Not A Good Christmas

[MED6753]

I almost lost Blondie yesterday. It was that close. For several days she had a cough and severe congestion. Yesterday afternoon after waking from a nap she said she couldn't breathe and wanted to go to the ER. The hospital is 10 minutes away so rather than call an ambulance I drove her. By the time we got there she was passing out and the ER immediately labelled her critical and took her in. It took them nearly an hour to stabilize her vitals. The ER doc said she was right a death's door. The diagnosis is flu with some pneumonia. She obviously was admitted to the hospital.

I was able to stay with her until midnight last night when they moved her from the ER to the main hospital. But new Covid rules don't allow visitors in the hospital except during visiting hours 11 AM to 8 PM. So I'm heading up there this morning. She is alert and resting and hopefully can come home soon. I'll update as I know more.

[Zenith]

A close call. I hope it's sorted out quickly.

I had an uncle who died of bronchial pneumonia. He wasn't well, but refused to go to the doctor. He was found dead in bed. He was only 39.

[Cubdriver]

Holy crap, Mike! At least it’s a good Christmas in that you got her there in time! Good thoughts inbound; hope she recovers quickly. That must have been terrifying.

-Pat

[BU508A]

Holy shit!

My best wishes for Blondie, I hope she'll get well soon.
Keep my fingers crossed for both of you.
And please, don't do this again. Stay safe and healthy.

[tggzzz]

Holy crap, Mike! At least it’s a good Christmas in that you got her there in time! Good thoughts inbound; hope she recovers quickly. That must have been terrifying.

-Pat

Exactly what I was thinking.

Best wishes to you both.

P.S. I'm just going through a "limited power of attorney - health" process with my daughter, so she can take some medical/health decisions for me, in the event that I no longer "have mental capacity". Fortunately I can trust her. Your experience illustrates why health LPAs are useful.

[Specmaster]

What can I say that hasn't already been said, Mike, it seems as if Christmas is a magnet for testing times. I hope and prayer that everything works out perfectly for you both, please keep us all updated with progress, I'm sending you both all my best wishes and wish Blondie a speedy recovery.

[nixiefreqq]

YIKES! scary shit.

hope she is better soon.

in my family they NEVER call 911.

twice in the last year a neighbor was in bad shape. and both times she talked us into stuffing her into the corolla and driving to the ER.

advanced life support EMT's can do a lot right on the spot.....and then treat you in the back of the ambulance.

next time we call 911.

[dl6lr]

Well Mike, that is not good news. Best wishes to Blondie and to you. And glad you still arrived in time.

[MED6753]

Thanks everyone for your thoughts. Knowing what I know now if I had called 911 and waited 10 - 15 minutes for the ambulance to show up she might not be here. So I'm confident I made the right decision to drive her to the ER. But anyway, she's feeling much better today and alert. But still in no shape to come home. She's pumped up with multiple IV's and other meds. And they discovered she has heart afib so she will be on permanent meds for that. Biggest issues right now is getting rest (hasn't had decent sleep in 3 days) and currently has no appetite.

That's about it right now. Seems I have a touch of the flu too but so far I've been fighting it off. I refuse to let it get me down but this boy is tired and going to bed.

[tggzzz]

Good job

Now please look after yourself as well as you have looked after her.

From experience with my mother, mentioning "reduced breathing" to a dispatcher puts you at the top of the list.

[Reddwarf3r]

Bloomin heck, that's one hell of a scare. Thank goodness the hospital was only 10 minutes away. Don't forget to rest and look after yourself too.
Pneumonia can move quick once's it got in, I got slammed with it as a kid, one minute I was a sniffly and slightly sputtery kid shopping with my grandparents, next minute I was collapsed and gasping on the ground like I'd been sat on by an elephant.

[bd139]

Oh hell what a nightmare. Hope you are both able to recover quickly. Keep us posted!

[mansaxel]

I almost lost Blondie yesterday. It was that close.

Ow! Well done of you, and good of her to ask for help. What a season this is.

