I'm getting some energy back after another adventure last week. I was feeling strange on Tuesday as I went in for an infusion of saline prior to my radiation session. I think I was slightly dehydrated in spite of drinking 2-3 liters a day. Then, I took the maximum am out of asthma medicine which includes steroids. I got jittery. I was stopped in the screening process before hydration was hooked up. After several reads, it was clear that my heart rate was way too high and that I was fibrillating.
They immediately took me by wheel chair to the emergency room in the hospital and I was brought directly into a treatment room. Several very competent people began giving me various drugs to intervene and were successful in bringing my heart rate down but not the fribulation. After about five hours in the emergency room, I was admited to cardiac unit of the hospital. Fortunately, I was given a bed in a two bed unit overlooking the gardens and fountains in front of the hospital.
I was hooked up to a heart monitor and oxygen and propped up in bed. Sharon was with me the whole time and helpful in answering a million questions and making sure that there was good coordination around my care. By the time I was hooked up to all that stuff I began to feel like a patient. As soon as I realized it, I got out of bed, put on some decent pajama bottoms and began walking around with the portable monitor. I got my head around the idea that I wasn't a patient. I was a customer. Once again, I would have to manage the situation. After all, I never felt sick. Why should I allow myself to behave as if I'm in pain?
I came in during the first shift nursing staff hours. They were great people. The second shift brought the second team, which I needed to educate and manage. I was awake through most of the third shift...out of fear! This team was what I imagine the guards to be in a mental institution. Some poor guy came in at 6:00 am, turned on the lights, and tried to get me to sign a document that probably gave the hospital certain rights in case of emergency. His English was so bad that I couldn't understand one word that he said. After three attempts, I turned off the lights and told him to go away. He did.
From now on I'll drink more water.
They immediately took me by wheel chair to the emergency room in the hospital and I was brought directly into a treatment room. Several very competent people began giving me various drugs to intervene and were successful in bringing my heart rate down but not the fribulation. After about five hours in the emergency room, I was admited to cardiac unit of the hospital. Fortunately, I was given a bed in a two bed unit overlooking the gardens and fountains in front of the hospital.
I was hooked up to a heart monitor and oxygen and propped up in bed. Sharon was with me the whole time and helpful in answering a million questions and making sure that there was good coordination around my care. By the time I was hooked up to all that stuff I began to feel like a patient. As soon as I realized it, I got out of bed, put on some decent pajama bottoms and began walking around with the portable monitor. I got my head around the idea that I wasn't a patient. I was a customer. Once again, I would have to manage the situation. After all, I never felt sick. Why should I allow myself to behave as if I'm in pain?
I came in during the first shift nursing staff hours. They were great people. The second shift brought the second team, which I needed to educate and manage. I was awake through most of the third shift...out of fear! This team was what I imagine the guards to be in a mental institution. Some poor guy came in at 6:00 am, turned on the lights, and tried to get me to sign a document that probably gave the hospital certain rights in case of emergency. His English was so bad that I couldn't understand one word that he said. After three attempts, I turned off the lights and told him to go away. He did.
From now on I'll drink more water.
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