Episode 80 – POTS Diaries with Mary Katherine from Mississippi

[Transcriber’s note: Dear transcript readers, I sincerely apologize for the unedited transcript again this week. Unfortunately, I have been unable to prepare edited transcripts for the past two weeks, but have still made the unedited transcript available. Once I return, I am happy to edit transcripts for the missed episodes. Please feel free to contact me at volunteer@standinguptopots.org to request a specific transcript. Additionally, if you would like to help prepare these transcripts, or if you have suggestions on how I can improve these transcripts, please email me at the address above.]

00:00:01 Announcer: Welcome to the Standing Up to POTS podcast, otherwise known as the POTScast. This podcast is dedicated to educating and empowering the community about postural orthostatic tachycardia syndrome, commonly referred to as POTS. This invisible illness impacts millions and we are committed to explaining the basics, raising awareness, exploring the research, and empowering patients to not only survive, but thrive. This is the Standing Up to POTS podcast.

00:00:29 Jill (Host): Hello, fellow POTS patients and lovely people who care about POTS patients. I'm Jill Brook, your horizontal host and today we have an episode of the POTS Diaries where we get to know someone in the POTS community and hear their story. I apologize if you are also hearing my woodpecker. We might get to hear his story too, but today we are speaking with Mary Katherine, who has kindly volunteered to share her story with us so that the rest of us might benefit. Mary Katherine, thank you so much for being here today.

00:01:00 Mary Katherine (Guest): Thank you for letting me join. I'm so excited.

00:01:03 Jill (Host): Well, we're excited to get to know you, so let's start with the basics about you, tell us. How old you? Are where you are. And any other little basics we should know about you.

00:01:14 Mary Katherine (Guest): I'm 20 years old. I've grown up in a small town in Mississippi called Christmas Wings, and I've graduated from here, still live here. I'm graduating from junior college next month, so that's a big milestone for me with POTS and everything.

00:01:29 Jill (Host): Congratulations, yeah. So how would your friends or your family describe your personality?

00:01:36 Mary Katherine (Guest): Probably with personal being strong, courageous. I asked my friend actually last night what they thought my personality would be and they said loud OK. Probably a little energetic as well.

00:01:51 Jill (Host): OK, great. If we forced you to brag about yourself for a minute, tell us some things that you're good at.

00:01:59 Mary Katherine (Guest): Oh geez. Giving other people advice, that's for sure. I guess working circus, sitting in that area, watching TV, especially crime documentaries.

00:02:10 Jill (Host): Ah, very nice. Did you have a life before POTS and if so like how many years did you have?

00:02:18 Mary Katherine (Guest): I got diagnosed in 2016 so I was probably 16 years old at the time. I've dealt with a lot of health problems. I've had eight ear surgeries, 4 knee surgeries, so I've been in the medical field of everything. I didn't actually have a large before POTS. You know, it's very social, outgoing. My calves stayed at another house so I would drive there everyday and when I got POTS I just couldn't do it anymore so I won't go into words all the time.

00:02:47 Jill (Host): So at what age did you start having your first POTS symptoms, and what were they?

00:02:52 Mary Katherine (Guest): I was 16 at the time. I got pneumonia and I came home four days later from the hospital and my mom was talking to a primary doctor at our clinic and he thought I may have had POTS. I was very dizzy, lightheaded. I felt weak every time I stood up I was dizzy and I thought I was going to pass out and my heart, like it was racing and he said actually I just hang out for a conference that talked about POTS. I think she may have POTS, so like the last few days I went over there and he put a heart monitor on me and sure enough he referred me to a cardiologist in Jackson.

00:03:29 Jill (Host): Wow, so it happened pretty fast. It sounds like.

00:03:33 Mary Katherine (Guest): It was like me and my mom's head is in a tailspin the whole time. We didn't know what's wrong, goes up, down. We're just so confused about everything.

00:03:42 Jill (Host): If you don't mind my asking, you had mentioned lots of knee surgeries and things in the past. Do you have joint hypermobility? Do you think you already had something related going on?

