Monday, September 9, 2013

ANOTHER NIGHT IN THE ER

So, guess where I spent my evening/night?  Yep, back in the ER.  But this time it was me who was in need of  medical assistance.  I went on a date with The Hubs after he got off work.  I had the best Tuna sandwich I had ever had and I started feeling like I had to go potty really bad and I kept losing my breath as I drove home.  I thought maybe it was something I ate, or perhaps I was coming down with a tummy bug.  I made it home but by then I was in full on panic mode and I just felt awful.  I went potty and discovered I had diarrhea and figured that was the end of it and I would ride out the tummy bug/food poisoning and be fine.  But then I kept having these episodes of shortness of breath and then my left shoulder started to hurt and I felt intense pressure near my ribs.

I figured it was time to go in.  After all, I am an overweight 43 year old and I figured maybe my lack of exercise had finally caught up with me. They took me right in and the first thing they did was an EKG to rule out heart attack.  The EKG came back good with no heart attack, but the doctor was concerned by my heart rate I guess so they took me back and started to run tests.  First was blood tests, then came a chest x-ray.  And of course the wait for results.  The doctor came in and listened to everything. And he said because of the elevated heart rate and the trouble breathing he wanted to do a CT Scan to rule out a blood clot in my lungs. The pain started to move from my shoulder down to my back/shoulder blade area and was lasting instead of intermittent so I called the nurse in and told him and he said he would tell the doctor.  I finally got really uncomfortable  and sat forward and belched twice. Ummm I felt better for about twenty minutes and then it started all over again. I was thinking that maybe I should try to delay the CT Scan to see if maybe it was just gas.  But then I was whisked away  halfway back from my trip to the bathroom and I ended up getting the scan anyway.  They took me back to my room and we waited for the results.  It appears that my right rib cage is out of whack or something but they weren't concerned about that and I was low on magnesium so they started an IV with fluids and magnesium. I burped a couple of more times and my heartrate dropped and my pain went away.

About an hour or so later the doctor came in and said the x rays and CT scan showed very healthy heart/lungs/gall bladder etc. And when I told him about the burping episodes he asked for the second time if I suffered from GERD.  When I told him I did he said that is what he thought it was because I was very healthy otherwise.  When I first went in  I didn't' feel gassy or acidy, but now I can feel that pressure and gurgly acid.  I now have a script for medicine to control the GERD and am downing gas pills like crazy to try to get rid of some of the pressure.  I hate that it pushes up on my lungs and heart and makes me feel like this but at least I know I'm not having a heart attack and I will start exercising even if it kills my hips and I become even less mobile because I need to keep my heart and lungs healthy so I will be around to see Little Butt turn 18 etc.

WHICH REMINDS ME - HAPPY 18TH BIRTHDAY GWENDOLYNN!!! I LOVE YOU SO MUCH AND I JUST WANT YOU TO KNOW THAT NO MATTER WHAT OTHER PEOPLE SAY, I LOVE YOU VERY MUCH AND EVEN IF I DID GROW UP POOR AND DON'T 'FIT IN' WITH THE REST OF THE FAMILY, I STILL KNOW YOU BETTER THAN ANYONE ELSE AND I KNOW  THAT IF YOU LET GO OF THE BAD THAT HAS HAPPENED OVER THE LAST YEAR AND LISTEN TO WHAT YOU KNOW IS TRUE IN YOUR HEART, THAT YOU WILL BE THE MOST AWESOME WOMAN, TEACHER, MOTHER, WIFE OF ANYONE I HAVE EVER MET!  KEEP YOUR HEAD UP KIDDO, YOU CAN DO THIS! <3

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