My Story!

Hi everyone, this is my first blog and I just want to start by telling you my story. My name is Karlie Stough, I’m 18 years old and I live in Alabama. I want my blog to inspire people to see the positive side in every situation and show you how I constantly have to do this day to day. I want my blog to give you constant updates on my life and how I am getting better one day at a time. So here we go.. In September, 2016 on a Sunday I came home from church after morning service very sick; I had the stomach virus. I had been throwing up all night long non-stop it seemed. My mom had given me some medicine to stop the throwing up and to let me get some rest. I remember sleeping for what seemed like hours until I randomly woke up around 12am begging my mom to let me take a shower.. (I’m still wondering why) I stepped into the shower and remember feeling lightheaded and I was seeing black everywhere. I then said “God please just don’t let me pass out, please don’t let me pass out.” When I woke up my mom and sister had carried me out of the shower and laid me on the bathroom floor. My mom was yelling for my dad to call an ambulance because this wasn’t normal (obviously.)

After getting dressed my entire family got in the car and rushed me to the hospital. I remember walking in and seeing my mom’s face terrified of the situation, but little did she know this was only the beginning. The doctor rushed me back as soon as we got there, and of course started tests. The doctor was asking me every question he could think of.. 1. Did you hit your head? 2. Did you get knocked out? 3. Have you ever passed out before? 4. Are you sick? ECT. I couldn’t remember much of anything but I told the doctor my head didn’t hurt at all. My mom had told him I was knocked out when I passed out, she told him when her and my sister pulled me out of the shower my eyes were open. (What a scary way to see your child) The doctor then put me in a wheelchair to take a cat scan, I did indeed have a concussion. I came back into my room to find my mom crying and scared, I knew I had to be strong for her. My doctor came in and said I just passed out from the virus and that the water was too hot, the medicine had made my blood pressure drop. But this was not what had happened at all..

A few months later I went to Six Flags with my church youth group. I was walking with a few of my friends to ride the Batman, but I felt my body becoming SO tired.. Why couldn’t I keep up with my friends? As we got on the ride I was just like any other kid; excited, yelling, and laughing. As the first loop came around I found myself feeling the same way I did a few months back.. lightheaded, scared, and saying to myself “please not again.” It all went blank and I had passed out on the rollercoaster ride. My friend Macey told me she looked over to see me hanging my head and she tried to wake me up. When I woke up we were coming to a stop to get off the ride, but I didn’t even remember it starting? My friend Dash carried me to a picnic table where I slept for an hour waiting for everyone to meet up to eat again. What was happening to me?

I begin to pass out more and more until I sat down with my mom and told her “something is seriously wrong.” We started this journey with my primary doctor, he refereed me to a cardiologist at Grandview Medical Center. This doctor become a huge part of my life, I seen him almost once every two weeks. I took my first tilt table test.. man was it rough. The nurses strapped me to a table and made me lay there for thirty minutes. I remember them coming into the room and telling me “Okay Karlie are you ready?” I had no idea what was about to happen.. The nurses told me it would last for thirty to forty five minutes. Then the test started; they turned the table up as if I was standing. At minute six I told them “Im going to throw up, please just get me down.” The nurses told me it would be okay and started to bring me a trash can when it happened once again.. the room went black and I passed out. When I woke I was throwing up (still on the table.) The nurses were panicking and so was I. They called my doctor in and my mom to go over the results of the test. They showed my doctor everything and he started to tell me and my mom what had happened. “At minute six her heart stopped, for two seconds. Her blood pressure dropped so low we couldn’t even take it. Her heart rate dropped so low we couldn’t get a reading. You have something we call Dysautonomia.” Dysautonomia is a disease that effects the autonomic nervous system and cannot be cured. It drops your blood pressure and makes your heart rate go crazy and makes your body go blank; pass out.  This was the start of my new life.

I want to share my story and let everyone be apart of it so you can all witness my healing process. I want to bring positivity to people struggling, even if its just one person. I want people to know there is hope, even when you can’t see it there is a light at the end of the tunnel. I want my story to inspire people, and it would be selfish of me to not share it. Stay tuned as I write updates, continue to share my story, and release hope to people who think they are alone. You’re not alone!