Princess and the Pea

I wasn't going to post, but I am just too excited not to.....I slept in my own bed last night!!!! It was a very very exciting thing. The last time I was able to sleep in a bed was July 13th, and that is just way too long to go living in a recliner. I still can't lay on my side at all but I don't care, I was in a bed! My bed! All night! I'm practically healed!

Pulmonary Embolism

So the evening after the car fun previously posted, my usual pleurisy came back. What wasn't so usual was that I had it a couple of weeks ago and it doesn't come back for at least 5 months, so I was a little concerned. By the time I was getting the tires changed out at Costco my breathing was worse and my back was hurting. Shortened story; slept a total of 2o minutes that night due to pain, couldn't breathe at 7:00, went to the clinic I work at to get a chest x-ray, traveled over to McKay Dee for a CT Chest with Contrast. Twenty minutes following the CT a radiologist came to the room saying they were keeping me right where I was and informed JD and I that I had a huge embolism in my lung with quite a bit of surrounding necrosis and that I wasn't going anywhere for a while. I was taken by wheel chair up to the CVTU where I got to stay for the next 5 days.

I had many IV's, needle sticks, shots, pills, and so on. My heart rate the first few days stayed right around 130, oxygen in the low to mid 80's, blood pressure all over the place and so on. If anything, I learned that it is a huge blessing to have a medical background and know what is going on, but it is also a bad thing at times where not wearing glasses so you can't read your monitors is a very good idea too. I came home with a mini pharmacy. I hurt off and on, breathing is improving, and I will hopefully get a release to work in a few weeks. Right now I just go and see the doctor twice a week and get my blood and breathing checked until my blood balances out and my breathing stops sounding like rice krispies.

JD is considering changing careers and taking the path of CNA. He has learned the value of lotion; how to clip nails, towel dry hair, blow dry hair, kind of straighten hair, put on TED hose; transport, turn on and off oxygen tanks, read stats and know if they are too high, too low; tuck in bed, help out of bed, what to say and what not to say when Nattie is on drugs and so on.....he has been amazing.

We both feel way blessed that things were caught before they turned fatal and that we were helped by so many family, friends, and staff that helped me to get well enough to go home and stay there. The next 6-9 months should be interesting and an adventure, but in answer to the question the hospitalist asked me before discharging, "Outside of the physical maladies you are feeling right now, how do you feel." I was taken aback when I could answer that I feel more like me and healthier than I have for quite a while as in months, and that is one of the greatest blessings and gifts I could ask for.

I Hate Cars

So I knew something was wrong with our Ford Taurus when I woke up early on my only day off to make the pilgrimmage to the auto shop to have the issue investigated. I used as much 'lingo' as I could think of, as in I said, "I am fairly certain my car is having problems with the struts on the front wheels due to the sound it is making." That gained some respect. Unfortunately though, I was actually right. So there is a chunk of change I saw sifting through the hourglass.

To add to the happiness, the emmisions and inspection tests were due this month as well, so while there I thought, what the heck, do it. After about 5 minutes the guy came back and said, "Come with me"....any invitation into the work zone of an autoshop is a death march....there was the car, suspended in the air, helpless and exposed. All the guy could do was point at the driver's back tire and say, "That is not safe." The tread had been worn down to the coils .....so basically a balloon waiting to pop. "No that is not safe." I kindly replied, when really I am thinking, oh goody....

Four new tires later the Taurus gets a pass on safety after 5 hours of price quotes and tire installation. And since I was having SO much fun I just could not bare to stop , I drove in a frenzied craze from Pleasant View to South Ogden and switched out cars and waited another hour with the Honda at some unbeknownst to me Jiffy Lube (I just stopped at the first legit looking place that boasted Emission and Inspection on their sign). I sat directly under a swamp cooler and stared at the water mark on the ceiling. While the Civic did not betray me..... I HATE CARS.

To be continued with the Repair of the Struts, and Natalie and the DMV.....stay tuned!

Blessings

It has been a crazy time in our lives lately. Often I wonder if it isn't really our fault for making it so. JD is still working at the hospital doing graveyard shifts, and while things have become much less busy with clinicals getting wrapped up on my end, I am still working two jobs at two different places. Sometimes one can get a little tired of the 'hello, goodbye' routine, but when it happens I think it is so important to step back and look at the blessings around us as well as the 'big picture', what really matters, what will really make a difference in the long run.

Last night I watched fireworks from my parent's house. Not only did we have a view of North Ogden's display, but also of Riverdale, Farr West, Weber Fairgrounds, South Ogden, Ogden, and so on. It hit me what a wonderful country we live in as I saw this light display of celebration in honor of those who came before us, who paved the way to a country where freedom exists and where opportunities are endless.

This afternoon, we went on a 3 mile walk along the Weber River in Riverdale. It was beautiful. Light was filtering through the leaves, it was quiet except for the sound of water and birds, cotton was floating down like snow on the pathway and bridges we were walking. It was peaceful. It was another reminder of the great blessings that are ours to experience if we can just take a moment or two to step back from the usual routines we find ourselves in and really open our eyes to the blessings around us and the manifestations of our Heavenly Father's love for us in everything the surrounds us.