00:03:54 Mary Katherine (Guest): I don't think it was related to POTS. My new doctor said that I grew too fast. It's on like 5'11" and he said that my ligaments just couldn't catch up. So my kneecap started dislocating.

00:04:05 Jill (Host): OK, so once you knew that you had POTS, did that make you able to do very much about it?

00:04:11 Mary Katherine (Guest): I took my medicines. I was drinking 4 liters of water with preparing and getting 4 bags of liters a week and I was pushing fluids and salt tablets. I was doing the routine of everything and it just didn't seem like it was working and so for about five months I've just hit a wall and I couldn't do anything that I wanted to do.

00:04:31 Jill (Host): Ooh, that sounds bad. I feel guilty making you go, but what does that mean to you?

00:04:37 Jill (Host): Like hit a wall?

00:04:39 Mary Katherine (Guest): A very independent person, especially with my cattle like it. It has to be my way with things. I'm very particular about some things and with only helping me or friends helping me, it drives me nuts not being able to do it 'cause that's like my passion. I couldn't play. Send it.

00:04:56 Jill (Host): Did you say your cattle?

00:04:58 Mary Katherine (Guest): Yes, ma'am.

00:04:59 Jill (Host): OK, when you said before that your cattle was someplace else, I thought you said your cat, but we're talking cows is that correct,

00:05:09 Jill (Host): well oh my goodness OK, tell us about this.

00:05:12 Mary Katherine (Guest): While she didn't like Darlot rising catalogers, red deer, goats. And then we got into Carol, and I started showing cattle 2016, 2017. While kind of like in the POTS era of all this beginning I aged out from 4H in 2020. So I'm just raising cattle on my plants and barking shy.

00:05:35 Jill (Host): Oh my gosh, that sounds so neat and I hate, I hate to be so ignorant. But as somebody who has never been in that world when you say you're showing cattle, what does that mean?

00:05:46 Mary Katherine (Guest): Like you give him bashe blow John Newhall tour break until they're like they're able to read and like the biggest thing is for me that the bond you had with that animal and like the memories I had in the bonds and my best friends came from their barns. So it's taking a huge role in my life and I want to share that with other kids 'cause I don't know anything about show calves, so I want to teach others about that while teaching others about POTS and mental health.

00:06:13 Jill (Host): Wow, that's great. So how many animals do you have?

00:06:17 Mary Katherine (Guest): I don't have a lot of land, so I'm running about 8 cows right now.

00:06:22 Jill (Host): OK, and what all is involved with raising a calf?

00:06:25 Mary Katherine (Guest): If you want to get out red, particularly with it, you can add on. You can pull in boroughs, and you can raise them just for stockyards or recognize them as registered cattle. There's just so many different outlets you can do with them.

00:06:41 Jill (Host): Wow, that sounds really involved and really neat. But it also sounds very physical. Are you challenged by that nowadays with POTS?

00:06:50 Mary Katherine (Guest): They're a challenge with especially in the summer. Oh my goodness, I had to have family out there helping me with a lot of things and I recently just had a PICC line so I couldn't lift over 10 lb, always lifting bags of feed, payloads. I mean the whole 9 yards. I had to have people like that for me and that drives me nuts.

00:07:11 Jill (Host): Yeah, and so I imagine that you're basically talking about like kind of doing a lot of carrying of heavy things, and I'm guessing it gets pretty hot out there in the summer and so. So are you still able to do it? Are you managing?

00:07:28 Mary Katherine (Guest): I'm doing a little bit better. I've actually had more people on pull about a month ago, so I think I'm doing better.

00:07:34 Jill (Host): Oh, that's such, that's such an interesting, neat thing that you do. OK, so back to when you were 16 and you found out you had POTS and you tried some medicines and did you try other things too? Did you try? I don't know. Lifestyle, diet, exercise, anything like that and how much of a difference did anything?

00:07:54 Mary Katherine (Guest): Well, I gained a lot of water weight the first three months and my weight became a huge problem for me mentally. I do not like the right outlook. That was honestly embarrassed and I started eating a lot healthier, counting my calories and starting like little HIIT workouts and walking pretty much every day. Gradually I lost 80 pounds and somehow my POTS went into remission. And then my POTS came back last April from COVID.

