I am writing from the comfort of the very chair where the last hideous week began from on unto. Yup! I'm back at work.
I am going to have a very difficult month coming up because I cannot drive. By Doctor's orders, I am forbidden from driving until one month after the Ablation...which has not yet been scheduled.
The really difficult part will be to keep a civil tongue in my head while Susan chauffeurs me around. Let me say upfront that she is not a bad driver. She is in fact, a very good driver. But she is a very cautious drivers. Too cautious for my sensibilities.
As we were hurtling towards Liberty Lake in the 70 MPH zone at 60, I was screaming in my head to SPEED UP!
But I didn't. That is not my place. My place is in the Passenger Seat. SO SPEED THE HELL UP!
I stayed home yesterday simply because I was unsure of how I would do back in the world. I puttered around the house, did some light cleaning, a few little projects and I did okay. I'm ready to face the world of gainful employment.
Friday, June 30, 2017
Wednesday, June 28, 2017
Freedom
It is just after 7:00AM and I am hoping breakfast will be coming along soon. That will hopefully be followed by discharge, but nobody has been in here to provide any of that information.
Dr. B. was just in and getting me out is in process. Still no date on an Ablation.
11:55AM: FREE AT LAST! You know the rest.
We have just arrived home and it is nice to be free. I can pee into a toilet. I'm not tethered to an IV pole. There is not a large challenged man snoring two feet away from me.
I think it is time for a nap!
Dr. B. was just in and getting me out is in process. Still no date on an Ablation.
11:55AM: FREE AT LAST! You know the rest.
We have just arrived home and it is nice to be free. I can pee into a toilet. I'm not tethered to an IV pole. There is not a large challenged man snoring two feet away from me.
I think it is time for a nap!
Hospital Summer Camp - Day LAST
Just to make everything perfect for this visit before I get out of the hospital, I have been visited by my old friend Gout.
I felt the first twinge of pain in my knee around 8:00 last night when Susan was here. I almost said something for her to bring my steroid pills in the morning but decided against it because I am supposed to be released in the morning. I figured that would be enough time to get the pill and counteract the onset of gout.
It is now 3:00AM...barely seven hours since I first felt its wrath, and it is in nearly full bloom.
My hope is to get out of here early and get to one of my pills.
In the meantime, I am battling the snores of my roommate, Timothy. He has had lots of respiratory treatments throughout the day and as night fell, it seemed like they might have helped. His snoring early in the evening was pretty mild.
But he has blossomed into his full potential now and there is not much sleep going on in Bed 2 here in Room 655.
Timothy just walked past me on his way to the bathroom. He did not alert the nurse like he is supposed to and it sounds like he (or a horse) is peeing into the toilet rather than the plastic bottle they use to measure our output.
The other distressing thing is that he has already peed all over the floor by his bed and when he has gone into the bathroom, he is not terribly accurate.
Yup! I just went in there to check and someone needs to call housekeeping. I'm just glad I have already made use of the facilities.
So...Medically, the plan is to discharge me this morning. The earlier the better. Dr. Byazrova has decided I need an Ablation, which is what I have wanted as well.
So they will send me home stabilized with the addition of Amneoderone, the drug that stabilizes my PVC's. I can go back to work whilst we wait for a date. Dr. B said it would be within three weeks.
Okay, I'm either going to try and lay back down for a while or call up a movie on Netflix.
I felt the first twinge of pain in my knee around 8:00 last night when Susan was here. I almost said something for her to bring my steroid pills in the morning but decided against it because I am supposed to be released in the morning. I figured that would be enough time to get the pill and counteract the onset of gout.
It is now 3:00AM...barely seven hours since I first felt its wrath, and it is in nearly full bloom.
My hope is to get out of here early and get to one of my pills.
In the meantime, I am battling the snores of my roommate, Timothy. He has had lots of respiratory treatments throughout the day and as night fell, it seemed like they might have helped. His snoring early in the evening was pretty mild.
But he has blossomed into his full potential now and there is not much sleep going on in Bed 2 here in Room 655.
Timothy just walked past me on his way to the bathroom. He did not alert the nurse like he is supposed to and it sounds like he (or a horse) is peeing into the toilet rather than the plastic bottle they use to measure our output.
The other distressing thing is that he has already peed all over the floor by his bed and when he has gone into the bathroom, he is not terribly accurate.
Yup! I just went in there to check and someone needs to call housekeeping. I'm just glad I have already made use of the facilities.
So...Medically, the plan is to discharge me this morning. The earlier the better. Dr. Byazrova has decided I need an Ablation, which is what I have wanted as well.
So they will send me home stabilized with the addition of Amneoderone, the drug that stabilizes my PVC's. I can go back to work whilst we wait for a date. Dr. B said it would be within three weeks.
Okay, I'm either going to try and lay back down for a while or call up a movie on Netflix.
Tuesday, June 27, 2017
Hospital Summer Camp - Day 4
I had a very long night. This must be what it's like for Susan to sleep with me.
