I started to have symptoms of an infection last week. I was stable and my meds were helping though. I knew I had this long standing appointment with Dr. Thompson on Monday, the 26th so I decided to hold off as long as I didn't get any worse....I didn't. I had a rough cough, congestion, etc. but was very stable. That was, until Monday afternoon around one o'clock. I was teaching reading groups (the first day of them I might add) and my chest was rapidly tightening. My inhalers weren't helping much at all. I was noticing that each time I went to pick up a new group, it was harder to get my breathing back under control. I was quickly spiralling downhill. I kept looking at the clock waiting for the day to end so I could get to the doctor. By dismissal...me the it's all okay person...I was feeling a little concerned. I actually thought about telling Leigh Ann I didn't think I could make it through bus duty - I stopped myself and thought how ridiculous - of course I can do my bus duty - it's my job...and I did it. I left immediately though and headed straight to the appointment. I did a nebulizer treatment on the way, but it didn't help much.
When I arrived they did spirometry and a pulse ox and sent me right back to the exam room. Dr. Thompson came in with the results in hand and a concerned look on his face. He asked what brought me in & I told him it was the follow up appointment that had been scheduled since back in the summer :). (A little humor never hurts). He chuckled - then quickly looked back to the results. He said the numbers were hospital level for normal people, but he knows I'm strong and positive and everything so he didn't want to be an alarmist. (haha) My O2 was 90% and my lung function was 20%. (not so cool). He offered that he might consider several hours in the ER on IV meds to get me on track then release me, but wanted to listen to me first. After he listened to me, he said that wasn't an option. I wasn't moving any air. He said it must be by sheer will power and the grace of God that I push through. He said the only option was a couple of days in the hospital to turn this around. My lungs were too obstructed. He felt confident that if he sent me home I wouldn't make it through the night without going into respiratory failure.
Within the hour, he wrote out the orders, I packed a bag, and I was here at good ole CB in the registration office. Not good timing - I am leaving for Denver Sunday - I have things to do. I do not need to be tied to a hospital bed right now. Uhg! Sometimes my body makes me sooooo angry. I must admit, I know it was the right decision though. I was in bad shape. By 7:00 p.m. I was in my room, IV in and everything all set, but only getting worse. My oxygen continued to drop. I'm pretty good at cool, but I'm pretty positive that if they had not acted when they did, I would be on a ventilator again right now. It was a perfect flashback to 2003 when I was in the ER in Georgetown and went into respiratory failure. This time my oxygen dropped to 82% and I couldn't take a breath at all. Good nurses and techs took care of me in time though. During the night and the next morning my lowest reading was 77%. The nurse called the doctor and he increased the solu-medrol, oxygen, resp-therapy treatments, etc. and altogether that worked to stabilize my stats. Now, on 4 liters of oxygen my O2 is holding strong at 94%.
Dr. McIntosh, one of Dr. Thompson's partners stopped in and said that if I stay on the right track he might be able to release me on a high dose of oral meds late tomorrow. That's something to hope for. :)
For now, I'm going to try to stop worrying about all the work I need to be doing at school and the precious time I'm missing out on with my students before I leave for Denver. I'm going to try not to break down. I'm going to try to let go and just get better so I can make the trip Sunday and start getting better for real...for good. That's the plan for now...
