Tuesday, August 31, 2010

To continue with my blog from last Friday. When I was at Providence NE (taken by ambulance on Sunday night), they did a CT scan which showed a small nodule on my lung -- not big enough to cause pain. However, it will have to be dealt with in the future. Providence NE transported me to Richland Heart Hospital where I had an echo cardiogram, stress test and more EKGs. The heart test came out okay. After talking with the surgeon in Charleston, it was decided to visit him in clinic on Tuesday afternoon.

The surgeon did an xray and determined the stent had not moved which was his major concern. We got home at 8:30 pm on Tuesday night. Wednesday morning Terry went to yoga and came home at 11:45 am to find me still in bed with a fever of 101.9. We went to our family practice doctor (who was in a meeting). However, his PA did blood work to find I had a very high white cell count; he gave me a shot of antibiotic and Tylenol. When our doctor came in, he was concerned that perhaps the stent had penetrated the esophagus causing an infection which could have been fatal. They could not find any other origin of the infection. Our doctor talked to the surgeon in Charleston a couple of times and it was decided to admit me to MUSC in Charleston, though the surgeon doubted my esophagus was nicked. Terry drove me to Charleston Wednesday afternoon (couldn't get an ambulance - I didn't want one anyway but the doctor was afraid that something might happen en route). We arrived at the ER in Charleston at 6:15 pm. They did some blood work and set up a swallow test for Thursday morning and admitted me to the hospital. The results of the swallow test was that the stent had not penetrated the esophagus and I could swallow fine. However, since my potassium was low, red blood count low and white count still high, I was kept overnight on Thursday. I was discharged on Friday with no definite diagnosis, except it may have been a viral infection. The doctor gave me a week's worth of antibiotics and is removing the stent on Sept. 8 at 5:30 am in Charleston. It was a horrendous week, but I am lucky to have such excellent doctors.

I didn't do very much during the weekend but yesterday, I went to my water aerobics class. I was weak but managed to do the normal one hour workout. I'm still somewhat weak today and slept on and off on my recliner. However, I was able to attend a meeting this afternoon.

Since it probably will take a while to get back in shape, Terry and I have decided to cancel plans to go to my class reunion in Staunton, Illinois. We were planning to fly to St. Louis, rent a car and visit my Step-father in Alton, Illinois before the driving to Staunton. We also were making plans to visit some old friends in St. Louis after the reunion. With all the plane changes that were involved in my flights to and from St. Louis plus various activities that the reunion entailed, Terry thought it would be a little too much for me and I agreed. I am sorry I won't be able to see all my classmates and friends but maybe we will have another reunion in the future.

With all the commotion that happened last week, I neglected to mention that our son, Scott, flew in to Columbia on Friday night, August 20. We had a nice two day visit and it was shortly after we took him to the airport on Sunday that all the fun started.

I am enclosing a few pictures of Scott and some of the plants that are now in bloom in my garden. The bush with the clusters of purple berries is an American Beauty Berry. The plants with the white flowers are Five O'clocks and the plants with the small purple flowers are Mexican Petunias. I may also throw in a cat for good measure.

Sorry this is so long but I didn't want y'all to think I was just goofing off last week----