~ ♥ Through Lisa's Eyes ♥ ~

Everyone’s okay, thanks everyone! Courtney came home at 11:00pm with uncontrolled muscle spasm throughout her legs and arms and complaining that she was having a hard time breathing. She could barely walk on her own and she had almost blacked out in the car.

We raced to the ER and after waiting for 90 frackin’ minutes, her spasms had almost dissapeared and she was breathing fine. Which, of course, is how long we waited to even get into triage! Ummm…breathing problems people?!

Turned out it was a crazy busy night at St. Ann’s. We were told later that it was full of “regulars”. (I’ll try not to segue into idiots using emergency services as primary care…grrrrr…) so it was 1:30am before she was actually seen by a PA and a short while later an actual Doc. At which point she was, thank goodness, feeling just fine, only tired.

A 2-minute diagnosis revealed…wait for it…wait for it…HYPERVENTILATION!! Are you kidding me?! Nope, Doc’s not kidding. But since it involved breathing, the battery of tests begin – EKG, chest x-ray, blood work, etc. and by 4:30am the original diagnosis is confirmed.

So we learned something. Had no idea that other then the obvious breathing signs, a simple case of hyperventilation could cause:
– Chest pain
– Muscle spasms
– Tingling and numbness in your arms & legs (not just fingers, lips and toes)
– Symptoms can last up to 2 hours AFTER breathing returns to normal.

In hindsight and getting more information throughout the night, by the time she got home from a friends house at 11pm she had stopped hyperventilating but was still complaining about having a hard time breathing. Obviously her friend and her parents didn’t notice or maybe understand what it was when they saw it. It didn’t start until they were in the dark car headed home, about 30 minutes after the last carnival ride where she felt like getting sick and blacking out. So we were clueless when she stumbled through the door at 11pm.

Scary night at first, but everything’s just fine — other then not falling into bed until 5:01am this morning. *yawn*

GENOA EIGHTH GRADE STUDENTS VISIT WASHINGTON, D.C. ~5/2011   

Imagine putting 176 middle school students on four buses and heading off to Washington D.C. That is the challenge that 16 teachers at Genoa Middle School accepted as they chaperoned members of the eighth class mid-May. Their tour company, Prodigy Tours, created a complex itinerary including a subway experience and a ride up a seven-story escalator.

Students and teachers from Genoa, along with four personnel from Prodigy, enjoyed the sites of Gettysburg with guided tours, visiting Ford’s Theater, and completing a massive tour of Washington D.C., walking an average of 10 miles per day during the four-day event.

Besides many of the monuments, the students visited Arlington National Cemetery where four Genoa Jaguars, who competed in an essay competition, laid a wreath at the Tomb of the Unknowns. Allie Ubry, Jessica McKeever, Cole Delaney, and Reese Farrow were chosen to represent Genoa at this prestigious ceremony. The trip, coordinated by history teacher Ashley Frownfelter, is an annual event that focuses on the historical aspects of American life.

The students engaged in interactive activities at many Smithsonian museums and this year visited the Newseum where they saw the burned-out top of the Twin Towers on display and hundreds of newspapers featuring the September 11, 2001 disaster. The Newseum was among the favorite places among the students.