For the third night in a row Jon couldn't sleep lying down. He has been trying to sleep on the couch sitting up. I woke around 4:15 because Rocky came in and jumped onto the bed, which meant Jon had let him back in again.
Jon was miserable and panicking. I waited about a half hour before deciding that we were going to the ER. He was groggy, slow to respond, slightly disoriented and was cold. This is unusual for a man that kept saying he ran hot all the time.
Closest ER was ten minutes away, got him in the car, headed for a new Kaiser hospital. This was about 5 am now and because he complained about 'chest pain' after I came back from parking the car they took him to get an ekg.
He looked awful which I expected. Took his ID, medical history, no we don't have insurance... etc.
Put him on a monitor standard heart, oxygen, pulse thing. Waited for what seemed forever for the nurse to come back, doctor still hadn't come in but soon after she left doc came in.
Asked more questions, then ordered full blood work up, chest x-ray and breathing treatment.
At some point we were waiting for someone, nurse had left and I looked at the monitor just as Jon said he wasn't feeling good. His pulse had dropped a full ten beats and blood pressure had tanked. He wasn't able to breathe through his nose at all and so was not doing well. I looked at him and he was pale as the nurse came in due to the monitor going off he looked like he had stopped breathing. I moved to the other side of the bed, nurse called to him I tried touching his shoulder but no response. Usually if he's just resting or sleeping if I touch him or say his name he'll wake up. I heard myself calmly say, 'He's not responding' his eyes were partially closed Another nurse came in and asked if she needed back up and she said yes. She then laid him back and lowered his head, which he vaguely protested. I moved out of the way to the wall as two others came in, one to take his blood sugar and a male nurse with the defibrilator cart. He came to and color came back but they had put the pads on him already but didn't have to use it. I heard one of the nurses suspect he it might be due to hyperventilating.
I was scared folks. He doesn't remember that happening of course which is why I'm writing it down and it may still be slightly out of order.
After all that, he was able to sit up some more but not as upright. Unless there were nurses or the doctor in the room I was right by him holding his hand all the time. They put him on oxygen (tube thing in the nose) and was breathing a bit better a few minutes later.
They got him a breathing treatment (albuterol mist) mask, which if you may recall he has claustrophobia of anything on his face as well. He was able to take the full treatment though and get a light nap in as well.
So after everything, the financial stuff came up. Lady came in and had seen the intake paper that said he had no insurance, how much did he make a month etc. and said he likely qualified for Medi-Cal and would be right back. Kaiser has a 'charity' thing that if you can't afford the emergency treatment your treatment in the ER is no cost as well as any prescriptions they send you home with for a month.
This is what it feels like to have universal health care. When she came back with that news and then left, Jon relaxed even more. He smiled, crossed himself and looked at me, 'We don't have to pay?' I said no and kissed him on the forehead gratefully.
Heart was good, they did a sonogram right there with doppler to see blood movement because they couldn't rule out heart issue.
Official diagnosis is 'bronchospasms' and sent us home with a prescription for an inhaler good for about 100 days and a 5 day course of prednisone.
Also a follow up appointment with the closest clinic that takes medi-cal that is about 30 minutes away. I'm doing research to see if there's a regular profider (like Kaiser or Sharp) that can take care of him.
We got a medical plan picked out and started when we got home.
Needless to say neither of us went to work and he has a note from the doctor to be put on limited activity...which means no doing cart runs in the parking lot.
He may be able to sleep in the bed tonight. He's taking a nap right now and hearing him snore actually is the best sound I can hear right now. It means he's actually sleeping.
He also never told them he had sleep apnea, I mentioned it but don't know if the doctor actually processed the info and entered it.
I will be making sure he tells the regular care doctor about it because that is crucial to know if he's having lung/breathing issues.
And the dear man was thanking everyone, apologizing for being a bother.... apologized to me, thanked me for helping him.... please lord keep him around a lot longer.
Oh still no news on getting a new place nor any money to pay what we owe Sandy.
So frustrating, so many scammers out there with rediculous ads for houses at a cheap rent. I replied to one for more information and they send back a request for my info. Sorry nope, not to mention a grammatical error that spoke louder than the few words.
That is all for now. Tired... hope to get a good nights sleep in.
No comments:
Post a Comment