A tear from my heart
Balanced so delicately
Spoke truth from my soul
How hard you’ve fought to win the war
To be able to just do the basic functions
Had to be like pulling mud through a straw
So many warning signs left ignored
So many aches and pains
That were easily attributed to a chronic illness
What if I had it all wrong?
What if one plays off the other
And a simple solution to this problem,
As in all of life
Is simply to replenish?
The crystal clear truth
Hangs from the petal of love
And quenches your thirst
Ah! DEHYDRATED.
Yes, of course I know what it means, and I know what it feels like…USUALLY!
Yesterday, I ended up in the ER because I was severely dehydrated. Who could have known that tachycardia (an abnormally rapid heart rate), dyspnea (difficulty breathing), and presyncope (lightheadedness, muscle weakness, and feelings of faint), were all symptoms of severe dehydration? It felt like something was severely wrong with my heart, and that was frightening.
And to be honest, I have felt like there is something wrong with my heart lately…no, not that kind of something. But life circumstances have me teetering off my baseline of love, compassion, and kindness and I find myself leaning towards angst, impatience, and fear.
So a quick (6 hours) trip to the ER, multiple tests, massive quantities of I.V. fluids, and the best nurse in the world (who made me promise to drink another half-gallon of water last night…UGH!) and here I am, I almost feel normal.
But what I’ve learned through the ordeal is that quite possibly I am (as is most of the world) in a chronic state of dehydration. Dealing with a chronic illness makes it easy to pass off whatever ails you as a symptom of the disease. What if it’s not the disease at all, but rather the symptoms of dehydration? (Ok…or what if the dehydration makes the disease symptoms worse?)
The second thing I learned is that when your heart wants to get your attention, it can be a very powerful (and frightening) event.
So I will take better care of my body and make sure it has all the hydration it needs. And I will be more mindful of living in the present moment and to have an attitude of faith no matter what circumstances I find in my life.
A giant thank you and much gratitude to my <3 I promise to listen!
And because I wouldn’t be me if I didn’t try to teach lessons I’ve learned…
PLEASE!
DRINK MORE WATER!!!
AND LISTEN TO YOUR HEART!!!
Blessitude
Lorrie <3
4/15/2018
Wow Lorrie. I didn’t know dehydration could cause or contribute to so many symptoms (and I sold water filters for many years!). I’m glad you had a relatively minor ER visit and are re-hydrated (body and spirit). Keep the faith and keep drinking those life-giving waters. 🙂
Hugs and blessings…
Thanks, Brad. It was a bit scary, that’s for sure. Yes, dehydration can be quite serious. I will do my absolute best to never feel that way again.
Hope you are well, Brad 🙂 Thanks for your compassion <3
You are most welcome and deserving. 🙂
Here’s to optimally hydrated health and wellbeing! Drink up!
Thanks for sharing your experience for others to learn. Proper hydration treats many ills. Quite affordably, too!
Yes, John! And way better than taking pharmaceuticals to cure what ails you! Thanks, John. Hope things are good <3
Drinking water regularly needs to be a habit, cause if you wait till you are thirsty you are most probably already dehydrated. I am never without my bottles of water. Vital for life. Good lesson for you Lorrie that will be invaluable for life. Lyn
Yes, Lyn! And I am sure that where you live has taught you this lesson well!! 🙂 I pray that I have learned my lesson (of course it is up to me) and that I do make it a habit…
Thanks, Lyn <3
Hugs and Blessings for you Lorrie. It must have been frightening for you in the ER. Glad you are ok now. God bless.
Thank You, my friend! I am so grateful for your kindness and beautiful heart. Yes…I was afraid. And now I want to do all I can to never let that happen again.
Sweet Blessings 💜
I’m glad you’re okay and thankful for you passing this along. I knew I needed to drink more water when I had a sinus infection, but have slacked off since. A couple months ago I went to the ER with chest pains when I was out of town. All tests were normal and I think it was mostly acid reflux and anxiety, but now that I think about it, I was probably not well hydrated. Sometimes I wonder if we should just always have a glass or cup of water and keep filling it up as soon as it’s empty. Here’s to listening more carefully to the messages of our bodies. Be well,my friend!
I remembered that, JoAnna…and I did think of you and wondered if it could have been a factor!
