Wednesday, January 7, 2015

A Talk with You through The Invisible Disability Association (IDA)

by Dr. Margaret Aranda


Well, it seems like there are so many 'newcomers' to Facebook, YouTube, Pinterest, and Twitter, and many of them have one or more Invisible Disabilities (R). I am a Stanford-trained physician who was in a car accident, and my symptoms left the doctors perplexed and scratching their heads (and chins) for months and months. 

Then, I was referred to an Electrophysiology (EPS) Cardiologist, who ordered the Tilt Table Test on me. They strapped me with velcroe, and I felt like Herman the Munster, and once lifted from a laying to a standing position, I passed out. First, things went "gray" and I felt like vomiting. Then I told them, "I'm seeing black...I'm seeing black..." and POOF! 

22 sec later, it seemed like 20 doctors surrounded me, as they do this test frequently but apparently, hardly anyone faints. I heard one doctor say, "This is cool." Slowly, ever so slowly, I 'came back to life' fully. I was admitted to the hospital so that we could determine the right dose of Midodrine(R), to push my blood pressure up, but not sooooo far up that I would have a stroke. Or die. 




                              Video 1. You-Tube Video for the Invisible 
                              Disabilities Association (R), after the diagnosis
                              of dysautonomia was made in 2011. The car 
                              accident was in 2006.

This April, 2015, marks the 9-year Anniversary of the car accident, which occurred on Malibu Canyon Drive in front of Pepperdine University. Since
then, I have written 5 books, including the Memoir of being a patient instead of the physician, a Sequel to analyze your own life and grow closer to God, two Children's Books, and a 500+ page, Women's Health & Wellness book. And I have dedicated them to my children, who lost a big part of me to the hospital.

Another doctor "dropped" me during his neurologic exam, a Dr. Peter Lorber, then yelled at me as to why I couldn't touch my nose with my eyes closed (and I was standing). In my opinion, he "blamed the patient." There went my accepted position as an Advanced Clinical Anesthesiology Fellow at Stanford. "Bye-bye....bye." 

Another traumatic brain injury (TBI) with DI in 2013 because of this fall, AND a left full-thickness shoulder rotator cuff tear (which I had used to brace myself from the fall), AND when I am standing up (and have my Zofran then wait one hour, then don Jobst stockings, Spanx abdominal binders, my midodrine, meclazine, etc.) people say, "But you don't look sick."

They say that to all of us with dysautonomia, unless its full autonomic failure and we are lifeless, on our deathbed. They say it to those with: fibromyalgia, lupus, chronic fatigue syndrome, Lymes disease, intracranial hypertension (IH), Chiari syndrome, chronic reflex sympathetic dysfunction (CRPS), Parkinson's, Alzheimer's disease, vertebral artery dissection (VAD) with or without an aneurysm, hypothyroidism, as well as menopause and female hormone deficiency.

That's why I wrote a book for girls and women, Archives of the Vagina: A Journey through Time. It is helpful for a girl and her First Period, pre-menstrual syndrome (PMS), menstruation, bleeding during pregnancy, menopause, risks of ovarian and breast cancer vs hormone replacement therapy (HRT), Caregiving (and why women have LOST years of longevity, while men have gained years of longevity), long-term care, and death & dying. Since I am Certified in Age Management Medicine, I wrote chapters on Immunonutrition, Telomeres, Eating Spoon by Spoon, From the Inside Out, High-Intensity Interval Training (HIIT), and more. Ladies, much of these sections are "old" knowledge to men, especially those in Sports Medicine. Let's catch up! We can get good at this!

There are pages and pages of "solutions" in the form of Tables, and a comprehensive Index that includes not only diagnoses, but also the names of the people who were/are instrumental in forging the future of Women's Health. For $30.00 (less than a doctor's visit), you can put the whole thing in your hand!

Yes, it's on Amazon (and the used books sell for $10 higher than the new ones)
Yes, it's on my Publisher's website, Tate Publishing:
http://www.drmargaretaranda.tateauthor.com/other-works/

Let's live long NOT for the sake of living long, but for the sake of having Quality of Life and being disease-free! Ladies, we have catching up to do! First of all, if you have chest, jaw, or arm pain that feels like a labor contraction, call 911. Take a baby aspirin unless your doctor tells you not to. And don't leave the ER with just TUMS. 


THAT is how so many women are dying of heart attacks.
And when you're done reading it? Tell another woman to read it.
And don't forget to write a Review on Amazon or Goodreads.
Women helping women.
We can get good at this.




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