About Morgan, my Wife

[Dave Henrie]

Many of you know Morganizilla or Morgan617 or just plain old Morgan. She's had a tough couple of weeks and I'd like to update you all on her health.

She's been fighting through Menieres, POTS, Fibro and a myriad of other related health issues. Lately though, she has been getting 'fainties.' Actually a paralysis that would render her limp as a noodle for 10 or so minutes and then require another 1/2 hour to 1 hour of recovery time to regain full speach, vision, and muscular control.

Two weeks ago her Doctor put her in the hospital to run as many tests and get as many consults as possible. The only local 'specialist' he couldn't get was a neurologist.

Her kidney Doc ruled out adrenals and kidney causes. Her primary ran as many tests as needed to rule out most other causes. She had a run-in with a pyschiatrist who first claimed to not make snap judgements but then turned around that afternoon and conclusively said she was having psychological rather than physical causes.

We let that go and pretty much tried to keep on at home. She seemed to be doing better with a dose of Potasium prescribed. Until last weekend that is. then the paralysis condition began overlapping and occuring daily then multiple times a day. We sent her to the ER in her 3rd ambulance trip of this past month. They ruled out nothing but did control the paralysis and sent her home. Then on Columbus day, when I was home from work, she continued to have multiple siezures or attacks. Since some arm shaking was also being introduced, I got ahold of her Doctor and he agreed to re-admit her back into the hospital. I was worried that she would knock her head since these spells came on with very little warning.

After a day in one hospital, our Doctor was able to convince the area's top Neuro guy to examine her. He also had a cancellation in another hospital's Epilepsy ward and she was transferred via another ambulance to the 2nd hospital for a 2 day workup. She was having a paralysis session as they transferred her, she had two more while they got her in the ward and hooked up to about 2 dozen wires.. A

TV camera and microphone allowed the Doctor to monitor her live from his office and the computers hooked up to all the wires kept track of all the data and sent it to his office as well.

She then began an ordeal that lasted several hours, she would have an attack, and rather than let her rest and recover, the nurses were trained to try and test her mental cognitive abilities. So soon after each event they began peppering her with small tests like 'what is your name?' and 'What is this object I'm holding." All the time the computers and cameras were recording everything. All told she had 7 attacks while hooked up to the machines and that was added to the three she had prior to being wired. The Doctor had the nurses stop the testing after about 4 spells. And they slowly decreased in length and intensity. She rested well overnight and the Doctor came in the next morning.

He said he had good news. She was not suffering from Epilepsy or other Electrical Neural malfunctions. Her heart was not being compromised and her labs (drawn during the events) all came back normal. So that left him with only one possible cause. He called it Pychogenic. The attacks, he said, were very real, probably caused not by physical ailments but by some underlying stress or unresolved conflict. He stressed several times that these events were very real and very dangerous but the main impact was that Morgan was suffering a mental disorder.

Obviously she was at least partially expecting such a response. The nature of her varied ailments and those of many of you here that I have read about often cause Doctors to 'assign' a Pysch label when finding out the real cause is difficult or not reddialy<sp?> apparent. He also said that one reason this is good news is that such symptoms can be dealt with by a competant mental health provider. And that the other possible causes such as epilepsy carried life-long treatments. Additionally, he stated that something like 50% of patients who get such conclusive diagnosis' rarely have any more attacks. We've been home for about 24 hours and so far. No more spells. Morgan is pretty weak and shaky still from being bedridden most of the last 4 days but otherwise seems ok.

Of course she still has the inner ear and autonomic conditions and heart troubles. All that she had before is still with her. But the periodic paralysis seems to have been addressed. What we have not acertained yet, is if they paralysis will return or not. And we don't know what the supposed underlying cause is either.

But now I have finally gotten to the point where I can tell you why I am writing this message and not Morgan herself. She knows you all love and care for her, she wanted me to tell you that your support has meant a great deal to her. But she WANTS to be as well as possible. So she has told me she WANTS to understand this diagnosis and accept it. She feels, at this time, that a group hug and dozens of messages reviling the Doctors will only feed into her doubts. So, for a time, I suspect she will not frequent this message forum. She is still in some mental shock, blaming herself for inflicting these traumatic events upon her friends and family. We've tried to be as supportive as ever and even have agreed to hide the real diagnosis from one of our sons who is not very supportive of Shrinks and Quacks. (his terms) So for now we say she has suffered from an imbalance of Potasium and hopefully the Doctors will be able to regulate it via pills sometime in the near future.

I want to thank you all for helping Morgan and lending your voices to her over the last year or so she's been logging on here. You have all meant a very great deal to her when I haven't always been available enough. I have the greatest empathy for you because I know if you as a group have any of Morgan's other physical problems, then your lives cannot be very easy either.