00:08:26 Jill (Host): That's cruel, I'm sorry. So you were living the POTS-free life. Everything is good. Did you get a severe case of COVID or a mild case of COVID?

00:08:36 Mary Katherine (Guest): I didn't even know I had it. My cardiologist was like. Have you had COVID or have you had mono? I kept telling him no and I thought he was crazy for asking me that, but he did the antibodies and all that and I've had it.

00:08:48 Jill (Host): Oh, and is the POTS back just as bad as before? Is it the same? Is it different?

00:08:55 Mary Katherine (Guest): I think it's different armor. The fatigue is definitely worse, like I can function if they have on medications, but if I don't, then I'm worthless to the world. Honestly, the headaches and the dizziness is worse.

00:09:10 Jill (Host): Wow, so you are in a really unique position of kind of getting this twice. OK, so how has this changed your social life? For example both times.

00:09:21 Mary Katherine (Guest): At the cattle shows I would work myself a lot. I would push past the limit on it. Normal limits, so that's where I'm really social with it. So after a show I'm in the bed 3 to 4 days and I'm like. Why did I do this? You know better, but other than that, my social life has been pretty much the same 'cause I'm not overexerting myself.

00:09:43 Jill (Host): OK great, what about school? Did that change very much for POTS?

00:09:48 Mary Katherine (Guest): Oh yes, ma'am. Definitely this spring semester it's been really hard to just try and keep pushing on with my classes. And I'm actually doing online classes right now 'cause I'm doing IOP therapy so it's hard to balance so many things throughout the day.

00:10:04 Jill (Host): What kind of therapy did you say you're doing?

00:10:07 Mary Katherine (Guest): Intensive outpatient therapy.

00:10:09 Jill (Host): OK, what's that, is that for POTS?

00:10:12 Mary Katherine (Guest): No, ma'am. It's depression and anxiety.

00:10:15 Jill (Host): OK, is that anything you'd want to share about? Is it effective? Does it help?

00:10:20 Mary Katherine (Guest): Well, I actually have a blog about like my POTS journey and how I wanted to raise POTS awareness through my community. Like my actual already reached out to me and asked how my mental well-being is with POTS and I explained everything to you know I was suicidal and it was a very dark time for me. I couldn't figure out what was given the cards I was dealt because I went from POTS, Brianna. Almost in the bed every day and it worked very hard, but I kept doing my individual therapy and then I decided I needed more intensive therapy or I'm doing now is helping me so much. I pretty much came to terms like I have POTS so I need to get over my pity party and I need to keep on living.

00:11:07 Jill (Host): Wow, good for you. That's great. If somebody else was interested in doing a similar kind of therapy. What is it called again?

00:11:15 Mary Katherine (Guest): Intensive outpatient therapy, IOP.

00:11:18 Jill (Host): OK. Where are you at now, in terms of how functional are you? I know you just graduated, so what are you hoping to kind of do next now that you're done with school and what feels sort of realistic with your POTS?

00:11:36 Mary Katherine (Guest): Well, my next goal is to get in the PTA school and if I don't, that's OK. I still have a Plan B. I just needed stability in my mindset with POTS like I have this. It's a disorder and I need to keep talking to people, helping people out while also coping with the disorder I have.

00:11:56 Jill (Host): Yeah, do you think that chronic illness has changed you very much as a person?

00:12:02 Mary Katherine (Guest): I think it has. For a while I thought it was for the negative, but the past few weeks I've seen that it changed me for the positive side where I'm very much stronger in my faith and stronger as a person, and it's allowed me to help others as well. That's a really big saying I help others with POTS or child too.

00:12:24 Jill (Host): Oh, that's so nice. Do you do that through your blog mostly?

00:12:27 Mary Katherine (Guest): Yes, ma'am.

00:12:29 Jill (Host): Do you want to tell us about it?

00:12:30 Mary Katherine (Guest): It’s Not Your Average Heart to Heart, I created it in November. I don't have many posts because I took a little break. A little help as I just posted last night about my depression. My journey with that. How my POTS has affected my depression and letting people know there is mental health problems within our community. There's also chronic illness problems within our community, and we need to help them as much as we can.