My neighbor Tim can fall asleep in two seconds and the snoring is atrocious. He has sleep apnea so he will be very quiet for several seconds, followed by a gigantic snoring inhale at a very high level of sound. And that goes on all night.
I'm sure I dozed but I do not feel like I got a lot of sleep. Certainly not a good nights' sleep.
The rumor for today is they are sending me home. They cannot arrange a lab to perform a procedure on me. Since I am stable and have not been shocked, they feel comfortable sending me home and having me come back at a later date.
All of that is conjecture at this point because I have not yet talked to Dr. Byazrova, who is holding all the cards.
I am reminded that this is pretty much the exact script from last summer when I went home for three days and then came back to the E.R. in the middle of the night with a heart rate of 160.
Then I spent eight days here waiting for a procedure to be arranged.
It is now approaching 11:00AM and we still know nothing more.
Timothy continues in his natural state of sleeping all through the day while snoring as loud and as annoyingly as possible.
My neighbor Tim can fall asleep in two seconds and the snoring is atrocious. He has sleep apnea so he will be very quiet for several seconds, followed by a gigantic snoring inhale at a very high level of sound. And that goes on all night.
I'm sure I dozed but I do not feel like I got a lot of sleep. Certainly not a good nights' sleep.
The rumor for today is they are sending me home. They cannot arrange a lab to perform a procedure on me. Since I am stable and have not been shocked, they feel comfortable sending me home and having me come back at a later date.
All of that is conjecture at this point because I have not yet talked to Dr. Byazrova, who is holding all the cards.
I am reminded that this is pretty much the exact script from last summer when I went home for three days and then came back to the E.R. in the middle of the night with a heart rate of 160.
Then I spent eight days here waiting for a procedure to be arranged.
It is now approaching 11:00AM and we still know nothing more.
Timothy continues in his natural state of sleeping all through the day while snoring as loud and as annoyingly as possible.
Monday, June 26, 2017
Hospital Summer Camp, Day Three
I woke up about 1:15 last night when my chest exploded on me. My defib went off again and it is certainly an unpleasant way to wake up.
They gave me a pill that calmed the PVC's and now as 9AM is approaching, I've had no further repercussions.
I lost my roommate yesterday and have had this place to myself for the last twelve hours.
That has just ended with the arrival of a very large man in his 30's named Timothy who might have pneumonia. He is very difficult to understand. He might have only a partial tongue. Plus he only has one level of speaking which is LOUD.
It just keeps getting better.
As for the plans for me, we are hoping for a procedure. Whether the procedure is an EP study, a heart cath or an Ablation remains to be seen.
So I shall continue to sit here and wait.
They gave me a pill that calmed the PVC's and now as 9AM is approaching, I've had no further repercussions.
I lost my roommate yesterday and have had this place to myself for the last twelve hours.
That has just ended with the arrival of a very large man in his 30's named Timothy who might have pneumonia. He is very difficult to understand. He might have only a partial tongue. Plus he only has one level of speaking which is LOUD.
It just keeps getting better.
As for the plans for me, we are hoping for a procedure. Whether the procedure is an EP study, a heart cath or an Ablation remains to be seen.
So I shall continue to sit here and wait.
Sunday, June 25, 2017
Summer of 17 in the Hospital, Day Too
When I woke up this morning, they told me not to eat anything. There was the possibility of a procedure scheduled for 12:30. But that didn't happen.
Instead they took me down into the bowls of the hospital for a stress test around 8:30. This was a Nuclear Stress Test. The procedure is to put me under this camera that takes a panoramic series of pictures of my heart. Then they put me on a treadmill, get my heart rate up to 136 and inject me with something radioactive. That way, it really lights up my stressed heart when they put me back under the camera for a second series of photos.
I told them it was unlikely my heart rate would get to 136 because of the statin drugs I am on. When I work out at the gym, the best I have ever achieved is 110 beats per minute.
They agreed it would probably be difficult and decided to shoot me up with a drug that tricks my heart into thinking it's going at 136 and then complete the stress test that way.
The over/under of it all is that my heart looks no different from last summer. I have no blockages or closures. So that is good to know.
The rumor now is that I will go in tomorrow for an Electro Physical Study. They call it an E.P. Study. They go in just as if I was having an Ablation and try to tickle my heart to make the PVC beats that have been causing me all this trouble.
I don't know exactly when that will happen but they are denying food after midnight. So that's a good sign.
Instead they took me down into the bowls of the hospital for a stress test around 8:30. This was a Nuclear Stress Test. The procedure is to put me under this camera that takes a panoramic series of pictures of my heart. Then they put me on a treadmill, get my heart rate up to 136 and inject me with something radioactive. That way, it really lights up my stressed heart when they put me back under the camera for a second series of photos.
I told them it was unlikely my heart rate would get to 136 because of the statin drugs I am on. When I work out at the gym, the best I have ever achieved is 110 beats per minute.
