Tawna's tired

Well, after 2 years of taking Tawna to the doctor to find out why she was tired, after numerous tests and doctors, we have an answer. After Christmas, Tawna said her leg was numb and she blacked out when she screams or stretches. Our family doctor put a heart monitor on her for 24 hours, nothing showed up. So, he said take her to a cardiologist which was simple because we know Roger's - except Tawna is not 18 years old yet so needs a pediatric cardiologist. There are non in Bakersfield, so we called UCLA. Today we saw the head of pediatric cardiology at UCLA. He said she has classic Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, which is a virus. He sees it because some of its symptoms are heart related. The sleeping for 36 hours about once a week was the best clue. (She did that about 2 years ago, not so much anymore). He did an echocardiogram to rule out anything else because it is a disease of exclusion.

We are thrilled to know what has been going on! He said it lasts about 18 months, when I said she has been tired for about 2 1/2 years, he said he has heard of that, she must be nearly done. She does have more energy this year than she has for years. There are 3 kinds of chronic fatigue, hers has no medical treatment though sometimes nutrition or yoga or meditation or something helps. He said basically you are tired and sleep a lot so do what you have to do when you are less tired.

Now I can't figure out whether to feel bad for yelling about grades and chores and putting her on restriction for poor performance. Though really, the restriction probably helped because it allowed her to rest. The way I see it, she could have a whole new life when this is over. I am very happy to have an answer that has an end to the problem! Gale Ajootian had this and Rick knows a lot about it, so I am happy about that. I am also relieved that it is not her heart.
I really do wonder why no one in Bakersfield said she had it, probably because they had not excluded enough causes of tiredness. I am very excited to have this news!