When we first met with Dr. Kriprianou on March 6, she asked Ashley about all of her symptoms and then requested that Ashley rate each symptom on a scale of 1 to 10. Each day following treatment, Ashley will be expected to rate those symptoms again so that improvement can be noted. The doctor also went into detail about the nervous system and its two divisions - the parasympathetic and the sympathetic.
Basically, the body uses the parasympathetic mode to rest and digest and turn off the adrenaline the body has, whereas the body uses the sympathetic mode to fight or flight when the body is stressed. For example, when in the sympathetic mode, the body's heart accelerates and its blood vessels constrict, thus causing tachycardia or a fast heart rate. By contrast, when the parasympathetic division is "winning" in the body, the body's heart is inhibited and its blood vessels dilate, thus causing a normal heart rate. As you can guess, Ashley's body is mostly in the sympathetic mode of fight or flight with her POTS. The goal of the treatment program here is to have her body learn to be in the parasympathetic mode, but accomplishing this goal will be like a tug of war within her body while she learns to retrain her autonomic nervous system.
The doctor also provided many recommendations for Ashley including "no stress". She wanted Ashley to avoid working on homework, but upon seeing Ashley's reaction to those words, the doctor asked her if it would cause more stress for Ashley if her homework was tabled for these two weeks. Ashley responded that not doing any homework would make her more stressed because she would fall behind, so the doctor then said Ashley could work on 30 minutes of homework in the morning and 30 minutes of homework in the evening.
We enjoyed meeting Dr. Kriprianou and her helpful and welcoming staff that day but were definitely
in zombie like states due to the crazy night at the ER, just a few hours prior to the initial appointment.
After leaving her office and transferring our two week's worth of luggage from the hotel to the Ronald McDonald House, we were totally ready to go to bed for the night at 6 pm! By then, I had been awake for a solid 36 hours, other than the one hour I slept at the hotel, before Ashley awakened me due to her allergic reaction to the Lyrica medication. Prior to crashing for the night at 8 pm, however, we enjoyed our first delicious, hot meal at the Ronald McDonald House. The meatloaf, mashed potatoes, green beans, salad, rolls, dessert, and iced tea could not have come at a more welcome time! When I woke up the next morning, I felt like a completely person and was ready to conquer the world!
Our second appointment on Friday was with Andrea, the psychologist at the treatment center. She introduced Ashley to some of the biofeedback equipment she would be using starting on Monday and spent some time getting to know Ashley. For this appointment, I waited in the waiting room and enjoyed reading a binder full of thank you letters from Dr. Kriprianou's former patients. There were
letters from patients that had conquered debilitating migraines, patients that had overcome severe
anxiety, patients that had lost a significant amount of weight, patients that had beat years of chronic pain, and patients that had greatly improved their POTS symptoms. The letters all shared two themes. One, the patients were all grateful for the doctor and her staff giving them their lives back. Two, the patients were all grateful for the kind, compassionate, and knowledgable doctor and her wonderful staff.
And that, dear loved ones, is exactly what David and I are looking for on behalf of our most precious daughter, Ashley. For her to get her life back. For her to be free of chronic pain. For her to be able to eat a large meal. For her to be a teenager. For her to be able to go back to school. For her to be able to go away to college. For her to be able to learn how to drive. For her to avoid multiple fainting episodes a day. For her to go out to a Churchill football game without using a wheelchair. For her to be active again doing whatever sport she loves. For her to attend church again. For her to be able to join her family at the dinner table. For her to be able to go out more often with her friends. For her
to be able to go to her brothers' games and concerts. For her to not just exist. For her to truly live
again.
So, with the help of the kind, compassionate, and knowledgable Dr. Kriprianou, and her equally
impressive staff, and with the help of your continued prayers of healing, comfort, and love, we are hopeful that we have found just that for our very special daughter. To have life once again.....
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