Go Wrong? So what could possibly go wrong? Part 2 continues here: The EMTs bounced me down the steps in some sort of chair, with me screaming at every jostle. I know he added as much pain as he possibly could. One EMT was definitely a bully! His co-workers were obviously intimidated by him and kept quiet. They took me to Northeast Baptist Hospital, which was fine as I’d been there recently too. Seems I’m fairly well known; not necessarily a good thing, except for having current records everywhere!
When the loudmouth got me to the Emergency Room, he made sure the triage nurses knew I was just a common backache and didn’t need immediate attention. Therefore, I had quite a wait and was in extreme pain. I finally was seen and an MRI showed that I needed immediate surgery for two herniated disks and some other injury to my spine; all at my tailbone area. They scheduled me for the following morning. However, my surgeon soon came in and said that since I’m taking Xarelto, a blood thinner, we would have to wait at least five days or I could “bleed out” during surgery! Consequently, we stopped the Xarelto; the plan was to keep me as comfortable as possible until we could proceed. I definitely was not comfortable!
So What Could Possibly Go Wrong? Back Surgery #8
Therefore, the following week I went to surgery. My Anesthesiologist did something really creative and funny. As he went to start my IV, he let out a scream, as though it was hurting him! I was fine but I definitely had a good laugh. I was out immediately but I did get to thank him. No one ever did that to me before.
Surgery took care of that horrible pain right away. Now just had the pain/soreness of recovery. However, the was a lot of nerve pain in the tailbone area. That usually didn’t happen but post-op, this one was bad and I begged for pain meds as often as possible. I had more post-op pain this time than ever before. Consequently, I think that I had some problems from the anesthesia as well. Something caused some mild hallucinations; I hate those. As always, the side effects eventually wore off and I went to Heartland for rehab.
Heartland Rehab
Needless to say, I’m tired of rehab by now! Same old routine. However, I do know how important it is, even more so as we get older. Muscles deteriorate so quickly; we have to fight that and the only way is with exercise. We had great therapists there and I made good progress. We had a gal who brought us a word puzzle to do every morning; I loved it. She also had a couple of crafts for us to do. One was a little birdhouse.
So What Could Possibly Go Wrong?
Since I live on the second floor, physical therapy wondered how I managed to navigate the steps. I told her that I wear my walker! When I was closer to going home, they wanted to see my solution. I put my arms through the sides of my walker and simply went up the stairs! My therapist hollered, “It works, you still have your hands free for the railing!” Yep, it works! She had been working with patients for seventeen years and no one had ever figured it out before! They maybe had, but never showed her. I came home several days after that; this time I was wearing normal clothes! Resiliency is the name of the game!
Back to Work; So What Could Possibly Go Wrong?
Back to work; I use that phrase loosely. I worked on my PBS again, making very slow progress. Some pages were easier to write than others. Cat information was my favorite to write but some of the really technical equipment was confusing. Digital currency, for example! I must confess; I avoided it. However I was getting my website together again. I had 155 pages written when much of our system got hacked. With being in and out of the hospital and rehab so much, I did not have a recent backup of my website. Neither had I saved every page in code on Google docs. Had I done that, I could have fairly easily rebuilt my pages! However; you can guess what happened; I lost all 155 pages! They went to “No-Man’s Land.” Never to be see again! Call it carelessness, plain and simple! Learn from my mistake!
Progress: Forward, Backward or a Mix?
Starting over and over is not fun; we want to be moving ahead. However, I should be a better writer from all the practice, right? Seems fair! So, here we go again! Isn’t there an old saying, “Third time’s the charm?” Why do I keep at this? Life happens; it’s as simple as that. I’m not a quitter, unless I am forced to quit! Health issues have made me quit a few things; like playing my beloved Classical Organ pieces! Maybe that’s why I’m more stubborn than usual. In addition, I realize that I don’t have a lot of options regarding work. This is something I can physically do and I enjoy it, as well. Not to mention, I definitely need the income! PBS makes sense so I start over! Better prepared this time!
