These "funny" memories still make me giggle at times, resulting from situations where I primarily didn't manage my EDS/POTS as I should have. Being a paramedic myself is what kind of made it funny!
Dysautonomia triggered orthostatic-related tachycardia, in my case, with frequent PVCs in a bigeminy rhythm. I was on shift at a rural ambulance station, typically not very busy or exciting. I placed an ECG on myself and confirmed my bigeminy while standing upright. I printed it out and sent a pic to my supervisor with no comment. The answer I get "ohhhh, you better get your patient to the ER quickly." So I answered, "nope, it's mine; I don't have patient, think I'm gonna go home for the rest of the shift!" - what tickles me about this is something that's "normal" or a "common" issue for me, and other EDS zebras, gets my paramedic co-worker excited about it being an urgent problem. The truth is, almost everyone else probably should have needed the ER. All I needed was sleep, more water intake, and salt. (POTS is also known as "People Of The Salt" 😂)!
I worked in a pharmaceutical setting at the time, only part-time in the ambulance. It was a hot summer week, and I was swamped for several days, struggling to maintain adequate water/salt intake. It made me pass out evtl while standing in our lab. My co-workers, not knowing about my POTS (as I manage it very well), had no idea what was wrong, and the ambulance they called was there fairly quickly. In walks, a fellow medic who has known me for years asked my co-workers what was happening. As they stated they didn't know, my friend looked at me and said: "oh Jess, is that you? Well, I know what's going on!" - I laugh about this one, as the people who "know" me through daily work call 911, and the paramedic arrives and tells them he knows all about my medical condition, but not cause I need the ambulance a lot, nope, because I'm one of them.
Another POTS call, at the time, I didn't manage it very well and did not have a USA paramedic license yet. My heart rate and all are excellent during and after physical therapy in the pool. But after relaxing in the hot tub section, I could not sit or stand up without going into SVT (tachycardia >150 and causing symptoms like lightheaded, chest pain, etc.). As soon as I lay down, I was at an average heart rate. PT and their staff had me lay on one of their mats, and we called my primary care doctor; whatever we tried, I could not sit or stand up. So after several hours, we called 911. Those medics walk in, giving me the "oh a bull shit call look," barely wanting to pay attention to my "crazy story" with "symptoms" that didn't make sense. I have probably acted the same way on several occasions as a paramedic. Their looks changed once they sat me up!
This one might not be EDS related, but it's still funny. Last year we were skiing, and unfortunately, a snowboarder jumped over me, hitting my head and knocking me out cold. My helmet had terrible scratches. While I don't remember much of this, I still get to hear the stories about how I was brought down the mountain in a sled, and the only thing I said, when asked any question was, "Biden is president"! It didn't make sense to anyone until my boyfriend stated I'm a paramedic! My subconscious was still alert enough to remember that as a paramedic, we use "who is president" as one question to assess the alertness of our patients. I later lectured them on that since I know my name, date of birth, and that Biden is president, they can transport me via ambulance as it would be considered kidnapping! I'd say that's a great example of how bad medical staff is as a patient!
I subluxated / dislocated my wrist in the ER while making my cot. I just popped it back in place, not realizing an ER doc watched me, and it "freaked him out."
The worst so far, I think, was the time my nose bled and wouldn't stop while on shift. I had to go to the ER as a patient in paramedic uniform, blood all over, and tell the staff that I was there for myself this time. They couldn't stop the bleeding, and I had a terrible Mast Cell Activation issue, leading the team to call a code stroke on me. I didn't know then that I had MACS secondary to EDS. I will write more about this in later posts. My nose is still bleeding frequently 3 years later.
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