Today started like any other day. But behold Murphy … if it can go wrong … you can bet he'll be there cheerleading. After bringing in the new garage door opener with Alyson I did notice that I was a little more short of breath than usual.
I just attributed that today was going to be a bit more of a struggle than others. Thankfully I was able to get down the tollway without passing out and arrived safely at work. It was here in the parking lot that the difficulty of the day was going to become overly apparent. It was a relative hot morning already and that coupled with the CHF was not making things easy. I exited the vehicle, got my lunch bag and started for the door. After about ten steps I was so out of breath and dizzy that another step was not possible. Thankfully I had parked in a semi-shady spot so I was able to lean against another car and rest. However, I had moved all of about 15 yards and had a very long way to go to get to the front door. So, after a couple of minutes I tried again ... to the same result. At this point I little bit of panic starts to set in. It's hot and sunny outside, I'm on the verge of passing out, and I'm not in Mexico at a beach side bar on vacation! Very disturbing times! I realize that I will have to “dash” for the door and hope for the best once I get inside. At least it air conditioned and I won't fry on the parking lot. the worst that could happen is carpet burns and a reprimand for sleeping at work. So I give myself an extra minute or two to rest up and away we go! I get through the front door of the Tech Services building and collapse onto the strategically placed visitor's couch. After several minutes of hyper-ventilating I'm able to pull myself from complete heap status to sitting up and breathing relatively normal. Still have stars in my eyes but I need to get to work.
I get to my station and it must be obvious that something is wrong. How do I know this you ask? Well everyone passing by is asking “What's wrong?”, “Are you feeling OK?”, “You look like crap.” Another clue to how this day is going to end. I sit down, login, plug in and immediately become dizzy. Not a good sign. I'm able to work like this for about two hours and then it finally happens. On the verge of passing out, for the umpteenth time, I'm unable to communicate with a coworker that something is wrong. Even somebody as stubborn as me can realize that something has to be done. So I call up my Hematologist and discuss the symptoms thinking the chemo is just really messing with my head. They tell me I need to get to their office immediately, no explanation just get there. Now I'm worried. So, I notify management of what is going on and off I go across the city to the doctor's office. In hindsight, driving myself in that condition was an awfully stupid choice.
Once I got to the doctor's office they ran the usual battery of blood draws, weight and vitals. A quick exam and I'm being admitted to the hospital. Seems that my fluid volume in my body had gotten out of whack (medical term) and was causing my shortness of breath and extreme fatigue. Not to worry though, just a tune up session to get my meds straightened out and get the fluid off. They said it'd take about two days.
Now I could regale you with stories from my nine day stay in the hospital, however I will not bore you with the mundane. However, a few things learned from the stay. First, when one doctor prescribes a medication and another cancels said med, ask the canceling doctor if they have spoken with the prescribing doctor. That one move could save you several days in the hospital. Second, if you are placed in ICU for monitoring and you are not a victim of a severe crash or disease you will be popular on the floor as you are probably the only patient that can speak on their own. A very humbling experience. Third, if you hear the words Infectious Disease doctor … run. There is probably nothing wrong with you, but they will find something to justify their billing. This one seemed to think I had pneumonia. Not to mention they will put false information in your medical records about your lifestyle habits. For the record, I am NOT a two pack a day smoker!!!!
Needless to say I survived the hospital and they did get my weight down. So the fluid volume thing was an important lesson. Another important lesson was drug insurance coverage! The infectious disease doctor prescribed this really high powered anti-biotic, to finish off the phantom pneumonia, and when I finally found a pharmacy that stocked it the price tag was over $1200!!! That's for 10 pills folks. Thankfully, I only had to pay a $25 copay but that was a pretty shocking look into healthcare without insurance. Something I'm sure we have all done at one point or another in our life. So that is my story and I'm sticking to it …. till next time!
Take care of yourselves!
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