Rest!

The last couple of months have been so hectic, between my full time teaching position, the many markets I have been going to with my jewellery and my family life with teenage boys, and organising a very successful fundraising market, life had become rather out of control! It is now time to take back that control with some much needed rest and relaxation. I knew that I was feeling very stressed and exhausted but until I got quite sick I hadn't realised just how bad I was (probably extremely difficult to live with). A week and a half ago I came down with a rather violent gastro bug (curtesy of my gorgeous children at school). After a couple of hours with the bug in full swing I passed out hitting my head quite hard, it was the middle of the night and my hubby woke me. I didn't think much of it so I just went back to bed. My hubby starts work at 5 in the morning and as he is unable to get someone to cover his shift at that hour went to work intending to get home as quickly as he could. I was still feeling very unwell and decided I needed help to get my boys up an off to school. I am so lucky as my Mum lives very close to me. I rang her and she came over to help. Just before 8 I again passed out this time not only hitting my head again but also cutting it quite badly. Now I was scared to move around in case I collapsed again so my mum rang the ambulance. The ambulance took me to the hospital where I was put on a drip to rehydrate me and I had a CT scan to check for any fractures, there were none. I had 6 stitches in the cut above my eye and I was put on an ECG machine to monitor my heart. The ECG results were unusual so I was admitted to the hospital. Through all of this I just thought the gastro bug was the cause of the problem. After a night in hospital, with monitoring, I was feeling much better, the bug was gone and I just had a nasty headache and a black eye. As I was about to be released the doctor who had been taking care of me told me tat my collapses were actually due to a heart condition, Tako Tsubo. I had never heard of it so I googled it when I got home. It is a type of cardiomyopathy brought on by stress! Well that really scared me! I was told that there was no lasting damage and that it would probably never happen again, phew! But the stress in my life will still be there, how much can I change? How do I reduce the stress from many things that are beyond my control? Lucky for me I have an amazing family who are incredibly supportive and wonderful friends. I am now on long service leave from my job, organised almost 12 months ago, it is funny how that sort of thing works out. I am writing this post from a hotel room where my husband and I are staying, without children, to simply rest. The moral here, hmmm, remember to take care of yourself! No matter how busy you are prioritise and ensure there is enough 'down' time and me time to keep yourself healthy. Stay happy, healthy and strong until next time Lee-Anne :)