She Begins Again! Or Just Never Stops!
As you can see, I started writing again and I have over a hundred pages done. I write for a while and post ads; but then I need a nap! Moreover, if I run an errand or two, I need a nap. That’s how my days go and I’m sick of it; I need to be awake more! Life is short! Shouldn’t be sleeping it away! One day at a time; I’m not promised even that much time! Something I learned from my Covid experience is not to worry so much. One of my favorite songs says, “Fear not tomorrow; God is already there!” Incidentally, He has always provided.
So What Could Possibly Go Wrong? Sleep Apnea!
There is still some question as to whether I have Afib so my Cardiologist ordered a Sleep Study. Those tests used to be done in labs but now you get sent to a nice hotel where they’ve devoted a few rooms to just that. I was at a Marriott and though my technician was nice, he apparently wasn’t competent! After the test was complete, he said I was fine. I’d been sleeping so well he didn’t set up any machine for me. Normally, the first half of the night is regular sleep and the second half is done with CPAP equipment so they can figure out what settings will actually help.
So What Could Possibly Go Wrong?
Several months later I heard from my Cardiologist that the results were bad: breathing stopped a lot, heart was out of sync and irregular and my Oxygen levels dropped dangerously low. SLEEP APNEA! I went to see a Respiratory Therapist and got to see the results myself. She said they were seeing a higher number of cases in Covid survivors.
Therefore, a second test was scheduled and I went to a different location; didn’t want the same technician. A super nice woman, Maria came in, measured my face for a mask, and said she’d be back with equipment to get me “wired up.” If you’ve had one of these, you now what I’m talking about. She was gone about five minutes when another gal came in and said they had to send me home!
Maria had just fallen and broken her knee! EMS was on their way to get her! I was already in bed and had taken my evening medication. It was already getting dark, as well. Marie went by on a gurney just as I was leaving. By the way, I got home without incident. I learned later that Maria had surgery to put her knee back together. Now she is part of my story. Get well soon, Maria!
Another Exciting Sleepover
As expected, my Sleep Study got rescheduled for roughly a week later. I arrived with my usual supplies for an exciting “sleepover,” and a Whataburger meal for dinner. This time, I had a really nice young man, Ray, as my technician. We chatted as he got things ready to “wire me up.” That meant that I’d have thirteen electrical leads attached to my head, one lead to each lower leg to see how much I moved around and a basic EKG.
By the way, the bed area is covered by a camera because the patient (that would be me) is watched closely all night for any problems. I could just wave or call out if I needed anything. I sat up once towards morning because I needed to go to the bathroom. Moreover, a technician came in and adjusted my mask one time. However, other than that, I slept much better than usual. Who doesn’t love Oxygen?
With Sleep Apnea, if your Oxygen drops too low, your brain takes over to make sure you keep breathing. It can be dangerous. Therefore, your brain may tell you that you should pee; so you wake up. Or, you could have dreams or nightmares, or cough. You can work terribly hard when you’re supposed to be asleep. It’s not at all restorative! I was often waking up during the night completely soaked with perspiration. No doubt about it, we are “fearfully and wonderfully made.” Rumor has it that I snore; though the cats have not complained; or maybe they have! That should improve if air is passing through more smoothly.
Great Compliment! I’m a “Badass!”
After visiting with Ray, my technician, he said he likes older people because they are so smart! I think we used to get better educations, back in the day. We all know it’s largely related to experience! He whispered that he thought I am a “badass!” I replied, “That’s a huge compliment; thank you!” He made my day! It’s that tough attitude that I learned from my Grandma Rambow! Incidentally, I was sent home with the mask and hose; I’m just waiting for the doctor to get a machine setup for me. It will help me breathe naturally at night. They say I will feel much better if I get proper rest during the night! CPAP equipment should eliminate much of the fatigue.
