Another Medical "Vacation"

[womzilla]

Last Friday, I started noticing occasional pain in my left ribcage and shortness of breath. For reasons I've explained at length before, these are worrying symptoms, but they were so intermittent that I didn't reach the obvious conclusion. I was also occasionally coughing.

Well. By Wednesday evening, the pain and the shortness of breath were much more undeniable and were accompanied by thoughts of impending doom--the embolism trifecta. So when I got home--after a very uncomfortable train ride from Grand Central--I informed supergee & nellorat that I needed to go to the emergency room. I had intended to drive myself, but Nellorat said, "Call an ambulance--I'm not going to have you stopping breathing on the way."

The ambulance was there pretty quickly. I walked in, laid down on the stretcher, and they gave me oxygen and asked me questions. The key question, that hadn't occurred to me, was "Does it hurt when I touch you here?"--with "here" being a muscle group immediately to the left of my left nipple. Holy shit, did it ever! And it was clearly muscle pain, not pain within the lung. Which, frankly, solved the entire question, as far as I was concerned.

On Monday last (April 15), my ear/nose/throat doctor gave me a steroid shot in the hope that it would reduce my allergic response. I'm strongly allergic to aspergillum mold and mildly allergic to rat urine. The injection was quick and painless, but I've been sore at the injection site, my left triceps, ever since.

What I hadn't realized was that the pain was spreading to other muscles on my left side, especially in the shoulder and the chest. When the EMT touched the muscle (pretty sure it's the pectoralis major), he made me realize exactly how much pain I was carrying through the surface. I was in pain, yes, and breathing shallowly as a result.

But by that point, I had started down the ER path, and it wasn't really possible to step off. N. met me at the hospital, for which I'm eternally grateful. I was checked in, put on a bed in a hallway, and then basically ignored until midnight, at which point I told N. to go home, since it was clear that no one, including me, thought I was in any real danger. The night dragged on; there were several screaming children over the course of my stay, and I can barely even recreate how horrible it must be to be in screaming pain and too young to communicate about it. But at least the screaming covered up any snoring I engaged in as I dozed on my hallway bed.

I eventually got an ultrasound reading on my legs and (far later) a CAT scan with iodine contrast, pretty much the same diagnostics I got during my last embolism scare. There was absolutely no sign of unwanted clotting, so I was finally released around 5:30 AM on Thursday with a prescription of "take a lot of Naproxen right now and then a lot of ibuprofen over the next few days while the pain persists."

Lessons learned:

A) Steroid shots: don't just blindly accept them.
B) If possible, don't go to an ER in the evening.
C) If I think I have an embolism, tell them to do a full-body CAT rather than letting them waste time with an ultrasound. If there's a clot in my legs, the CAT will find it.
D) Bring a mass-market paperback rather than a heavy trade paperback. My left arm was very sore from the muscle problems, my right arm was sore from the IV, and my phone battery ran low long before I was sent home, so I had nothing to read for long periods.
E) Everyone should have a pussycat to keep them company. Oh, wait, I knew that one already.
F) I am so glad I have health insurance. I hate living in a country where that's an issue.

Comments

[smofbabe.livejournal.com]

*whew* Sorry you went through such an awful night but glad it was easily diagnosed and has a clear treatment plan.

[drelmo.livejournal.com]

Just had an ER experience of my own (my first kidney stone, and now I know).

Glad nothing serious!

[shelleybear.livejournal.com]

I was given a choice of Prednisone that MIGHT help my neuropathy or continue with Fentanyl.
I chose the later.

[nancylebov.livejournal.com]

That's a major relief that it turned out to be no big deal.

[negativeq.livejournal.com]

!!!!

I am glad it wasn't a heart attack! That must have been terrifying.

[womzilla.livejournal.com]

It was so slowly building that I was pretty sure it wasn't a heart attack of some sort, though the thought did cross my mind one or two million times.

[(Anonymous)]

What a harrowing account!

I'm glad you're feeling better.

Burrow on!

[nellorat.livejournal.com]

Had I known about the steroid shot, I might have questioned you a bit more, but I'm still glad we didn't take an unnecessary risk.

As I waited, at least I finished the Walking Dead novel The Governor: Road to Woodbury. But wow, a hospital would be a really bad place to be during the rising of the dead.

[nancylebov.livejournal.com]

IIRC, Steve Barnes' and Tananarive Due's Devil's Wake includes a rising of the dead in a hospital, or possible a waiting room.

The book is the first of a duology, so we don't know what's going to happen with the zombies who have apparently turned into plants.

[drcpunk.livejournal.com]

Our place would also not be ideal, as we're near about three cemeteries.

[wild-irises.livejournal.com]

Go to the ER when you need to go to the ER.

We share the same birthday; we both need to live a long time yet.

[womzilla.livejournal.com]

True enough! But I could have gone to the ER earlier in the day, except that when I was fully awake, I could convince myself it was nothing, and when I was tired, I could no longer.

[al-qhadhulu.livejournal.com]

Ugh. Over the years, I've had a couple panicked visits to the ER for similar reasons. Glad to hear yours was not related to embolism or other heart stopping probs. I went back and read what you wrote in 2003 about your bro not knowing what got him. In 2001, when Tim and I dated, he mentioned he needed to get back to yoga or some other exercise regimen because he was spending too much time, sedentary -- commuter time and in front of the computer, both at home and work. Unlike me, Tim didn't think to keep his feet elevated or to eat lots of garlic to thin his blood. He mentioned your father's PE in relation to that need for exercise. Tim certainly gave some thought to your father's condition being sufficient impetus for Tim to take better care of himself. Given that convo, I wonder if he didn't have a moment of "oh, shit" at the end in the midst of the sudden stop/start/stop.

Curious... what exercise do you do to keep blood from pooling in your feet? I'm thinking the three of us, in my home, should be doing sets.

[womzilla.livejournal.com]

Well, I'm wearing compression stockings, which do a good job of keeping fluid from pooling in my legs. They're not as good on the feet, and sometimes my toes are quite swollen. The real danger of embolism arises not so much in the feet as in the large veins of the upper calf and the thigh. I'm not on any medication (though both father and sister are), because my hematologist thought I'd be better off just getting up and moving around every 20-30 minutes, which I really do try to do.

Tim was actively exercising in the years leading up to his death--definitely yoga, not sure what else, and he was in good shape from what I can tell. But I strongly suspect he was still in the habit of long iron-butt sessions in front of the computer. That's one bad habit that cheap portable computing has helped alleviate.

Although I was still living at home when father had the first of his two embolisms, I wasn't aware of the genetic component until after Tim's death. I know that sister didn't get tested until then, either, so I'm surprised that Tim was aware of his increased risk. I do remember Cat saying that Tim thought the symptoms were from his allergies. Embolisms can be hard to diagnose properly, because no symptom is universal, and all of the symptoms are common in other maladies as well.

[al-qhadhulu.livejournal.com]

Embolisms can be hard to diagnose properly, because no symptom is universal, and all of the symptoms are common in other maladies as well.

Medicine is an art, for sure.

I strongly suspect he was still in the habit of long iron-butt sessions in front of the computer. That's one bad habit that cheap portable computing has helped alleviate.

When I knew him, Tim also had a laptop in addition to the computer on his desk. But, I don't recall whether he owned a recliner where he could comfortably sit with the laptop. He certainly didn't own a couch when I knew him.