00:13:00 Jill (Host): Yeah, would you want to share how POTS has affected your mental health like with the POTS part specifically?

00:13:07 Mary Katherine (Guest): Like I said earlier, like I was on the road and I was very independent. I was always going so when the second bout of POTS came like it just knocked me down, it was probably the darkest time in my life. I relied a lot on my parents, on family and friends. To help me mentally and physically, but now looking back at it, I'm glad I went through that. I never thought I would say that. I'm seeing the better things about what I went through and how I can relate better to others as well.

00:13:36 Jill (Host): Oh, so what do you mean by that? That you can relate better to others for having gone through this?

00:13:42 Mary Katherine (Guest): Like people can say, oh, I'm so sorry for you. I hate that's happening to you, but with empathy you can say that, but you don't really know what that person is going through on a day-to-day basis unless you have it. That's depression and anxiety. You don't know what that person is living through until you're in it. So now that I've experienced all three of those things, I mean, I feel like it's my calling to help as many people as I can.

00:14:07 Jill (Host): Ah, that's beautiful. OK, I have a question for you. What do you think is worse? Depression or anxiety? Can I ask why?

00:14:17 Mary Katherine (Guest): I tend to overthink things and worry about a lot of things that may not even happen, and then I get in my head. My mind just starts racing and racing and racing. So I think my depression is definitely worse than my anxiety.

00:14:33 Jill (Host): Yeah, my head does that too. And for some reason it always decides to start at about 8:00 PM right like 'cause I'm trying to get wind down, get sleepy. You get tired. Right?

00:14:43 Mary Katherine (Guest): Yes, and what I found that helped me with meditation and I will snowboard meditation. And so I started doing it at night. It used to take me two or three hours to fall asleep. Now I'm out in 15 minutes. It's the craziest thing.

00:14:55 Jill (Host): Oh, can you talk more about that like? What kind of meditation do you do? What does it look like specifically?

00:15:01 Mary Katherine (Guest): I got out, my therapist recommended. It is called Insight Timer and there's so many different meditations you can do in there like sleep, anxiety, just regular ones I guess, but I don't know the ones I have done have just set me out for my.

00:15:19 Jill (Host): Oh that's great. Have you found any other things that really help you with any aspect of your health?

00:15:26 Mary Katherine (Guest): Journaling. I have like 3 journals. I do it every night. I have my Bible study I do every night and I try to read. That's what really makes me tired at night.

00:15:37 Jill (Host): That's great, and so do you feel like your sleep at this point is reasonably OK?

00:15:44 Mary Katherine (Guest): Well, it's horrible. I've been not sleep well. There's times that I do sleep well, but they're adjusting my medications, so it's not that good.

00:15:54 Jill (Host): OK, so is there anything else that you know now about living with POTS that you wish you had known sooner?

00:16:02 Mary Katherine (Guest): Always go with your gut. If you feel like your doctor is not doing enough for you, go to somebody else. Actually, my nurse practitioner locally down here, she has been my lifesaver down here. She didn't know anything about POTS and she sat with me and she listened to what my symptoms are and she started researching as I was sitting there with her and she's like OK child is we would go through different medications, different lifestyle changes and if one didn't work we move on to the other one, but back to my point. So if you don't think your doctor is doing enough for you and doing you justice, or they're being mentally, physically, if you think you need to go soon, and you know I'll just go see them. Go see an allergist. Go see any type of doctor you think you may need to see. If your doctor has not referred you to one, and if he refers you to a doctor that you've heard is bad. Telling what she thinks and maybe he will refer you to somebody else or make that appointment. If you can with a different doctor, that's the biggest thing that I've experienced with this second bout of POTS.

00:17:06 Jill (Host): Yeah, that's wise words. I wish I had done that much earlier as well. OK, so what helps you cope with this? What keeps you going?

00:17:17 Mary Katherine (Guest): I have a blue heeler named Harley. I got her in 2020 so she'll be 2 next month. She has really helped me cope with a lot of things. She's like my little emotional support baby.