The respiratory therapist said they are seeing a lot of Sleep Apnea in Covid survivors. That accounts for so many complaints about fatigue. My diagnosis is Obstructive Sleep Apnea, meaning that something blocks my airways when I sleep. My tongue may fall back towards my throat. The best treatment is to increase the air pressure going into my air passage to hold things open. The CPAP will do that. My problem is structural.
Long Covid: Long Means Long!
Incidentally, I’ve been part of the NIH study on “Long Covid.” They are conducting it at the University of Texas. I was checked over at the beginning. Moreover, I get a lengthy survey to take every three months. I get called in for further tests If any of my answers about my condition trigger a possible problem, I get called in for further labs, etc. My results were pretty typical. I recently had a “sniff test” and my smell is mostly gone, as is my taste. Skunks and lilacs were on the test and I missed them completely!
So What Could Possibly Go Wrong? A Yoast Failure
We use something called Yoast” to edit our writing on WordPress. Sadly, my Yoast is down currently so I just keep writing; It’s happened before and I miss it dreadfully. Makes it difficult to make my pages look good without it. It’s really fun to use when working properly so I can;’t wait for our tech guy to fix it! You might enjoy it too; I can move pictures and change the sizes of things!
So What Could Possibly Go Wrong? So Am I Giving Up?
After all of this? I don’t think so! After all, they don’t call me a “badass” for nothing! There’s a learning curve in life! We either learn or drown, just like someone learning to swim! I might just be paddling around in the water these days, but it beats being a couch potato. If I think of Grandma, I realize I can go on another day too. How she managed to do everything she did, I’ll never know! Both of us have gone through a lot. However, old age is a gift; it’s not granted to everyone. Not that I’m there yet, but I’m working on it! I plan to make my golden years just that: Golden! You can do the same. Even if something possibly goes wrong!
More Stuff You Ought to Know
You may have noticed that I promote various products on my website. We partner with a wonderful company that makes natural supplements. Their most popular product is zlēm®. It helps you sleep and actually lose weight during the night. Because of my sleep issues, I took it for a while. In fact, I took it the night of my first Sleep Study and I thought I was sleeping better with it. I certainly had better dreams!
However, zlēm® cannot help the structural issues like I have. I’m telling you this because I believe zlēm® will help most folks. If you have sleep problems such as not being able to fall asleep, it is definitely worth a try. You might talk to your doctor before you try it. If that horrible fatigue continues, ask your doctor about doing a Sleep Study, especially if you’ve had Covid. If you are have Sleep Apnea, get that treated first. Subsequently, I would expect zlēm® to work really well for you. To read more about it, CHECK HERE.
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You deserve a medal for reading my entire page; I hope you enjoyed it and that you come back to my explore more of my stuff. I’ll be writing more articles. In fact, I have quite a list. Please register to receive my updates.
It’s been four years now since this all began; I haven’t touched upon all the things that went right! I’m here to tell you that many things went fine and smoothly, in case you wondered. I’ve been doing some Cat-Sitting again and I love that. My little flower garden gives me lots of joy and then there are my cats!. They never cease to amaze me by all their precious unconditional love. Life is good! #TheEssentialCatLady #CatSafety #ChildSafety #Brainfood
Yep, Things Go Wrong Occasionally.
P.S. We all know that things do go wrong; however, lots of things go right too. Probably a lot more than go wrong. Thank God for that. “Bad things turn out right; the good things are never lost; and the best is yet to come!” Jonathon Edward
Thanks for stopping by and reading my story. There’s a lot more out there, if you dig. Do you have a story of your own that you should write? Families appreciate those. Please take a look at my other pages and register for updates. Until next time; may life treat you kindly! Incidentally, if you have questions about either of these two pages, please do not hesitate to CONTACT ME. #TheEssentialCatLady #CatSafety #ChildSafety #Brainfood
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