So, I turned in about midnight on Sunday. I was feeling icky and I just wanted to sleep the night away so I could try and catch the doctor on Monday morning. I started coughing, and couldn’t stop. Just kept coughing and coughing …. almost throwing up, coughing and then finally I just couldn’t breathe. I just couldn’t get a breath in. I went to sit in hubby’s lap and he tried to get me to breathe and I just couldn’t catch my breath. It wasn’t like hyperventilating, I just couldn’t get a full breath in.
So off to the ER we went. By the time we had walked from the parking lot into the hospital lobby, I was gasping for breath like I was dying. I could see hubby’s face through the tears and he was worried. I was too. Especially considering ER usually means a long wait. Well, we didn’t wait long at all. They took my info and laid me down in a bed, swabbed my nose, gave me a nebuliser, started an IV, shot some drugs into me and then left to organize tests. Soon I was breathing … real well. And high as a kite.
Doc came around and sent me up to do an xray … got my first ride in a wheelchair. I was thankful, cos I didn’t think I could actually walk to the xray department after the experience walking in from the truck. That didn’t take long and I was back laying in my little bed again in no time flat. By this time, hubby is fading cos he hasn’t slept yet and he has to work that night and it’s his sleeping hours. But the doc wants to do a CT scan too cos now we’re worried it’s a blood clot in my lungs that’s brought on this sudden lack of breathability.
But just my luck, the CT scan at this hospital broke down. It wouldn’t work. Tech had me sit with him while he rebooted it … and yes … it’s running Windows XP as it’s base operating system. Figures! Even a reboot didn’t work. So the plan was to send me to Elizabethtown and have me do the CT there. They couldn’t trust hubby to take me tho, so they sent me in an ambulance. That was fun – travelling looking out the back of an ambulance. Scenery is different that way. Course the meds were beginning to wear off so it wasn’t as fun as it could have been. I was beginning to have trouble taking in breaths again.
When I get to the hospital, they put me up in a bed straight away. Take all my info. Set me up and go get a doc who says the same thing – could be a blood clot and the CT scan should tell. So I go to do the CT scan. This is a strange experience, I have to tell you. They inject iodine into your blood stream. Apparently it’s a dye that reacts with .. something so that the imaging is vivid? No idea how that works. Only know the damn thing made me feel like I was having an orgasm …. well, except for the spasms and the thrills … warmth tho – ALL over – head to toe. Whoa! What a rush! If I wasn’t having problem breathing, I think that might have been a pleasant experience. Ha!
Anyway, back in my bed and both hubby and I fell asleep – maybe for an hour. I wake up and I my bladder is so full I don’t want to move too much lest I embarass myself. So I ring for them to disconnect me from all the wires. They’re busy clearly, cos they don’t come at all. Hubby just unhooks me and I hobble off on my own.
So anyway, doc comes back and says the CT was clean and he wants to do some more tests – ultrasound my gall bladder …. er … ok. But that’s a crock. They keep me waiting more and then finally tell me they are releasing me cos clearly it was just some pleurisy … er ok. I get a boatload of meds to fill and get discharged.
Bronchitis with pleurisy…
The funniest part of this story is when I turn in the prescription at the pharmacy and the pharmacy tech goes “Did you just move here? … Yes? They should give these meds out with a ‘Welcome to Kentucky‘ banner. This is standard fare if you’ve just moved to this state.”
!!!
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