Swimming in the Covid Pool (Sorry Extra long)

 

That's right I said swimming in this nasty fear laden stuff!
I swear I have missed all of spring and summer now going into fall this year. It has been a trying time for sure with hubby's health! Every since April 1st. He was coming down from the attic ladder and he felt something go in his back. From then on it was a long haul one doctor visit event after another.
    For a few weeks it was go to the doctor to determine yup he has sciatica! So you go home and you do the heat off an on thing. Nope that doesn't work. Then you try the gabapentin and no that doesn't work. How about norco ? None of these things even touch that pain! We even upped his ativan dose and that didn't help much either. He could sleep a little easier though. LOL
   Finally after weeks and I do mean weeks.... sent him to pain management. In other words all the other traditional treatments weren't working and the GP didn't know what else to do.
    When I talk about pain we are talking about searing nerve pain to the point it's so bad you are frozen in  place and can't move. No angle of sitting or standing can be found to find even the tiniest relief from the pain.
  During all this time I was having to help him get up or down out of chairs or in bed. Finding positions in bed with pillows and blankets stuffed here and there to try and lesson the pain so he could sleep.He takes Parkinson's meds ever 4 hours and they just didn't seem like they were working. He was begging for the time when he could take them again thinking it would help a little bit. He takes ativan each time with Parkinson's med to help tremors.
   With all this pain putting more stress on him his meds were not working good enough. The more stress the more levadopa you use up which is what the meds were for since he doesn't have enough of that anyway. Along with the pain you get blood pressure issues sometimes shooting way up. Anytime his BP goes up OR down much he gets tremors and shakes all over.
   He was just getting worse and worse. Weaker to the point from pain and stress sometimes he needed a wheelchair when we went to the doctors. Riding in the truck was just absolute !@#$ to say the least. We put pillows under him to sit on to help. I was having to drive extra careful on dirt roads because the bumps would send pain shooting through him. He had the kind of pain you can't sit still with. Just constantly moving and fidgeting to find SOMETHING to make the pain bearable. So when I got to anything smooth be it dirt or pavement I had to haul it to hurry up and get wherever we were going to try and keep his pain to a minimum if at all possible. Most of the time no matter what there just wasn't much I could do.
   Finally got into pain management after months of him suffering and he got 2 nerve blocks in the spine in about a month that help for a little while. He still had a pain in his left calf that would make you freeze and not move or make you pop out in a sweat. Doctors were not getting anywhere much at all. I finally took him to a Dr friend that does laser therapy using hot and cold lasers. He used a $38,000 hot laser machine on his back that got rid of a lot of the inflammation. The trip there and back tore up 2 hours of riding in the truck. First time coming back it was painful but kept getting better. He was going about every other day. The trips going back and forth were pretty uncomfortable but most of the time after getting them the pain was much better. He finally said he couldn't take the ride anymore and we stopped. The laser didn't cure anything but what it did do was it took enough of the problem inflammation away he could take a Tylenol and actually put a dent in the pain. So at least we were getting somewhere!
    During all this mess of trying to get fixed up he was getting weaker and weaker. I was having to help him more and more with getting dressed and drying off after a shower and other simple things most of us could do. He wasn't eating good at all. He knew he needed to but just couldn't make himself eat over a few bites. It was like a infant eating tiny amounts.
  I took him to the ER at 3 different hospitals either 5 out or 6 weeks or 6 weeks out of 7 I can't remember. Sometimes for extreme pain. Another time he took his BP meds and totally froze up like a seizure and couldn't move for over 2 hours. After that he was afraid to take his parkinsons meds not knowing what that would do to him. Went to the ER waited about 3 or 4 hours sitting in a wheelchair. They put him in a room and told him to take his parkinsons meds they would watch him. They also gave him a good shot of Ativan and he took about a hour long nap and woke up ok. I asked if they could keep him for 3 days and get his meds leveled out so he could do better because he was just getting weaker. No they didn't have room. It took 2 people one on each side of him to help him stand and sit in the chair and then get in the truck to go home.
