Yeah, Heather's definitely not going on the trip. She spent six hours in the ER at the local hospital and got told pretty damn bluntly by a doctor that she had a blood clot in her lung and she could die. (Where the HELL was his bedside manner?!) I wasn't there, but Heather told me all this when I got back from AWoL this evening. Her heart rate--resting--fluctuated between 120 and 160 all day, her blood pressure was stupidly low at the beginning, and she got jabbed a few times because her veins are tiny (twice to get blood for bloodwork, once--through the same hole--for an IV). Marilyn freaked out upon hearing about the clot because her brother died the same way (albeit after a traffic accident, but still, a clot in his lungs like Heather was told she has), and Heather's sure she's going to be crying tonight out of worry for her. A came in at one point to see if Heather had come into the room, and was about to leave without telling me how she was. I had to ask her, and then she explained. I know Heather was going to explain it to me eventually, but hello, I'm her roommate, (and I've known her longer, since Inbound)? I know that doesn't rest on the same level of girlfriend, but it'd be nice if you'd let me know she's not DYING. Jesus. That girl and her level of consideration...

So anyway, it is medically unsafe for her to go to Baltimore, because for some reason, she doesn't get the signals from her body that something is wrong. She didn't feel short of breath when her heart rate was elevated. She doesn't know when she should tell people there's a problem. They also took her off her migraine medication, thinking that's the cause of the clot, so even though it'll take four days for the medication to fully leave her system, the amount of it will be declining, so three or four hours bouncing around in a bus will not be good for her. Plus, if something happens while she's in Baltimore, the school's responsible. She thinks her professor's going to take issue with it (not with her personally, I don't think--he kind of can't), but honestly, I'd rather my ill student keep her ass home in case she needs to end up at the ER again rather than be on a trip four hours away and, you know, possibly drop dead. Heather can do an extra project or something. She's going to the dean tomorrow to tell them, and if she feels weird again at all, she has to go back to the ER, or at least to Health & Wellness, I can't remember which. I think ER.

SO. I'd hate to have her life. I told her as much. She has it bad. And she desperately needs a freaking neurologist that isn't going to dick her around. Fortunately, the people at JC Blair are going to call around and see if they can't help her get an appointment soon. Honestly, if her neurologist is seeing people that aren't all that serious, s/he needs to bump THEM and see her already. I'm worried about her and there's really nothing I can do. She said that everything that happened didn't really hit her until she was showering when she got back, and she just broke down. They need to find out what's wrong with her.