A funny thing happened on the way to the schoolhouse!

I thought I'd document the super fun summer I've been having, mostly for myself but also for anyone else that enjoys long rambling blog posts. :)

The end of the school year was a little bittersweet to me because while I'm always ready for summer, this was going to be the end of my last year at Blue Haze. After 7 years I decided to move schools and teach 7th grade Math at Brewer Middle School. So, the last day of school was set to be a busy day of playing and packing up my classroom. It's always been important to me to end the year on a high note because that's the last thing the kids are going to remember. I had so many cool things planned for that last day!

I woke up (really late) at about 6:55. While I was brushing my teeth I felt a little funny but just thought I was having a hard time waking up, something that is really not that unusual. I hopped in the shower and about the time I was rinsing out the shampoo from my hair things really started to feel funny. The next thing I knew I was on the floor wrestling with the shower curtain! Somehow I ended up half-way out in the hallway where my sister (I was staying with my parents while I was between homes) looked at me like I was crazy and asked if I was ok. I wish I was with it enough to say, "I'm fine, isn't this normal behavior?" Just kidding! She immediately got my Mom (a nurse) and by the time she got there I realized that my back was hurting insanely bad. We figured I probably did some damage as I fell out of the shower. She got me to my bed, took my blood pressure (it was fine), and began some pain meds. 

Within a few minutes I was actually feeling much better and began letting my Mom know that I needed to go to school. She wasn't going to let me drive there but I think I had her convinced that I could make it. Unfortunately, when I was trying to get dressed I started to feel like I was going to pass out again. She was concerned we couldn't make it down the stairs without me taking both of us out so she called an ambulance and off to the Emergency Room I went! The next few hours were definitely a blur as they tested this and tested that. I passed out again in the ER and they quickly decided I needed to stay long enough to be admitted.

It took a few days, a ton of doctors, CT Scans, and an MRI to come to the conclusion that I had a mass in my lower back. It apparently got angry and hemorrhaged. The excess fluid put pressure on one of my main arteries and caused my blood pressure to drop and me to pass out whenever I stood up. Finally, we had a reason for all the trouble! We just didn't have a plan to make it go away yet! Don't worry though, the adventure is only beginning...more to come!