   Another time we went for pain and they checked him for blood clots since he has a history of it an took a picture of his brain looking for injures. Everything was clear. Even his blood test showed that he had the correct thickness to his blood. YEA!!! the 2000 mg of turmeric and 1 adult coated aspirin was working! He tried all the normal and fancy blood thinners and had bad side effects. So once again go home still weak and feeling terrible and leg pain.
  There were several more ER visits and each time they would send him home. One visit to his neurologist had him really worried after seeing him come in in a wheelchair and in such weakened condition he ordered scans done and tried to get him into a back surgeon as soon as possible.
   So the last ER we went to was in Seminole, Ok. Hubby said he just felt like he was dying and getting weaker and weaker. I took him and once again had to use the wheelchair and he had to sit there in a lot of pain. We got in there I think In a couple of hours. They didn't want me to go with him but I told them he can't tell you what is wrong or what he needs so they let me back there. Nurses were few and far between at all these places believe me. It was a good thing I was there to take care of things since they were not.They did some blood work on him and said he was anemic and whatever indicates his blood level he was a 5 and supposed to be a 12. In other words he had less than half the blood he was supposed to have! I waited with him for 7 hours. I finally had to go home and take care of the dog and rest. I hated to leave him but I was worn out and didn't know when they would finally get him placed. He was stable and they were watching him. They were trying to find a hospital that would take him. They were sending people as far away as St. Louis from Oklahoma! I prayed real hard for somewhere close. I got lucky and they found one in Midwest City just on the outskirts of OKC. They finally had a free ambulance and they took him up there to a gastroenterologist that could check him out. The next morning he called me an told me where he was and said they put a scope down him and found a large bleeding ulcer in the curved part of his stomach and fixed it with 2 clips. He said they were putting blood back into him while we were talking. They wound up putting 4 units of blood into him over the next 16 hours. The more they got into him the better and stronger he felt. He stayed up there 5 days and I went to see him on one then picked him up on another. I would have been there more but I don't do well driving long distance and they were not exactly encouraging visitors if they didn't have to.
   He called one day and said he thought he was going to get to go home the next day and I was in a little bit of a panic. You see about 2 weeks before he went and I injured by left arm lifting 20 #'s of flour onto the cabinet one handed. Strained the living daylights out of it. I thought I would wait a week for the swelling to go down go the chiropractor and get everything put back in place. I did that but it really wasn't healing to good so when I heard he was coming home I was thinking oh man how was I going to help him up and down if my arm is still messed up? I then went to Stroud ER to swim in that covid pool myself. Usually in Shawnee they would give me some morphine then prednisone and send me on my way and I would heal pretty quick. Not this time! They said I couldn't drive with morphine in me all by myself I needed someone to drive me home. My someone was in the hospital so I told them just do whatever then so I can get well. They had used toridal on my husband for pain / inflammation so I asked about that. Sure that and some prednisone and I was out the door and on the way home.  I asked for a arm sling but they didn't have one for a large person so I was out of luck on that one. I ordered one from amazon since this happens to me sometimes. The meds did take a lot of the pain away. At least enough I could open the truck door to get in and out. I could only manage about 3 days of either one of those meds. LOL shot my BP up to 190 over something stupid and my blood sugar went out the roof also. So I stopped and my numbers got better after a few days and the arm started to heal. (Thank  goodness)
    The big surprise was when I saw my husband again he was a new person! It helps when you have some actual blood in your body! I didn't have to help him up and down or anything other than help put his left sock on the sciatica leg. He was actually walking with some strength in him. Sure the leg hurt but the rest of him was better!
    It was nice to see a much stronger person. Before he couldn't even sit up without slumping over to the side or stand without someone on each side of him. Now he was walking talking like his brain was working and doing almost like new except for that !!@#$ Sciatica leg!
