Lori Valenti

In Her Own Words

This is in chronological order. Often these kinds of things are in reverse chronological order which can make understanding the flow of sequences a little confusing. Links are provided in case you wish to visit the source. I will try to add more to this page as I find letters written by this houseguest. Thanks for visiting.

In Their Own Words (The other houseguests)

Lori's Story 
By Lori Valenti 
October 2002 

My name is Lori Valenti. I have had an extremely difficult last six 
months. I just graduated from Umass last Dec. 2001, and got a job 
that I really loved. After working for the company for about 3 months 
my boyfriend and I got an apartment together. The very first night I 
stayed at the apartment I had an awful asthma attack. Over the next 2 
months I would go back and forth to allergists, pulmonary 
specialists, and many other doctors. I was developing skin rashes and 
becoming very fatigued at the apartment, along with the allergies and 
asthma. I came down with a bad respirtory infection and finally had 
to get a lawyer to get my boyfriend and I out of the lease. We had to 
be out Aug. 1st, this was fine by us. 

At this point in time, I thought the hard part was over. On July 11th 
(and I will never forget that date) I was standing at work and I got 
a very strange sensation in my head. It was not painful, but is was 
scary and it lasted for about 10 seconds. Immediately following the 
sensation I became dizzy and started to vomit. I went into the 
bathroom and started to splash water on my face, but I was still 
dizzy and nauseous. I came back into the office and realized my 
vision was blurred. I asked my boss if she would follow me to the 
doctors. 

When I went into see the doctor I told him all my symptoms. He said I 
was depressed and gave me a prescription for Zoloft. Figures! That 
was a Friday. I went home that night and slept around the clock until 
Sat. night, when I woke up for about 1 hour and then went back to 
bed. Sunday morning I went to the ER. They did a spinal tap on me and 
told me that I had viral meningitis. Later I found out this was not 
the case. After several weeks of not getting better I went back to 
the ER. They did blood work and took a urine sample and told me I was 
fine. 

About 1 month into this, I woke up in the morning and had an 
extremely rapid heart rate. I went to the ER and the EKG said 168. 
That was sitting down. They dismissed it as the lovely "anxiety" and 
sent me home against my will. The next morning I woke up and my heart 
was racing again. When I stood up I fainted (the first of about 8 
fainting episodes), and I went back to the ER. They did blood work 
and took my urine again and said I was fine. The doctor specifically 
told me that there was nothing more that they could do for me there, 
and that I shouldn't come back. That was a nice feeling when I was so 
scared about my health? 

Finally, the following day I was taken to the Mass General and 
admitted there. I met a wonderful doctor, who is working with me and 
researching as much as he can about my problem. I was diagnosed there 
with POTS. My doctors keep telling me that I will get better. The 
neurologists and cardiologists can't seem to find anything wrong. 
They just know that my heart beats too fast (and also too slow at 
night time.) 

It has been 3 months that I have been really sick. I am mostly 
bedridden except for the days that I go to the doctor's office. I 
wake up every morning feeling like you would with the flu. My arms 
are completely numb. My heart starts to race. Then I take my meds, 
inderol and midodrine, and I force my way to the couch. I have no 
strength at all. Before this all happened I was running about 5 miles 
a day. I am nauseous all day, and for the first 5 weeks was vomitting 
a lot. I am so dizzy, for the whole day, and I have some 
concentration problems and vision blurring. I mostly sleep the whole 
day because of the fatigue and weakness. And through all this every 
test that I have taken has come back negative, except for the table 
tilt. 

I have a good support system and I thank God for my family and my 
boyfriend who have been so supportive. They have also steered me away 
from doctors who are quick to label "anxiety". My mind is very 
confused as to what happened to me. We still don't know what was in 
the apartment that made me so sick. I am starting to become very 
depressed about my deteriorating health and I pray for some 
remission. This all just seems like a very bad dream. I try to do 
yoga when I feel up to it but, unfortunately, that is not too often. 
I just say to myself every night before I go to bed, " Maybe I'll 
wake up tomorrow and it will all be gone." 

https://www.potsplace.com/stories4.htm#Lori's%20Story 

To learn more about POTS, follow this link:: 
https://www.potsplace.com/pots_an_overview.htm




Other bb5 Housequests | Compiled by Spiralblue




From People That Know Lori


Message 11
From: jct478  
Date: Thu Jul 8, 2004 9:43am
Subject: Lori
 
Hey folks,
I usually never post on groups like this, but Lori and I went to 
High School together, so when I came across this group, I thought I 
would join. I am hoping that she wins, but I have a bad feeling that 
by taking the money last week, she sealed her fate.

It would be great if Lori at least lasts for a while. She is a 
great girl and deserves the money. We were pretty good friends in 
High School, but I haven't seen her in a few years, and had no clue 
that she moved to LA! I didn't even know she would be on the show 
until I saw the first episode. (BTW, she went to Lexington High 
School, not Burlington).

:) JCT
 
Message 28
From: jct478  
Date: Sat Jul 10, 2004 0:02pm
Subject: Re: Is Lori sick? See here...

 
Hey folks,
Wow, lots of speculation and questions...I'll try my best to answer 
most of them (to the best of my knowledge...)

Lori grew up in either Wakefield or Woburn MA (on the Burlington 
line) but attended Lexington High School. After we graduated, I saw 
her from time to time (she was datng one of my good friends in HS). 

During college, whenever I came back to Boston, I would see her at 
Jillians...(she waitressed there for a while.)

I did hear that she was sick (the article you have all pointed out on 
the web is true..that really is her.) I had no idea about that until 
recently. Anyway, she has only been in LA for the past 4 or 5 months. 
I don't know if her new "celeb" status will preclude me from seeing 
her when/if she come back to Boston, but for the record, she is one 
of the nicest people you will ever meet, and I hope that she wins 
this thing...she deserves it.

JCT
 

 
Message 34
From: stephandleeann  
Date: Wed Jul 21, 2004 8:16pm
Subject: Just wanted to let you know...
 
  Lori is from Woburn, I lived across the street from her growing up. 
Her parents still live there.