Back To Life in The Everyday (A Diary Of Sorts)

My presence on the internet has been very sparse recently. I've neglected my blog(s) and Facebook, and haven't been sending out emails like I should. It's not due to lack of time, or boredom; it's on account of my life having been rather chaotic over the past few weeks.

In a recent post I complained about a number of health woes, all of which I figured would sort themselves out, as I saw them as the result of having been in the hospital (not the most restful place in the world.) and all the antibiotics the doctors had filled me with to get rid of the infection in my arm. Recovery, however, seemed to be taking what appeared to me to be an inordinate amount of time. It turns out there was a reason why it was taking so long, which I will get to presently.

A couple of weeks ago, things seemed to be getting better; I had a bit more energy than I'd had for a while, though I still found myself getting tired easily and needing to sleep more than usual. At the same time, the depression that I suffer from (and take medication for.) returned full force, which didn't hep matters. It's starting to lift, but is still here, and I plan to talk in depth with my cunselor at my appointment on Thursday.

Then, a week ago last Wednesday I was at dialysis, not feeling well, but hoping the treatment would take away enough fluid from me that I'd be able to breathe better. That didn't happen; the longer the treatment went on, the worse I felt, until it was time for me to be unhooked from the machine and be weighed before leaving. As I usually do, I stood up after the treatment, preparing to get weighed, and took a dee breath...

...Only to find that I couldn't.

Scary.

The dialysis nurse who had been attending to me made me sit down. They called for an ambulance to take me to the hospital, and while we waited for it to arrive, they put me on 2.5 liters of oxygen. It helped me breath a little better, but not by much.

The ambulance and the EMT's arrived very shortly after they were called, and we were out the door, with me on a stretcher, headed for the hospital. The EMT noticed I was still uncomfortable, and upped the oxygen to 4.0 liters. This helped immensely.

At the hospital they ran a battery of tests; x-rays, EKG's, and lots of blood samples were taken. I swear they drew at least twenty vials of blood! That doesn't count the one they drew from an artery as opposed to a vein, so they could measure blood gasses, whatever that is. All I know is that having blood drained from an artery is no simple procedure; it's long, and very painful. Imagine feeling like someone is yanking your artery out of your arm, and it's taking several minutes to do so. "Ouch!" is a gross understatement, but it had to be done, so I just did my best to tough it out (Though I admit I'm something of a wimp when it comes to pain.)

Then I waited an an uncomfortable cot in a cold room for nearly three hours before anyone came back with any answers.

The tests did not show any heart problems, or lung problems for that matter, but what they did show is that I had retained fluid, despite the dialysis treatments being as supposedly efficient as they are touted as being. The reason for this, according to my kidney specialist is simple; my "dry weight" (the weight I should be at when all the necessary fluid has been removed.) was miscalculated, and was much too high, meaning a lot of fluid was left in my system, only to collect in various places that would cause me to have problems with any number of things. An extra dialysis treatment was prescribed, to be administered at the hospital, and if all went well and I was feeling better, they'd send me home, which they did. I didn't feel a whole lot better at first, but by Friday morning and my regular dialysis treatment, everything seemed to be improving, and it still is.

The only thing that remains is a minor shortness of breath problem, for which my Primary Care Physician wants me to see yet another lung specialist. I'm waiting to find out when the appointment is going to be. I should hear something in a few days. If not, I'll be calling my doctor's office. Oh, and there is the depression, which is lifting but still present. I'll be taking care of that and get through it soon, I hope.

So I have spent a great deal of time pulling myself together and trying to get myself back to normal, whatever that might mean. I think I'm well on my way; that I'm writing this now and posting it is evidence of that. I'm behind on so many things though; I have neglected my email, and Facebook, and just about everything else, but I'll get caught up with it. I also hope to be more present at Prosebox as well, visiting my bookmarked favorites and leaving messages with them. I've missed that part of my internet experience.

Life certainly does throw some interesting curves at us, and it amazing me how many of them I manage to negotiate without making a total mess of myself. I'm keeping a good thought, and doing my best to be optimistic, in spite of the depression, and every day brings about a pleasant change in how I'm feeling. Fro a while I thought I was losing my mind; now I know I was just sick, is all.

But here I am, revived, mostly refreshed, and ready to get back to life again. It's good to be home.