have a (relatively) normal brain- not a seizure, yay! I have great healthy blood pressure, I am not anemic, and I am not diabetic. That pretty much rules out possible likely reasons for nearly fainting whenever I stand up too fast.
I am thankful it is none of these things, but I'd sure like them to figure out how to keep me from being a Swooning fragile flower the rest of my life. They have no idea why I get dizzy and then faint or nearly faint. That could kind of hamper some of my plans for an active lifestyle.

In Which I Report In on the Health thing.

March 8:
Three more pounds of fat lost since Feb 29. Doing better at eating proper food, but I'm about to go on a trip so we'll see how that works out- The worst thing about eating only real food is that it's very hard to find while traveling. Body Age, 35.

March 14: Body age 34. Found rather decent food while traveling. Have gained, since last check, 2 or three pounds... of Muscle. This explains the protein cravings.
Eating multigrain toast, fruit and veggie smoothies, roast chicken and carrots and broccoli with organic dip. Yes, "organic" is important even with dip, because normal veggie dip has preservatives, MSG, extra sodiums, corn syrup and goodness knows what else in it. My veggie dip has herbs, onions, and buttermilk. Le gasp, food that includes only food as ingredients- what a novel idea.

In Which I Am Making Little Steps

I was sick sick sick all winter long, so sick I could not often get out of my little home, so now I am a noodle. It's off to Physical Therapy, as of about the beginning of February.
When I started I could not lift anything heavier than maybe five pounds, and that for longer than a few seconds. I could manage one errand per day and come home to fall over on my couch utterly exhausted. I could not go up a set of stairs without pausing for breath. I could not hold my nephew, 11 month old baby Raf, while standing.
35 lb Longbow draw length- only to my elbow. Yes, I've taken up archery. Or I will as I get better.

Now it's March.
Now, I've gained about eight or ten inches to that draw length!
I have gained two pounds of water (Hydration) weight, lost 3% body fat, and gained a few pounds, which would be returning muscle. My tummy has an ever so slightly slack feel to it from lost fat.
I can move chairs. I can do crunches. I can go up a flight of stairs at a steady walking pace. I can hold my nephew for a few minutes. I can carry in groceries from my car, down the stairs and up the flight to my apartment. I can go to Hobby Lobby and walk around for nearly an hour!

Some future goals: Walking the Puppeh, more draw length on the bow, ability to carry full laundry basket down to the first floor laundry dungeon and back up four flights to my apt.
Long long term goals: Heavy armored fighting in SCA combat, being a combat archer, being able to go hiking on the local trails with the Puppeh

I have totally changed what I eat, too. See previous blog about Native inspired health. My philosophy is that you need to work out what your ancestors ate, and eat a healthy moderated version of that. My skin may be light, but my metabolism is Native American, and I do great on seeds, nuts, greens, fruits and veggies, multigrain breads, and lean meats like fowl, fish, and eggs. No starch, no white flour, very little if any refined sugar, very little red meat. No/Less preservatives, no funky artificial stuff, no "low fat" or "Sugar Free" or "Artificially sweetened".

It is really hard to change so drastically, especially since I hate most vegetables. They have such a nasty planty taste. It's especially hard to find anything decent to eat when out and about. I need to plan my menus more carefully, shop more carefully, and cook in advance, then eat things before they can go bad. My lousy sense of time does not help there.