In the spirit of oxygen masks in airplanes, now take good care of yourself, so that you can keep helping others.

[Cerebus]

Thanks everyone for your thoughts. Knowing what I know now if I had called 911 and waited 10 - 15 minutes for the ambulance to show up she might not be here. So I'm confident I made the right decision to drive her to the ER. But anyway, she's feeling much better today and alert. But still in no shape to come home. She's pumped up with multiple IV's and other meds. And they discovered she has heart afib so she will be on permanent meds for that. Biggest issues right now is getting rest (hasn't had decent sleep in 3 days) and currently has no appetite.

That's about it right now. Seems I have a touch of the flu too but so far I've been fighting it off. I refuse to let it get me down but this boy is tired and going to bed.

Rule 1: If the patient is stable enough to transport and you have transport DO IT.

Ambulance response times can be erratic and it can be difficult to get the call handlers to assess a truly urgent case as being as urgent as it is. Believe it or not some people with minor problems have been known to lie about the severity of their symptoms to call handlers to get priority treatment and it makes call handlers a bit jaded.

If you're lucky and it all comes together of course you're better off with an ambulance with advanced life saving equipment and drugs roll up to deal with a casualty, but the balance of probabilities generally isn't in your favour. Also don't be shy of driving straight into the ER's ambulance receiving area and shouting "HELP. NOW!".

[Specmaster]

Thanks everyone for your thoughts. Knowing what I know now if I had called 911 and waited 10 - 15 minutes for the ambulance to show up she might not be here. So I'm confident I made the right decision to drive her to the ER. But anyway, she's feeling much better today and alert. But still in no shape to come home. She's pumped up with multiple IV's and other meds. And they discovered she has heart afib so she will be on permanent meds for that. Biggest issues right now is getting rest (hasn't had decent sleep in 3 days) and currently has no appetite.

That's about it right now. Seems I have a touch of the flu too but so far I've been fighting it off. I refuse to let it get me down but this boy is tired and going to bed.

Rule 1: If the patient is stable enough to transport and you have transport DO IT.

Ambulance response times can be erratic and it can be difficult to get the call handlers to assess a truly urgent case as being as urgent as it is. Believe it or not some people with minor problems have been known to lie about the severity of their symptoms to call handlers to get priority treatment and it makes call handlers a bit jaded.

If you're lucky and it all comes together of course you're better off with an ambulance with advanced life saving equipment and drugs roll up to deal with a casualty, but the balance of probabilities generally isn't in your favour. Also don't be shy of driving straight into the ER's ambulance receiving area and shouting "HELP. NOW!".

Very true, with the state of the NHS and the Ambulance service today, you could be literally waiting hours as I was last Christmas when I got covid and cellulitis, my problem was that nobody else in my family who are still living at home with me, can drive.

[MED6753]

Blondie's progress today...

The good news. She's off oxygen and breathing on her own just fine. Heart and BP stable. Looks 100% better and is mobile and appetite has returned. Is complaining loudly that she want's to come home so I know she's alot better.

The bad news. Her kidneys took a hit. She's passing water fine but the kidneys aren't properly filtering out the toxins. The doctors say this is common after the trauma she suffered and in 95% of the cases the kidneys will come back. So right now it's a waiting game. There's also a concern that she may have partial heart blockages but can't do the testing until the kidneys come back.

I think the earliest she'll be released is Saturday given that the kidneys come back. And I have successfully fought off the flu but everyone else in her family has it. All I have is some sniffles. The random chills and cough have gone away. Last year when they all caught Covid for the 2nd time I never got that either. I've never had Covid. Considering that I'm diabetic and should have a compromised immunity that's pretty damn surprising.

[Specmaster]

Mike that is just brilliant news, fingers crossed Blondie is going to be just fine, and just keep dodging that covid business, as long as you don't go out and socialize much you should be just fine and can manage to avoid coming into contact with those that are always going out, that's where the biggest risk is.

Lets hope everything works out perfect and you have great 2024 together.

