I had gotten to the ER around 4:45pm that Thursday (6/5) and ended up in a room around 8pm that night. As I detailed in those earlier posts there was honestly a point in time in the ER that I thought I might not survive. There was concern about kidney failure, but they seemed more concerned about my potassium levels and heart issues. My blood pressure was very low (8x/5x) and it was dropping each time the machine took it and finally the machine started beeping louder and louder and several people showed up and I was honestly terrified. Not so much that I might die, but that I would have died with the last words I said to J not having been "I love you" and in fact being less than pleasant. However, they got things to start improving and my first night was uneventful; but I had hot and cold running nurses and technicians visiting me all night long. Friday morning consisted of lots more blood work, tests such as another EKG, an Echo-Cardiogram (I think that's what it was called - it was like an ultrasound for my heart), an actual Ultrasound, and so on. However, as the day progressed things were improving and I had more down time. I got a bit of work done and spent some time with J that evening - I had insisted she go to work since she was prepping for inventory and truthfully there wasn't much she could do at the hospital - especially since I was improving. I saw a kidney specialist and my Doctor (well my Doctor's husband as I detailed earlier) and they speculated as to my medications and such. By Saturday morning I was feeling great and I saw the kidney specialist again and he said he was recommending I be released, which my Doctor confirmed a bit later. The conditions were that I have blood work done that Wednesday (6/11), have a follow-up visit in about two weeks, and go off of all my blood pressure medication and my Spiro; I eagerly agreed as I wanted to come home.
Since I've been released I have been off the medications, the blood pressure was a good thing for me as it indicates that my weight loss has been helpful. We take my blood pressure once or twice per day to stay on top of it and it's up a bit, but still just at normal levels. The Spiro - that really didn't bother me as at my last visit with Dr. Swenson we discussed going off of it at some point due to the Orchiectomy anyway. I had my blood work done as well and it came back really good.
So what's the point of this post? Well it was the follow-up visit with my GP this week. I was feeling good so I got a little bit dressed up:
It was a new dress, although it probably would have looked nicer if the wind hadn't blown up it at the last minute like that. That aside, I thought I looked reasonably nice as well.
The visit started just fine, there was nobody in the waiting room when I got there, and I got taken back pretty quick. That's when things went a bit downhill. My weight was back up to about 220lbs. I expected some gain as the 211lbs I was at my visit two weeks prior - well I was dehydrated and hadn't been eating, but 9lbs was a bit much I thought. Then the nurse took my blood pressure and it was 14x/8x which was well higher than I had been getting at home. Not that the meter we bought was super expensive, but it was the model that we had been told to get so I assumed it was reasonably accurate.
But what really got to me was when my GP came in. We exchange pleasantries and I took stock of her outfit, which was a very nice dress - one that I would have liked to own. :) Then we started talking about my last visit and the subsequent ER/Hospital visit/stay. She made reference to how serious it was, and in hindsight, perhaps I should have let things be, but I couldn't. I asked her just how serious things were and she flat out told me that if I had waited another say 48 hours or so - well I might not have survived. That was a sombering thought for me - I had been worried in the ER over my heart, but apparently the kidney's were just as big of an issue. I hadn't thought so since I was still urinating, but apparently I was simply expelling liquid and they weren't actually processing it. Now perhaps she was being overly dramatic, but to be honest I think she's a pretty straight shooter and in my mind I have no reason to not believe her. The thing is, well I almost didn't go when I couldn't get an appointment to see her. I really didn't want to see the Nurse Practitioner - although after meeting her I would have no issues doing so in the future. Even when the NP called me that afternoon and told me to go right to the ER, I thought about not doing so. I've always been one that felt like I would be fine, but this series of events has been a real eye opener. Yes I felt dumpy, yes I had no energy and appetite, but I wasn't really in pain. I felt bad, but not like I was trending towards no longer living. For things to be that serious and for me to not really feel all that bad - it's really mind boggling for me. Definitely a lesson learned.
The rest of the visit wasn't bad, she ended up retaking my blood pressure and it came down to 12x/8x so she elected to keep me off of blood pressure medication providing I continued to monitor it at home and called if the the numbers got much above 120/80. She also requested I get my blood work checked again in about two weeks and with that I was free to head home.
I guess I should have been happy with how the visit went all things considered, but I just couldn't get over the fact of what she told me about the 48 hours. It's been four days since that visit and I'd like to think I'm now over that - what's done is done and I now know better, but I think reality is that it will continue to weigh on my mind for a long time to come.
In any event, I think this is enough about this particular topic, going forward I'll find more pleasant things to write about. :)
- M
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