Next time, I'll go before it gets bad

I was...actually pretty sick. Shortness of breath, couldn't take a deep breath, wheezing, abrupt fatigue, swollen legs, sore joints, bad vision, memory lapses, dizziness, watery eyes, couldn't concentrate--you name it, I had it. I was drinking AMP by the quart and crashing face-down on my computer. I stuttered. I could barely type. Talking produced gibberish and when I concentrated--I sounded like a 10 year old with a learning disability and cleft palate. And sleeping didn't help.

Then I got a lump in my leg. It went away, but two more showed up--I pressed the lump and my fingerprint filled very slowly. It's bad enough when you think you're so stressed you're damaging your brain. Swelling and shortness of breath? I thought I had congestive heart failure. In urgent care, check-in called the triage nurse. She heard the symptoms and ran out with an oxygen monitor. Guess I wasn't the only one.

Turns out my oxygen levels were good. When I finally got in, everything else checked out, too. I was obviously sick, but there was nothing wrong with my heart or lungs.

However, I was so dangerously anemic the doctor sat down, looked at me and said, "Are you bleeding?" She wanted to send me to Emergency, "Blood transfusion," she said. "More tests," said another doctor. By that time, I was the only person in the clinic. Everyone else had gone home and the nurses were packing up. It was soooo quiet.

They compromised on having me walk around with a nurse and an oxygen monitor. "Do you feel all right?" the nurse asked. "I'm used to it," I said. And I was. I can't remember when I didn't feel yuck and dragging.

According to the doctor, I probably have a growing fibroid. (doctor appt. on Monday)

I dragged myself home, took some of my kid's high potency iron and crashed. I still felt bad in the morning, got to work a little early, took another iron tab (these are "serious" iron tabs) stretched out on a bench and took a nap (still horribly tired)...and woke up ready to run a marathon.

I sprang off the bench, jumped to my feet, blinked--and started laughing.

I went around to everyone and said good morning. I jumped on the bench and screamed, "ON TOP OF THE WORLD, BABY!" I solved a paperwork problem, ate breakfast, started a craft-blog post, wrote notes on my arm, bounced on my heels, hummed, sang along with the radio.

It was so freaking cool!! I haven't felt so good in years. I haven't felt so "clear" in years. Seriously--years. I felt energized and refreshed, happy and uncloudy. I can do anything in uber-speed. And I did. Over and over, until I drove people nuts.

I have my brain back. I thought I'd lost so much of it, it was turning into swiss cheese. No more stuttering. No more missed words. It's like the world is acid-edged and crystal clear.

My...excuse me, periods have been extra heavy for years, and I have the feeling I've been anemic for a long time. No clue what to do if they have to get the damned thing out, but I can work through it. It's like someone scrubbed me out with a wire brush and outlined all of me in neon. Everything works with a vengeance, lungs and all. My kid says things were shutting down, and now they're coming back to life.

Woo-yeah! If I flap hard enough, I can fly.