Varying degrees of good news/bad news more former than the latter. Everything is as good as we can get it right now, just a bit of an adventure with Jon last night. (picture for thumbnail and the weather from today).
Jon came in around 8pm last night and didn't look good. Looked in pain and I knew if he was coming in to change out of his pajamas we were going to the ER. He had a sharp pain right across his chest, his description was 'like someone punching but pushing. I knew what he was describing was likely a muscle spasm/charlie horse but in a very odd place. I logged off from the computer, grabbed my knitting and off we went to the closest hospital. Benefits of being 65, Medicare covers emergency room visits. I think. (He's fine and we're home by the way so you don't have to worry reading my narrative).
Anyway. Got there around 8:30, dropped him at the front door since I had to go park and it had been obvious it was painful to go down the stairs (another reason why I thought it was more of a rib muscle spasm). So he got checked in and being a Saturday it was Busy! Varying ethnicities in varying conditions and languages. The seats, of course, in the waiting area were not the most comfortable high friction plastic so you couldn't slouch or slide and ... enough of that. Since Jon's condition was not critical I settled in for a long night and into morning.
Through all the waiting and getting a blood draw then they did x-rays, took his vitals, all that after sitting for an hour. Gradually the pain decreased but while we were waiting for the first round of test results he napped and I looked over, his lips were blue. I looked up at the lighting to make sure and, yeah the light was right over him so it shadowed his lips but I know blue lips when I see them. That got me worried. He has a snoring/apnea issue and frequently will not be able to breathe but it wakes him up. I kept an eye on him just the same, he wasn't snoring.
We weren't taken back to an exam room until about 2 am. Yes indeed folks, we sat there for close to six hours waiting for someone to call his name. I let him snooze while I kept an ear out and alert as you never know what happens in an ER.
So finally, we got back to a room, they took his vitals again, his bp was a bit elevated, pulse, temp and oxygen were within normal. Nurse asked him questions again why he was there. They drew more blood for a second test for heart enzymes. Doctor said they like to do that after two hours and I wasn't going to tell her it had been five hours, then they were going to do a chest x ray, again to be sure nothing was going on. Went back out to the lobby to wait for him to get finished with that and that was another half hour.
Finally the doctor saw the results asked about his other conditions, explained why they were taking tests, to rule out the more common reasons, but not once..not once did she bother to suggest what it could have been. Was she waiting for us to ask what it could have been? Maybe, but still gave us all the things that it wasn't, everything looked fine, get you discharged and away you go. Didn't need a prescription, gave him a folder with all his lab results and what happened and to call his new doctor on Monday and see about a follow up appointment to the ER visit and then his 'onboarding' (whatever word the receptionist used) appointment would be in May.
So needless to say I'm exhausted after getting a typical four or five hours of sleep but the stress before that didn't make it restful. Jon is taking his usual afternoon nap in the front room and I'm here catching up family and friends on our adventure.
Side stories: I was not familiar with the parking garage set up and parked near a stairwell facing a small corner mall, thinking I was up like three levels, I went down three but turns out, that was sub basement level. No cars and machine noises. Damn. Back up two flights of stairs until I saw cars then got myself oriented and was very winded by the time I got to the ER. There was a rain prediction for the night but it happened while we were still waiting inside.
Jon is such a trooper when he's in a stress situation like that. Making jokes with the nurses, making sure I'm doing okay, making more jokes and chatting with various support staff. It really is a joy having that attitude with medical staff. He made everyone laugh or smile that came to deal with him.
As opposed to a possible homeless lady that was yelling at everyone that they needed to get her admitted and in a room so she could sleep in a bed and get some food. They had told her there was no reason for her to be admitted and that's when the yelling started.
They had a transient guy that just walked back and forth the length of the long waiting room acting as if he was either in pain or concerned the few times I glanced up as he walked by and apparently had been there since Friday. They legally could not kick him out, but got orders as we were on our last waiting time that he was to leave by 5 am.
I knitted and knitted to the point my hands were getting sore. I brought the two sock projects I the orange one and a blue/yellow one because that's what knitting socks is good for. Small, portable and easy to pack up in a hurry. I had three different people notice what I was doing and were all intrigued that I was knitting. I need a new portable bag to put them in though because the 'bag' I'm using is the cloth pouch the bedsheets came in. No handle so it was awkward to pack up and very soft so hard to untangle them when I sat down again.
I need to figure out what is up with Medicaid saying I don't qualify because I had no income and got a new provider card after that. They don't have a live chat option for my county and I hate making phone calls.
That's the update for the last week. Weather is cloudy and windy, garden is growing... that's all for now.
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