One more apology ?!?

[Irish]

I want to extend my regrets for my abrupt departure in early July and the way I departed. Now, while my world is holding still for a minute, update the board on what has been happening around here and offer and few (D@mn did I screw up but listen to me tell you why) 'excuses'.

The afternoon of the day that I disappeared we took my beloved hubby, Michael, to the ER for what we thought was a panic attack. After the "I don't need a doctor" "OH YES YOU DO" fight we found our way out of the house through all the packing boxes and asked our contractor to "please move your truck so we could go to the ER ... by the way could you please talk to our banker who is coming by later?"

An hour after we arrived at the hospital they were deciding whether he was headed towards ICU or just to a regular ward room. His panic attack turned out to be sever pneumonia.

When he came into the ER they did the triage for him and got a blood ox level of 41. They, the nurses, assumed the machine was broken! At a blood ox of 60 you are confused and semi-conscience ... at 50 you are down on the floor pasted out ... at 41 they are calling the undertaker.

He was sitting up, talking - clearly and rationally - to the Doctors. That Son of a Motherless Goat was even flirting with the nurses! In fact, the doctor was headed out the cubicle to get him some anxiety meds (vallium) when I asked if he would please listen to Mike's lungs as he seemed to be
having some trouble breathing beyond just hyper ventilating. He did! They did a second blood ox and got that same number, 41!

Well that's when all H@ll broken lose.

We had just had Mom, age 84, in the hospital a couple of weeks earlier for pneumonia, four days. Mike spent eight with my son ending up in the ER with 'signs of early pneumonia' somewhere in the middle of Mike’s first stay.

Yes, first stay. Mike has had two more trips to the ER, both resulting in hospital stays ... the middle one included ICU and those awful talks about 'tubes down the throat', Power of Attorney and 'living wills' ...

I think it was this last trip when my son arrived home after the "Go directly to the ER 103 temperature" that our cat dropped her kittens on the back porch because we had thrown her out when the ambulance was coming - I think?

That was Labor Day Weekend Friday and the ER doc decided Mike had Swine Flu even though the doc had Mike's history of pnueonimia right on the computer screen ... where he got it from no one knew as since mid-July Mike has only been to the hospital or the doctor's office. So Mike got stuck in Isolation for three days while they ran tests. We were asked to where breathing maskes when we went in to visit as it was assumed that if Mike had swine flu we did too and just weren't showing signs of it yet.

Did you know that when you are wearing bright yellow masks in a hospital no one will get on the elevator with you?

OK, can I say it now? "Oh! My! G@D!"

He's home again, we hope for good as this last time a doctor finally said the words of "noticed improvement". He is on his third round of antibiotics with names that can not be pronounced. But we all know that all of the above can change without notice. I won't even talk about the steroids ... a six week taper down this time ...

So if in this last year with our court trial against my brother, signing a mortgage, building and moving into a new home and FIVE (count them!) hospital trip I have come across a touch cranky ... I sincerely apologize!

Mike has been diagnosed with emphysema, sever pneumonia and advanced orneriness and is on full-time oxygen.

Jeez-zoo-flip What a Year!

Susan

[Kenny_S]

I feel for you Susan, Been there on the in-laws and a 31 ox stat on my mother in law. Yeper, She was out of her head and with he COPD and Full time Oxygen, she was in bad sahpe. The little bride and I burned up I44 between us. Got to know every Square inch of the interstate. Anyways, She is as good as she will ever be but that isn't saying much.
We will keep you and Mike and the family in our prayers, that is for sure.
Best to you.

[JimSawyer]

Gee Sue, My prayers are with you. When it rains it pours. Here's to you and your's getting better. Keep us posted...

[Grimnir]

Well, I think after all that you've earned a whole heap of 'cranky'! Glad to see you back

[Paul_Guraedy]

“Oh My God!”

Susan when I got your last message I decided that it would be best to not bother you at that time. But, you only covered a small part of your travails. One of the downsides of the forum is that we can only offer encouragement and that from a distance. I just wish that we lived close enough to be of some real help when our friends are having problems.

I hope that things are on the upside and returning to normal. I assume that Mike’s diagnosis was only partly medical? I am reasonably certain that “extreme orneriness” is not a medical opinion. But, tell him I do admire his ability to notice the care and concern of the nurses……and to respond in a manner that assured their continuing attention. Even if it did reflect on his ancestry.

Glad to have you back and consider your post as an explanation……no apology necessary!

[Phyllis Singer]

Hey Susan, You have the right to vent to your friends! I think some of us have been there done that similar too. And if the others can't have compassion then don't sweat the jerks. I am so sorry for your troubles but thank God Mike came through it all. Doctors killed me off on a "routine" chest catheter, dumped 4 units of blood into my chest cavity. They lost me twice, CPR works, they got me back and I spent a month in ICU. SO always feel free to question doctors , they put thier pants on same as we do one leg at a time. I was an EMT and had worked with about everyone in our small hospital, so it was natural for me to ask lots of questions DO IT for Mike and yourself. As for this site we have missed the heck out of you and feel free to pm me if you don't still have my e-mail at home. We love you girl!!
Phyllis

[chuckt]

Oh puhlease . . . . so you think YOU'VE had it rough and that's some sort of excuse for your crankiness?

Well - um - yes! You HAVE!!! And absolutely that'd be enough to make anyone a downright mean & cantankerous person. As Paul said - no apology needed but the explanation is appreciated.

Here's hoping and praying that your troubles will pass into memory, that Mike's health will dramatically improve, that your cat's kittens are all well and happy, and you'll be able to get back to what life is supposed to be all about . . . making chips! :-)

Seriously, best to you and your family Susan.

ChuckT

[Irish]

Thanks evryone!

Kenny! 41 was low enough for me... I think if I had heard a 31 it would have been me they were picking up off the floor.

Chuck! That is one of the very sad bi-products of all of this. In the second round of the hospital the ER and ICU docs were trying to figure out what we needed to do to stop Mike from getting pnuemonia again ... sort of 'it's your fault because you didn't do something' instead of they didn't get him completely healthy the first time stuff.

One of the things they insisted on was us getting rid of our cats. With the two new kittens our home was blessed with a pride of 15 ! That's the most I have ever had.

Today we are down to 4. Mike drew the line on finding homes or taking to the humane shelter our two oldest cats and my son, of course, wanted to keep his two cats.

So everyone else is now gone and I miss them. But! Mike has to come first.

Paul ... I got approval from Mike first before posting this as it is him and his health. He's the one that added Oneriness and I am grateful that he is well enough to be so.

Susan

[Just Carving]

Don't want to interfere with your business Susan, but something wlse you might want to keep in mind when Mike gets back on his feet--wood dust protection. Emphysema can be caused by wood dust--any type of dust or substance that will inflame the lung tissue. I dealt with my Dad and his emphysema--a result from mostly cigarette smoking for 40 some odd years, and of course, working in a chemical plant for 39 years didn't help either. But for everyone, if you are regularly exposed--at least once a day for a significant period of time--think about wearing respiratory protection.

[Nancy-G]

((( Susan ))) Like Paul said ..... Oh, how I wish I lived near so I could help in some way.
I'll be holding you in prayers and best wishes.