They agreed it would probably be difficult and decided to shoot me up with a drug that tricks my heart into thinking it's going at 136 and then complete the stress test that way.
The over/under of it all is that my heart looks no different from last summer. I have no blockages or closures. So that is good to know.
The rumor now is that I will go in tomorrow for an Electro Physical Study. They call it an E.P. Study. They go in just as if I was having an Ablation and try to tickle my heart to make the PVC beats that have been causing me all this trouble.
I don't know exactly when that will happen but they are denying food after midnight. So that's a good sign.
Saturday, June 24, 2017
Back in the Pital
It is 6:37 AM. I am writing from bed two of hospital room 655 at Sacred Heart Medical Center.
I was brought in yesterday by ambulance from work.
I was sitting at my desk discussing a job with Laura and Emily when I suddenly became dizzy. I warned them I was having a dizzy spell and the next thing I knew, Laura was propping me up with my face in her side.
I passed out and my defibrillator went off...twice.
They called 911, the Paramedics showed up and it was decided to take me to the E.R.
My heart is trying to relive last summer when I spent a good portion of my vacation time in the hospital. My heart is producing PVC's...extra heart beats, that make the heart much less efficient.
I think they have PVC's under control now and the goal for today is to figure out what they are going to do with me.
When I know more, you'll know more.
It's now 7:30 and I just finished reviewing all my posts from last June, July and August. I was quite prolific then as most of the time was spent in the hospital and I had nothing to do but write a blog.
It was a good thing to do however because I have forgotten a lot of the details from last year. Now I'm caught up and able to recall much of last summer's fun.
I was brought in yesterday by ambulance from work.
I was sitting at my desk discussing a job with Laura and Emily when I suddenly became dizzy. I warned them I was having a dizzy spell and the next thing I knew, Laura was propping me up with my face in her side.
I passed out and my defibrillator went off...twice.
They called 911, the Paramedics showed up and it was decided to take me to the E.R.
My heart is trying to relive last summer when I spent a good portion of my vacation time in the hospital. My heart is producing PVC's...extra heart beats, that make the heart much less efficient.
I think they have PVC's under control now and the goal for today is to figure out what they are going to do with me.
When I know more, you'll know more.
It's now 7:30 and I just finished reviewing all my posts from last June, July and August. I was quite prolific then as most of the time was spent in the hospital and I had nothing to do but write a blog.
It was a good thing to do however because I have forgotten a lot of the details from last year. Now I'm caught up and able to recall much of last summer's fun.
Monday, June 5, 2017
Bike to Work 1
For the first time this season, I rode my bike to work today.
To refresh your memory, the definition of me riding my bike to work is that I ride my bike two miles downtown to catch the bus, which I then ride for the next 12 miles, and then bike the final 1/2 mile down Appleway to work.
It was pretty chilly on the ride downtown but I persevered and made the trek. I was rewarded with this beautiful view.
The river continues to run pretty high. It is getting close to getting shut down for the summer which means I have again missed some prime white water canoeing.
Today is also the day they decided to start a major road project out here at Liberty Lake. I think they are resurfacing Liberty Lake Drive, which is the first busy cross street you come to upon exiting the freeway.
It took 20 minutes to travel the last half mile off the freeway. It's going to be a long summer.
When it came time to head for home, I left early to head of to the Park & Ride. That way I will be assured of getting my bicycle a place on the rack...which only holds two bikes.
Because of the traffic, the bus was 20 minutes late. There was no quick way out of Liberty Lake at 4:30.
When I got on the bus, there was nobody on it. As we passed all the stops on the way out of the Double L's, nobody got on. It was just the Bus Driver and me.
As it turned out, the Driver was a guy I know through Susan. His name is Jax and Susan used to work with him at Catered4You.
We had a great time talking and driving the bus to downtown.
To refresh your memory, the definition of me riding my bike to work is that I ride my bike two miles downtown to catch the bus, which I then ride for the next 12 miles, and then bike the final 1/2 mile down Appleway to work.
It was pretty chilly on the ride downtown but I persevered and made the trek. I was rewarded with this beautiful view.
Today is also the day they decided to start a major road project out here at Liberty Lake. I think they are resurfacing Liberty Lake Drive, which is the first busy cross street you come to upon exiting the freeway.
It took 20 minutes to travel the last half mile off the freeway. It's going to be a long summer.
When it came time to head for home, I left early to head of to the Park & Ride. That way I will be assured of getting my bicycle a place on the rack...which only holds two bikes.
Because of the traffic, the bus was 20 minutes late. There was no quick way out of Liberty Lake at 4:30.
When I got on the bus, there was nobody on it. As we passed all the stops on the way out of the Double L's, nobody got on. It was just the Bus Driver and me.
As it turned out, the Driver was a guy I know through Susan. His name is Jax and Susan used to work with him at Catered4You.
We had a great time talking and driving the bus to downtown.
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