00:17:27 Jill (Host): Wait is a blue heeler a cow?

00:17:30 Mary Katherine (Guest): No, it's a dog, no, ma'am.

00:17:32 Jill (Host): Just checking.

00:17:34 Mary Katherine (Guest): Cattle dog though.

00:17:36 Jill (Host): OK.

00:17:37 Mary Katherine (Guest): It's so fun, like she knows when I'm feeling bad, she'll just lay right beside me, but she's also crazy like off her rockers. She has so much energy. She'll do zoomies around the house. It's crazy. And journaling. I think journaling has helped me, you know, cope with what I have and like writing down what I experienced throughout the day. What moods I felt. I felt them and like doing my self-care checklist. And that's really helped me cope with a lot of it.

00:18:04 Jill (Host): So if you imagine your past self when you were not doing very well and if your current self who's doing so much better could speak to that old self, what do you think would be helpful for that person to hear?

00:18:20 Mary Katherine (Guest): To keep going, keep pressing on and don't lie in the bed. You don't have to. You need to get up and do just one thing. A little laundry, taking the garbage out, getting all the drinks out of your room. Just do one thing to say you have accomplished one more thing that you didn't do yesterday and to always keep a positive attitude.

00:18:41 Jill (Host): Yeah, I really like that. That idea of doing just one good thing because it's amazing how that leads to the next good thing and then as time passes those all just keep adding up.

00:18:53 Mary Katherine (Guest): With my.

00:18:54 Jill (Host): It's like really good advice. OK, are you up for a speed round?

00:18:59 Mary Katherine (Guest): I am.

00:19:00 Jill (Host): What is your favorite way to get salt?

00:19:02 Mary Katherine (Guest): Just pour the salt shaker on my fries or anything.

00:19:06 Jill (Host): What is the drink that you find the most hydrating?

00:19:10 Mary Katherine (Guest): Liquid I.V., it's like liquid gold. I love it.

00:19:14 Jill (Host): What is your favorite time of the day and why?

00:19:18 Mary Katherine (Guest): Definitely not morning. Don't say evening 'cause I'm going to bed finally.

00:19:23 Jill (Host): Where is your favorite place to spend time?

00:19:27 Mary Katherine (Guest): Outside at my pastures.

00:19:30 Jill (Host): Wow, that sounds so nice. How many doctors have you seen for POTS?

00:19:34 Mary Katherine (Guest): Maybe four or five.

00:19:36 Jill (Host): How many other POTS patients have you ever met in person face to face?

00:19:41 Mary Katherine (Guest): I've met 2.

00:19:42 Jill (Host): What is one word that describes what it's like living with a chronic illness?

00:19:50 Jill (Host): What is some good advice that anyone ever gave you about anything at all?

00:19:56 Mary Katherine (Guest): To keep praying, keep staying positive. You know it could be a lot worse than the cards you've been dealt with and just always say it could be worse. It could be worse, and that's really what helped me.

00:20:08 Jill (Host): You thought you just made me think of something funny. The thing that taught me that was when I was feeling so bad with my POTS and then I got a raging case of poison ivy and I was like, oh. Yep, somebody needed to show me that it could get worse. I wasn't appreciating that enough.

00:20:24 Mary Katherine (Guest): Oh my gosh.

00:20:26 Jill (Host): What is something small that brings you comfort or joy?

00:20:30 Mary Katherine (Guest): My dog.

00:20:31 Jill (Host): Who is somebody that you admire?

00:20:34 Mary Katherine (Guest): Probably my Australian brother Dom.

00:20:36 Jill (Host): Do you share what you admire him for?

00:20:39 Mary Katherine (Guest): He has always been disappointed with a lot of things that have been thrown at him, but he's always kept his chin up. He's always kept going and always saw the other side of things, and I've always admired him for that.

00:20:52 Jill (Host): That's great. What is something that you're proud of?

00:20:55 Mary Katherine (Guest): My battle scars.

00:20:57 Jill (Host): What is the toughest thing about POTS?

00:21:00 Mary Katherine (Guest): People not believing you when you tell them you have POTS.

00:21:05 Jill (Host): What is an activity that you can enjoy even when you're feeling really POTS-y?

