So there was this one time...

I went to Walgreens to get some digital pictures printed.

So I'm standing at the counter, looking at what they keep back there, writing receipts in my checkbook. You know. Exciting Wednesday noontime stuff. I was feeling good, had just come over from Target.

All of a sudden, I started feeling kind of sick to my stomach. Uh oh. That was a new one for me. Then I started feeling lightheaded - the exact same feeling I had last time I gave blood. Except this time, there was no needle in my arm and my blood was retained safely within my body.

I walked over to the nearby refrigerated area, feeling woozy, and got a bottle of water to drink. Went back to the counter, paid for it, started drinking it, and told the clerk I wasn't feeling too well. I put my head down on the counter, and the clerk asked me if I would like a chair to sit in. "That would be good."

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Next thing I remember, I was leaning over the counter and someone was tapping my back asking me if I wanted to sit down. I picked up my head and looked behind me. Somehow a magical chair had appeared when I was, apparently, unconscious. I looked back at the counter, everything kind of moving in slow-motion and about 4 people crowded around me, and I guess I had knocked over my water bottle because it was spilled all over the counter. I also knocked down some candy with my knee that must have given out. I'm really graceful like that.

So I sat down. Little did I know, they had called the police and paramedics. Helllllloooooooooooooooo 4 men in uniforms. That was not an unwelcome addition to this scene. The paramedics took me out to the ambulance, checked my blood pressure and pulse, and by that time I was feeling a little better. One of the paramedics asked me what time I'd be home and if he could call me, but I kind of laughed him off. CLEARLY, I was not thinking straight. Paramedic, uniform, ASHLEY?! WTF?? I have never in my life fainted before, so it was fun to have it happen completely randomly in a public setting, clearly.

I came home and ate a bunch of stuff. My eyesight is still kind of wonky, sort of like there is a film of that tv snow over it, but not completely, sort of just in the background. Made a doctor's appointment for 2pm today.

Here are my top 3 guesses of what might be wrong with me:

1. Anemia. I went to donate blood about a week and a half ago, before my period when iron levels are supposed to be at their highest. My hemoglobin was at about 11.4, you have to be at 12.5 to donate. So while low iron isn't unusual in women, it IS unusual in me, plus that was before my period. Now it's after my period, so they are probably even lower. I ate a bunch of raisins. I don't think that's going to hack it.

2. Low blood sugar. I have no real reason to suspect this, other than the fact that I know I wasn't overheated or dehydrated.

3. Uh, don't get freaked out, but possible heart anomolies. I don't really think this is what it is, but I was talking to a nurse friend and she said unexplained fainting can be related to this. I have been having really odd discomfort in my ribs and shoulders after eating for the last week and a half, and I was wondering if something was going on with that anyway. It is not indigestion - no heartburn or anything like that. I've had indigestion a few times, and while it is less fun than a trip to the proctologist, that's not what this is. I will at least mention that stuff to the doctor.

Well friends, I will let you know what is going on. I highly suspect my iron levels are low which leads to oxygen not being circulated through the body as well.

And if you ever faint at Walgreens and the EMT wants to call you later, make sure you say yes. Let's learn the REAL lessons here.