I think that at some point, Morgan will either accept or reject her present condition, and hopefully then she will feel grounded enough to return here for communion with you. I would guess that she's suffering from an unfair assumption of guilt or shame and I will be working with her to absolve her from that. But until then, she will probably close down for a time. I hope that sooner rather than later, she begins to seek out your counsel. I'll try to keep her apprised of the site but I won't be actively substituting my voice for hers. I want her to regain this part of her life as soon as possible.

Dave Henrie. Husband of Debbie, aka Morgan617

[dizzygirl]

WOw.. thank you for letting us know how Morgan is doing.. I am sorry that she is going through so much.. and i wish her all the best...

I just want to add that when Morgan is feeling better that we are all here for her and that we love and miss her being around..

Godbless morgan you and your family

linda

[MomtoGiuliana]

Thanks for letting us know how she is doing and the latest events and tests. There is no shame or blame in any diagnosis--of course we all hope it is the correct diagnosis and is treated correctly. I just want to add that I had very very similar symptoms when my POTS was at its worst in 2003--periods of paralysis/extreme weakness, and seizure-like events. I had many neurological tests, some during an event, and all were normal. I do believe there MUST be some connection of these symptoms to POTS--but what that connection is and how to treat it, seem to be unknown. For me, I eventually got much better and these events ceased.

I'm sure you will get many replies to this, as she has many fans on this site, and her technical expertise has helped many people who have come with cardiac questions. I will just add my voice to the chorus of well-wishes. She is in my thoughts.

Katherine

[MightyMouse]

Dave, please give Morgan my love and understanding. She should take as much time as she needs to rest, heal, and learn from all this whatever she can.

nina

[Sophia3]

Good grief! What an ordeal for Morgan to go through.

However, I am not quick to bad mouth a doctor only because we really haven't learned to understand the entire human brain. Anything is possible but I am also of the mindset that some things CAN be brain based yet still be very real physically due to chemical imbalance. But for some docs, it's the chicken or the egg theory. Which came first, trauma or the chemical imbalance or is it another genetic miscoding in one's body.

Whatever the true diagnosis, please tell Morgan there is no shame in any illness even if it is partly mental or totally or some quirk overlooked by a medical doctor.

Not that I am saying Morgan has it, just that after awhile, I think physical problems DUE AFFECT our psyche!!

I say thank goodness they have her events on tape/video and can at least have SOMETHING TO WORK WITH. Though the nurses could've let her rest in between these events, but I digress. SHe must be totally exhausted.

I send many positive thoughts and prayers to Morgan to help her seek whatever treatment, therapy she feels she needs. No matter what her journey is and even if she doesn't ever feel like sharing it here, I hope she starts to feel better.

Since catecholamines can spurt out erratically with heartbeat and BP changes, almost anything is possible with these ANS problems. Whatever, it seems the doctor does have Morgan's interest at heart, I hope.

And I hope you are able to take care of yourself as you take care of Morgan. I hope I haven't offended you with my post but after 15 years of this stuff, I am open to ALL POSSIBILITIES.

[mom4cem]

Please send her my best

It certainly is easy to say but really there is no shame/blame. I hope Morgan, with you and the rest of the family support will get through this. I hate to say I am glad, but relieved that this was actually documented and seen by a dr., not just dismissed and sent home. I am glad that nothing physically serious such as epilepsy turned up. Her plate is full already.

Wishing you both the best and hopefully we will hear from her soon.

[melly4]

Please let Morgan know that she is missed and that I wish her the strength to get better after such a traumatic ordeal. I also hope you, the rest of her family, and friends the strength to help her through this. I am so sorry this has happened. I think I can speak for those members here in saying that we are also here to support family members and friends of those affected by dysautonomia issues. Whatever her diagnosis is, it is very real and sounds like she has been through horrors. I will keep her and her family in my thoughts and prayers. Please keep us posted on her condition in the future, even if she does not wish to right now. As you can see, so many people here care about her.

Melly

[Evie]

Hi morgans husband! i wish both you and your wife well in this tough time.... i dont want to forget how tough this must be on you as well as her.

I too get paralysis that may last 10 mins. I have found my muscles need to be massaged strongly to be woken back up. Of course morgans body may be completely different but i just thought i would mention it as you never know what may help

[Gena]

Tell Deb that with such a wonderful supportive husband, her good sense of humor and amazing courage I know she will make it through this and put these episodes to rest. What a strange and scary time she has been through. I hope, for her sake, the dx is correct and that she can work through this with some counseling. She's a funny and smart woman. We'll miss her on the board here, but I hope she'll be back soon. In the mean time, send her hugs for me.

Gena

[Aprilmarie52]

Thanks for the update. I hope she feels better soon!

[Radha]

so sorry to hear about all morgan is going thru, its terrible when you dont know why something happens, and there is no instant remedy, i really hope she gets some answers or some relief soon,

radha

[Eillyre]

Thanks for being so supportive of your wife, Dave. It's got to be so rough on you, too.