    In review of the anemia..... there were never any signs of passing blood in the bathroom, no throwing up blood, no abnormal bruising on his body. Just a slow decline in body strength, appetite and he lost about 25 lbs during all this. He went from 6'2" 200 down to about 175 pounds. We are trying to get the weight back on him but it isn't easy for him. During all these blood tests at the ER's nobody ever said his blood count was getting on the low side or he was anemic. The only person that ever said anything was a nurse we had coming out that said his iron was a little low. So I said ok will make sure I get more liver and meat and raisins in him for sure. WHY NOBODY EVER NOTICED THESE TYPICAL SIGNS OF BLOOD LOSE I DON"T KNOW!
    Because he has Parkinson's they probably was assuming that was causing his problems instead of actually reading the test results!
    I know you can have ulcers for years and never know it. Maybe he did. I do know we remember one of the meds he was taking for blood clots or something was making his legs weak. One of the doctors said then you have a bleed. Why he didn't check it out better I don't know. That was probably over a year ago. Although I am a little familiar with health issues that doesn't mean I am good as a doctor and catch those comments to have them checked out all the time.
    I do know that I was extremely lucky to know some of the things I do know. He takes meds every 4 hours. Those meds along with his BP meds lower the blood pressure. Although we didn't know he had a bleeding ulcer at the time it was effecting EVERYTHING. I was taking his BP before he took the Parkinson's meds. and after they kicked in. I was taking his BP when it was time to take the BP meds. WHY? Because his BP was dropping so low he was about to pass out or worse. One time it got as low as 90 / 60 sometimes with a pulse rate of 140. We are talking about go to sleep low and don't wake up low folks! Been there done that wasn't going to have that happen on my watch if I could help it. Anytime the lower number was under 70 or close to 60 I was changing his meds. Yes I was doing it on my own. All those trips to the doctors and ER they would tell me to give him this or that a certain way or mg and by the time I got home it didn't work it was still too much! Some of the meds I would say take 1/2 a pill and try that. If the BP was just borderline I would pump him up with pepsi and salty pretzels.
Still even with the pepsi and salt it was only a temporary thing and I finally took away both BP pills and most of the ativan before it was all said and done. I was watching him and seeing his stomach moved up and down breathing still. There wasn't much sleep for any of us.
     I have to wonder how many people out there in the nation are having health issues now and are dying. I was lucky enough to know enough to keep him breathing until the doctors finally got lucky themselves and figured him out. But how many people do you know that would have done what I did? Sure I know some people could but there are more that wouldn't have a clue. They just say take him to the doctor! I did! It wasn't fixing anything!!!!! Many doctors different types of doctors even ! They were not getting it done! I couldn't diagnose a bleeding ulcer or even fix it but I could at least get lucky enough to monitor and try to keep him above ground.
    Believe me ........ I can recognize anemia now. I sure as H**** don't want to go through that or anything like that again.
    I also have a lot to say about Hospitals, ER's and medical care in our country right not but not on this long winded story this time.
Love
Ranchmama
P.S....... you won't believe this..... I get him home my left arm is well. I go to walmart and pick up about a dozen beautiful peaches for 50 cents a pound. Go home peal them....... and get something like corporal tunnel in my right wrist! Over pealing dang peaches! Can you believe it?!!! What a woos! I dug out the prednisone and took the rest of them. It's well enough after a couple of weeks and can do minor things but I can't be lifting cast iron skillets and doing some other right handed things in the kitchen too good yet. Hubby isn't a cook at all but is helping with the cast iron and some chopping like onions and stuff. He said kitchen is a lot of hard work. I told him you gotta have muscles to work in my kitchen boy! I can get you back in shape just in the kitchen! He still has 20#'s more to put on though so can't work him too hard yet. LOL  I ordered a corporal tunnel wrist brace from amazon and that helped a lot