Passed out, again

28 Sep 2008, Sunday - Yeah, I passed out again, today.

I had gone for a short walk around the neighbourhood with my elder daughter just after 9 am. After the walk, I was tired but still went to the market alone. Back from the market, I was completely exhausted and rested before lunch.

After lunch, I was back on the recliner resting again when I felt pain on the right side of my abdomen, just below the last rib. I was feeling uncomfortable and was bothered by the pain and my aching back, so I put the recliner in an upright position. I was contemplating making a trip to the bathroom when I passed out.

As usual, in the moments that I struggled to regain consciousness, my mind was in a state of confusion. I was breaking out in cold sweat as I struggled to open my eyes and tried to control my mind. In my confused state, I thought I was alone at home, but then realised that it was Sunday and everyone was home.

I snapped and panicked and called for my family members and everyone rushed to my side. I was whining away and still very groggy. My son had wanted to call the ambulance but I said no, and instead asked my daughter to apply some essential oil for me. After resting for some time, I felt better and could go to the bathroom where I relieved myself of flatulence.

On reflection, I couldn't.understand why I had panicked and shouted for my family members. What had I been fearful of? From recent scans, I was aware that I could not afford another blow to the head as I had a fracture line all the way to the base of my skull from a fall some years ago and the fall in May has caused bleeding in my brain. I was lucky this time that I was on the recliner and did not fall.

I had always been collected and had never reacted in that manner before where my health is concerned, so what happened this time? Did the results of the last scan caused such an effect? Was my mind so disorientated and bad memories from the recent fall frightened me into action?

I had given my family cause for concern, especially my son, who quickly cancelled his music lesson so that he could be at home in case I needed to rush to hospital. I had not been thinking of death, in fact, I was more concerned about being alone at home and unable to move around, and wondered if I would be able to reach the phone and called for help. Each time I had lost consciousness without warning which is quite worrying.

A check with the traditional medicine practitioner found that I had wind in my kidney and that I passed out from the pain. But, at a scale of 1 - 10, it was probably only at 6 or 7 and not crippling pain, so I could not understand how that could cause me to pass out.

My threshold of pain is not too bad generally except during childbirth or had my tooth filled. I remembered some years back when I was having my tooth filled. The dentist had to give me more anesthetic as I kept complaining of pain, until he said, "okay, I have given you the maximum and if you still feel pain, then the only thing left is for me to hit you on the head to knock you out." Well, I still felt pain and he was exasperated and commented that I must be one of the very few who had nerves running in some unusual position.