00:21:11 Mary Katherine (Guest): Watching a crime documentary.

00:21:15 Jill (Host): What gives you energy, if anything?

00:21:18 Mary Katherine (Guest): More medication or? I love lattes but I cannot drink them anymore. They used to give me a lot of energy or Red Bull, which I know is a big no no but.

00:21:28 Jill (Host): What is a gift that you would have sent to every POTS patient on Earth if you had infinite funds?

00:21:35 Mary Katherine (Guest): Like 10 packs of Liquid I.V. and the 10 packs of salt tablets. More the best doctors in the world.

00:21:43 Mary Katherine (Guest): And there's so many things I can give other POTS patients I can think of.

00:21:49 Jill (Host): What is something that you are grateful for?

00:21:52 Mary Katherine (Guest): My support system.

00:21:54 Jill (Host): What is the best kind of support that people can give you these days?

00:21:58 Mary Katherine (Guest): Just try to be there for me and remind me not everything is negative. 'Cause when I get in a POTS episode I tend to focus on the negative things.

00:22:08 Jill (Host): How do you get out of that cycle when you start falling into it?

00:22:12 Mary Katherine (Guest): I have to really really push myself in this saying positive things and thinking positive things and almost tricking my mind into thinking like OK. I'm feeling better today. I need to do this. Need to go around this and it's just like a mind game with me.

00:22:27 Jill (Host): OK, if you could please finish these sentences. I love it when.

00:22:33 Mary Katherine (Guest): I have a cold Liquid I.V. in my fridge.

00:22:36 Jill (Host): I hate it when.

00:22:39 Mary Katherine (Guest): It feels like there's 25 lb weights on my legs. I'm feeling so bad.

00:22:44 Jill (Host): People might suspect I'm a POTS-y when.

00:22:48 Mary Katherine (Guest): I have a PICC line or an IV.

00:22:51 Jill (Host): And last speed question, have you ever had to sit or lie down in a weird place because of POTS? And if so, where was it?

00:23:00 Mary Katherine (Guest): Oh totally, one of the biggest time was at Hobby Lobby with my mom. We're looking at fabric, she said my face turned white as sheets. I don't know what was wrong when I was almost passing out and I had to sit down in one of the workers' chairs for probably 20 minutes and let me regain all my consciousness and everything. Let everything die down.

00:23:22 Jill (Host): I think some of us have heard about PICC lines, but we don't really have experience with them. Do you mind telling us what that is and why you got it and how it worked for you?

00:23:37 Mary Katherine (Guest): Of course, well, I've had two PICC lines with the first bout of POTS and the second bout. My veins are terrible in my arms. Nurses, God bless them. They would lay on the floor to try and get a vein 'cause my veins are so bad. I had this one vein called Louise. We eventually just resorted to a PICC line the first time, and the second time 'cause it was about all my veins were shot in my arms and hand.

00:24:06 Jill (Host): And so a PICC line is where they kind of insert something right into one of your veins and leave it there.

00:24:14 Mary Katherine (Guest): Yes, well it's like a long tube on the inside of your arm. It can be in your back as well, but it's a pretty big artery and vein. You can't lift stuff and that little tube can break off and travel, I think, and your— I don't know. I didn't really look into it. I just knew I could not lift but fluids ran a lot faster doing.

00:24:36 Jill (Host): So every time you would get a saline infusion, they would just kind of take your PICC line, hook it up and you wouldn't have to get a new needle inserted or anything like that.

00:24:46 Mary Katherine (Guest): Yes, ma'am, I got my dressings changed every week and I also had the fluids at home so I had my IV pole which I call the tree of life and I had everything that I needed to start the saline infusions.

00:24:59 Jill (Host): But you're not doing that any longer 'cause you don't need as much saline, or what's happening now.

00:25:05 Mary Katherine (Guest): Actually, I started third spacing fluids. My body didn't absorb the bag of fluids like it should so it would go to my hands, my feet, everywhere and I eventually just told them like I gotta get this out. I'm not using it anymore so we just pulled it.