[MED6753]

Thanks everyone for your thoughts. Knowing what I know now if I had called 911 and waited 10 - 15 minutes for the ambulance to show up she might not be here. So I'm confident I made the right decision to drive her to the ER. But anyway, she's feeling much better today and alert. But still in no shape to come home. She's pumped up with multiple IV's and other meds. And they discovered she has heart afib so she will be on permanent meds for that. Biggest issues right now is getting rest (hasn't had decent sleep in 3 days) and currently has no appetite.

That's about it right now. Seems I have a touch of the flu too but so far I've been fighting it off. I refuse to let it get me down but this boy is tired and going to bed.

Rule 1: If the patient is stable enough to transport and you have transport DO IT.

Ambulance response times can be erratic and it can be difficult to get the call handlers to assess a truly urgent case as being as urgent as it is. Believe it or not some people with minor problems have been known to lie about the severity of their symptoms to call handlers to get priority treatment and it makes call handlers a bit jaded.

If you're lucky and it all comes together of course you're better off with an ambulance with advanced life saving equipment and drugs roll up to deal with a casualty, but the balance of probabilities generally isn't in your favour. Also don't be shy of driving straight into the ER's ambulance receiving area and shouting "HELP. NOW!".

Agree 100%. When we got to the ER on Sunday the waiting room was absolutely packed with what was apparently "non-critical" cases. I thought for sure we were going to have to wait but they took one look at her and immediately got a chair with oxygen and brought her in. We were located in a room right by the ambulance entrance and it seemed every 10 minutes another person was brought in. And they ALL appeared to be non-critical since they were taking their time to process them. And I have a scanner and you would not believe what trivial stuff some people call an ambulance for.

I have nothing but praise for the doctors and nurses who have cared for Blondie. Many locals, including Blondie, don't hold that hospital in high regard but so far I've been impressed.

Oh and Harley the cat is a bit confused. Where's momma and where have you been all day? No one to pet me and feed me. And he's been following me around like a lost puppy.

[MED6753]

Just a quick note. As predicted her kidneys are improving which is excellent news. More later today.

[Zenith]

Good. With any luck she'll make a full recovery with no lasting effects, and in a few weeks this will all be an unpleasant memory.

It's been a damned close run thing though.

[bd139]

Great to hear she's going in the right direction. Good luck to you both

[mnementh]

Whuf! Sorry to be so late responding... I've been dealing with my own health issues (nowhere near as scary as this; just acute pain/zero sleep for several days) and really pretty much just fell off the internet since Christmas Eve.

Best to you and Blondie! Be a good boy and don't take your flu to her if you do have it; even if you got it from her, one new host is sometimes all that's necessary for it to mutate enough to be a new infection for her to fight off.

mnem
Merry Christmas to all and to all a good New Year!

[MED6753]

Latest update. If all goes well she's coming home tomorrow. She will have to follow up with a cardiologist to run additional testing probably new week. There is a strong suspicion she has some partial blockages. So there may be bypass surgery in our future but we can deal with it. In the meantime my plan is to get her home and comfortable and then have our Christmas. Her twin grandson's and their parents are currently down with the flu so there will be no visiting for a while to open their presents.

I'll know more tomorrow morning.

[MED6753]

Vicky, aka Blondie, is home and she wants to thank everyone for the good wishes. She's currently sleeping which is much needed. You don't get rest in the hospital. Along with her came a laundry list of medications and several follow up appointments starting next week. One of the meds is $250 for 30 day supply with insurance, $700 without insurance. Drug companies can commit legal robbery. We'll be talking about an alternative to that med.

Hopefully later when she wakes up we can finally have our Christmas. If not then tomorrow.

Remember to keep your loved ones close because you never know when life can take an ugly turn. It's one close call that I never want to experience ever again.

[mnementh]

Best wishes for both of you, old friend. Having someone who cares makes a huge difference in recovery.

mnem
*toddles off to take his own ridiculous fistful of pills*