Wishing you and MorganMuchLoved a peaceful time of thought and resolution. I'll be praying for physical and emotional renewal for you all.

We'll be waiting patiently until she's ready to return to us.

With all my love,

Angela

[wareagle]

Thanks so much for the update...and thanks for taking such great care of Morgan!! I hope that she finally gets some relief...

We'll be here for you Morgan whenever you need us!!

[corina]

Dear Morgan,

I thought that my husband is the best in the world, but your's is doing a pretty good job too . We will miss you around Morgan, but you need to take care of yourself first now. I've been sitting here for half an hour now and can't find the words that I would want to write you. So I'll just say that we love you and we will wait here for you to be back. Hold on!!!!!! And thank you so much Morgan's husband for writing this. The both of you are going through rough times. But don't forget: there will always be a day that the sun is shining again!!!

Love,

Corina

[becky]

hi morgan's husband,

please tell morgan to get better soon, and that i hope that she gets lots of rest and starts to feel more like herself. i have had similar paralysis attacks all thru last year i couldn't speak but i could hear and it scared the life out of me, it used to take me about an hour to come round. i'm really glad that morgan has such a supportive husband and family to help her thru this difficult time.

please tell her that we love her very much and send her big hugs and we look forward to hearing from her soon, i know that thru some of my deepest pots holes reading some of morgans posts have really cheered me up and made me feel a lot better, i hope that we can do that for her now.

lots of love and big hugs

becks x x x

[taylortotmom]

I am sending love and support your way. We have been touched by Debbie's insight, concern, and humor. Although she may not be on the board for a while, please know that she will be with us in our thoughts. God bless Debbie and your family. The tide will turn. We went through a very similiar experience a few years back and I know that pain well. Peace to you.

Carmen

[yogini]

David,

I was very moved by your post. Morgan is lucky to have such a supportive and understanding husband. She is a very important part of this forum, but I think she is making the right decision in focusing on getting better right now. She will be in our thoughts. Please keep us posted on how she is doing when you are able.

-Rita

[briarrose]

Dave

You're a very supportive and loving husband. I know that we go through a lot with our symptoms but I really can't imagine what you're going through as we often don't here from spouses or family and their own struggles and frustrations. Thank you for the letter explaining everything. I know this is a hard time for the both of you and if there's anything either of you need, just let us know please.

Sincerely

Steph

[ariella]

Please send "Morgan" my love. Her wit and insight keeps me going.

Love, Ariella

[BuddyLeesWife]

Morgan please do not waste any energy feeling guilty about trying to identify the source of your discomforts. You have been a great inspiration and provided tons of comic relief to the members on this site. As your wit continues to demonstrate, the mind is a powerful thing.

We were really hoping the last neurologist we saw would find some explanation for my husband's symptoms but after very thorough testing he told us we had to further explore autonomic and psychological causes. When we expressed our disappointment he explained that this was good news - that we really didn't want to have something that he needed to treat (Parkinson's, Multiple Sclerosis, Brain Tumor, Alzheimers, etc) and that in his mind, the psychological disorder would be the easier condition to treat. I witnessed my Mother go through 4 horrible years and once finally diagnosed and treated for a psychological illness, over 20 years ago, she has been 100%.

I really hope you are on a path that will help your body become healthy and strong.

[goldicedance]

You are such an anchor in Morgan's life. When she is ready, please let her know that we--my Westie Carrie--are with her all the way!

Stay strong! Live Strong!

Godspeed

[Guest Julia59]

Please tell Debbie she is in my thought's and prayers. She will make it out of this, and be stronger for it. It will take time---but it will happen. You are a beautiful supportive person to do this for your wife.

Support is so crucial at times like these. So many of us have had to deal with the emotional ups and downs of this disorder, and many people will have psychological disorders secondary to this. There is no shame in treating the "whole person".

Tell Debbie she has our love and support---and tell her when she is ready we will always be here for her.

Sending a big HUG

Julie :0)

[Ernie]

Hi,

Please send Morgan a big hug from Ernie

[Sunfish]

much of what i would say has already been said but just quickly...

dave -

thanks so much for your thoughtful post, but even more so for being such a supportive husband. take care of you too!

morganthistooshallpass -

you WILL get through this....whatever "this" is. and we're not going anywhere so will be here happy to see you whenever it's best for YOU. i'm sending lots of love & hugs & support & prayers & good thoughts & anything else that might help in any way.

melissa

[persephone]

How difficult for all of you- the main thing is not to focus on the cause of the problem, but its solution. It's good news that the Dr thinks this is something Morgan can recover from. Just keep focussed on that.

And I should add that Morgan's brightened me up so many times with funny posts and stories. Like Becky, I hope we can offer her help now