00:25:21 Jill (Host): OK, so since we have a little bit of time left, can I ask you a little bit more about raising cattle? Tell us like what you do in a day or what you do at a show. Tell us a little bit about your calves.

00:25:35 Mary Katherine (Guest): Well, on a show day, it really depends on like when you breed a cow, show if you're the 1st breed and that show starts at 8:00 in the morning. You gotta be up at 3:00 or 4:00 o'clock that morning, and wash and dry and make sure they're getting their feed on time and doing them at the right time so they don't excrete everything out. Say that or not, but it's like a timed thing. You have to perfect it really when it's show time. It's crazy and hectic. Everybody is running around trying to get in show halter, trying to spray like all in their hair trying to make their hair pop and eventually you'll run into the ring 'cause you're almost late or I was, I was almost late.

00:26:16 Jill (Host): Wait a second. Are you trying to make your hair pop or the calf's hair?

00:26:20 Mary Katherine (Guest): Well, the calf's hair. I'm sorry, I should've said that.

00:26:26 Jill (Host): So what are the judges looking for?

00:26:29 Mary Katherine (Guest): Well, you have two different things. You have showmanship and then you have like the actual class. Showmanship they're judging you. They're judging your appearance, how well that you're connected with your animal, how hard you worked your animal. If you're like a hard showman, like if you know what you're doing. But the class ones they're judging the calf like how well it's fed out. That outward appearance, which means like her, if it's fitted right, the clip job, how it walks, you know? All the individual wirings of a calf that you want in a good show calf.

00:27:03 Jill (Host): Fun, OK and what about a day that's not a show day? What do you do with your cattle?

00:27:10 Mary Katherine (Guest): Well, I have two separate pens. I have most of mine beside my house and then I have a pasture behind my house. So I would feed them every night, make sure they got their water. I'm actually waiting on one of my cows and calves to have her baby. She's due any day now, checking on her and then the other cows in the other pen making sure they have hay and water so it's just like a routine thing.

00:27:38 Jill (Host): And do you develop a pretty close bond with them?

00:27:41 Mary Katherine (Guest): Pretty much my whole heart is my old show calf, so I actually have one, my very first show calf. She hated everybody. She would try to kick at them and get them, but she loved me. She wouldn't do anything to me. So I found a pretty special bond with all of mine.

00:27:59 Jill (Host): That's so neat. I'm glad that you're still able to make it work to do that. That sounds like a really special activity. OK, so I just have a couple more questions. What do you wish more people knew about POTS?

00:28:14 Mary Katherine (Guest): That it's not all in our heads. I mean, it could be presented as anxiety, but it's not in our heads.

00:28:20 Jill (Host): Yeah, amen. Is there anything that you'd want to say to your fellow POTS patients who may be listening?

00:28:27 Mary Katherine (Guest): I guess just keep on keeping on. I've been saying that the whole episode, but keep taking medications, doing your infusions and don't get down on yourself because you can't do anything today. Tomorrow's a new day and you may feel 10 times better. You never know, but if you stay in a negative mindset you're just gonna set yourself up for failure.

00:28:49 Jill (Host): Oh, those are such great words. I think we'll just end it right there. So Mary Katherine, thank you so much for sharing your story and your insights with us. We really appreciate it.

00:29:05 Mary Katherine (Guest): I'm so glad I got to be on here.

00:29:08 Jill (Host): Well, we're so glad to get to know you. So thanks again and hey listeners, thank you for listening. Remember, you're not alone and please join us again soon.

00:29:15 Announcer: As a reminder, anything you hear on this podcast is not medical advice. Consult your healthcare team about what's right for you. This show is a production of Standing Up to POTS, which is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organ. You can send us feedback or make a tax deductible donation at www.standinguptopots.org. You can also engage with us on social media at the handle, standinguptopots. If you like what you heard today, please consider subscribing to our podcast and sharing it with your friends and family. You can find us wherever you get your podcasts or at www.thepotscast.com. Thanks for listening. © 2022 Standing Up to POTS. All rights reserved.

[Transcriber’s note: If you would like a copy of this transcript or the transcript for any other episode of the POTScast, please send an email to volunteer@standinguptopots.org]