It is clear that if we tune in to our bodies they really tell us what we need.
Thanks for caring…and congrats again. I’m really proud of you!! 😁😁💜
<3
Drinking and listening
Dear Lorrie
Thank you for such a fine sharing
Big hugs
john
Aha! Thanks John. Sounds like you could be at bar 😉 Appreciate your support…have a great week! 💜
I once had a heat stroke and was 30 minutes from death, all due to dehydration. Thanks, Lorrie, for the reminder. Water is life!
Oh, Tom…that must have been frightening! Thanks for sharing, and yes, remember to hydrate!! You are so correct that water is life, and I am changing my relationship with it as we speak (write😉)
I am happy you listened to your heart, Lorrie. And thank you for this important reminder, I think I’m guilty of not giving my body enough hydration. Going to get water now 🙂 Many hugs
Great, Tiny! I think stress also plays a role so make sure you drink 😉
Many blessings…and thanks for your kind words 💜
I am so sorry you ended up in he ER, Lorrie! Very scary and I do understand how easy it is to get there. Most of us are dehydrated. I love my morning coffee but it is dehydrating so I follow it with many glasses of water throughout the day. Adding lemon juice to the water helps the body absorb it better. Most of the time, water you drink is not absorbed into the body. Dehydration is the main reason seniors like myself end up in the ER. Many pass out from it and are hurt from the fall. Make your water taste good to drink more. A little mint, cucumber or even a sprinkle of stevia will encourage more consumption. Take care.
Now how did you know that I need to be coaxed into drinking water? 😉 I am trying to make it a habit now…whats the deal…21 days and it’s a habit?
I know that so many seniors are dehydrated, Marlene…and they don’t drink water because they don’t want to “go” all the time…but it has the opposite effect anyway!
Thanks for the love 💜 I am working on it…another thing in my bag of tricks!
Hope you are well my friend…have a beautiful week!
Oh Lorrie, so sorry to arrive on your post to read of your recent trip to ER. Not a nice experience, and a great reminder to us all to Drink plenty of fluids. I hope you feel better my friend, And I will take that tip from Marlene too on adding lemon juice.. My daughter is always telling me to drink more water.. 😀
And those of us who suffer chronic pain, Its a great reminder that not enough water may exasperate the problem..
I have my acupuncturist coming later today for my much needed needle session .. 🙂
Sorry I have not been around as often here my friend.. or anywhere as often come to that.. I have been learning to nurture myself more and take time away from blogging..
Sending continued healing thoughts Lorrie.. Look after yourself my friend..
Much love.. <3 Sue <3
Hi Sue! Thank you so much for your caring words and support 💜 Yes, I did a number and the recovery has been slow. I’m not sure how it happened, but that is usually how big life things get you…when you are not paying attention! I am on a mini holiday so there is opportunity for rest and recharging…and DRINKING WATER! 😉
I hope you do heed the advice to drink more…when I started to think about how important water is to life I was ashamed that I didn’t give it more reverence. And with chronic illness it is a must I think.
I hope you feel better. And that your acupuncture session helps you today. We go through ebbs and flows in life and continue to learn more about ourselves and our world. I send you beautiful white healing light to charge your cells with perfect love and wellbeing.
Much love to you Sue 💜💜
Thanks Lorrie, yes I slept two hours this afternoon after her treatment session.. She is more than just my acupuncture therapist.. She listens and I pour out my heart at times.. And she gets to the real cause behind my symptoms.. She is a life saver.. Bless your heart for your healing love.. maybe you were sending as I slept.. for I awoke feeling refreshed and then this afternoon was a warm sunny day for once. So I sat in the garden …
I am having an hour on WP before I call it a day.. As I have a busy day tomorrow in the garden.. But I pace myself.. 🙂 Sending love
In love and gratitude for your healing energy my friend <3 Thank you
Ah! Sue…I am so happy you feel better…and yes 😁 I am certain you felt my energy! I am a firm believer in energy and distance does not matter. And if I could do one little thing to make you feel better…then I am Blessitude 💜💜
I hope the rest of your week is fabulous…and don’t overdo it in the garden 😉
Thank you Lorrie.. The Sun’s own healing energy also gave a boost this week.. 😀 sending LOVE my friend xx
💜💜
Oh…and I really live your paintings. I’m so happy to see what you’ve been creating 😁💜
Many thanks Lorrie xx that means a lot from one artist to another xx <3
Glad you found a relatively simple solution, Lorrie. It’s amazing how our minds can leap to the worst case scenario when there are simple things we can do. Thank you for the reminder–I’m enjoying a glass of water right now!–haha! So good. We forget how good the simple things are…
Thinking of you!
Peace
Michael
Glad you are drinking, Michael! Now that I am so aware of my consumption I am not surprised I ended up in the hospital!! I always drink a lot of water while exercising, but did not realize that the rest of the time….well…
I hope you and yours are well, Michael. I am on a little break…much needed…and so grateful 😁
Have a super wonderful weekend. Hope you get to rest and do something fun!!
💜
So thankful you are all hydrated again sweet Lorrie. Thank you for posting this…I am not good at drinking water but I feel after reading this I will think of you often and drink more water. Stay hydrated and take care of your sweet self. Hugs
Hi Maggie!! Thank you my dear friend 😁 And Yes, please, make sure you drink lots of water!! Being dehydrated can lead to so many icky things.
I hope that spring has sprung for you and that you are out in nature enjoying the incredible energy!!
Many blessings to you 💜
Wonderful post, Lorrie, the poem at the opening of this post made me perhaps realize why I become very empathetic when I see someone crying “A tear from my heart, Balanced so delicately, Spoke truth from my soul” ~ beautiful.
Thank you so much for “feeling” the words 😊 and for you very kind words in return! Sweet Blessings 💜
It’s good they found the cause of your bad symptoms. I would say: simply take better care of yourself. You probably were so busy that the lack of hydration went unnoticed.
It’s not only water, it’s all basic salts, minerals and other things that make the body function right. We do not need excess of something, but we need water, salts and minerals and every other substance to be in balance. Salts, coffee and some certain medications, as well as alcohol tie up water. Some medications can cause heavy water binding. While people tend to describe their heart very poetically, we have to simply remember that our heart is a muscle. So are lungs. They need fuel to work properly.
Certainly keep yourself hydrated. The feeling of being thirsty already means that there is too less hydration.
However, overdoing with water is also not good. Every person has their ideal amount that they should use doing different activities or at rest based on their body weight and most frequent activities. Many conditions will cause dehydration, especially different digestive issues. But do not drink extremely much per hour, too, that will ruin the kidneys, they are complex organ, as well, very complex, and they need to process everything. Balance and decent self-care are probably the best things we all can do.
I wish you feeling good and better Lorry and definitely take a good care of yourself. Liquid foods are also good. I have noticed that most food in North America is dry. As people get older they require more soups and more liquids that are beneficial, especially water, kefir, herbal tea and depending on what your condition is some types of smoothies. All food and all liquids always depend on what else you need to take because some substances block the activity of medications.
Keep yourself in good shape, friend, and do not forget that you are the most important person for yourself. Self-love goes long way. Wishing you all the best, hugs!
Ah! Inese…thank you for your beautiful, caring message. I understand what you are saying…all of it…though I never thought about drinking TOO MUCH water could hurt the kidneys! Thank you for taking your time to share your wisdom, great medical advice, and most of all, your reminder of self-love and the art of taking care of yourself!! I will admit that stress had been a factor in my life of late…no matter how much I de-stress and try to take care of myself.
Sweet blessings to you…i hope you are doing well 💜
Glad to hear you are doing so much better after your scare and trip to ER. Dehydration can sneak up so quickly…living here in the desert, I am very cognizant of that fact.
Loved your poem at the beginning…it spoke volumes. Be well and as always…thank you for sharing!
Yes, Kirt…the desert and I would not do well together apparently! Thanks so much for your kind words and for your caring heart 😁
I had a little holiday…a little time away and it was wonderful to get back in touch with me.
Take care Kirt…have a great week!
That’s amazing Lorrie. Who would have thought! Best to keep hydrated. Does tea count as I drink copious amounts of it during the day?! Glad you’re feeling a little better. Take good care of yourself. Anita.
Ah! Anita, I used to do the same! It counts to a degree, but tea has caffeine which causes dehydration…a catch 22!
I have been hypervigilant to get clear, plain water into my body…and honestly, I can tell a difference!
Thanks so much for adding your energy here, Anita! Have a super wonderful day!
💜