Wow, I really can't believe it's been three months since I last posted. I didn't realize it until I was going to share the sight with a good friend from high school, David Caulkins. He had emailed me about coming to our 50th Reunion (I was just out of diapers when I graduated) and I asked him if he was interested in reading my blog. What could he say but yes. Of course, he can conveniently misplace the sight address. Anyway, I decided this would be a great way to update everyone about Betty's and my trials and tribulations.
Many of you already know about my trip to the hospital on the 4th of this month, so bear with me as explain what happened. When I woke up on the 4th, I was having trouble catching my breath and to be honest with you, it scared me. All I could do is think about being in my hotel room in Rochester and having congestive heart failure in 2004. Therefore, I was thinking about not being able to catch my breath then also. So, Betty called Mary and off to emergency I went. Well, it certainly wasn't congestive heart but I was in Atrial Fibrillation. The emergency doctor was great and was in constant contact with my cardiologist, Dr Marini, however they could not get my heart rhythm to stabilize, so I was admitted until they could. After two days, my heart was still not back to normal but I was able to be released on Saturday to go home. I had a couple of options, two of which were not even in the realm of possibility as far as I was concerned, so I am going to go to a cardiologist that specializes in the "electrical" system of the heart. Dr Marini really likes this cardiologist but as he told me, "...you have to be a real geek to specialize in the electrical portion of the heart." He also said since he is basically a "plumber of the heart", that is why he is sending me to see Dr Wang. So I go for a consultation on Thursday, the 25th, and then possibly some sort of procedure if he deems it necessary. Dr Marini explained that the procedure was to insert a laser into the heart area causing the problem, like doing a Cardiac Cath, and zapping the area. Obviously, there is more to it than that but we'll see after Thursday.
As most of you know, Betty has MS and spends most of her time in a wheelchair. It always amazes me when we go to a new doctor, they ask how long she has diagnosed with MS and she tells them 25 years of so, and they invariably say how good she is doing. There is a reason for that which relates to Betty's determination to not let this decease beat her. To that end, sometimes she "gets into a little trouble." That was the case on Saturday the 6th. She knew I was going to be released from the hospital that day and I received a call from her that morning. She asked if I could talk the doctor into keeping me another night, as she had fallen and didn't think she could help me if I needed her. She told me she had hurt her left foot and she thought she had, at least cracked some ribs, if not broken them. She didn't want anyone to know but I informed Mary anyway. When Mary called, Betty told her about it so Mary and her sisters came to the house. They decided she needed to go to the hospital and be checked out, but since they couldn't get her out of the house they called the EMT's. To make a long story short, when they checked her at the hospital, her left foot had two broken toes and she had four broken ribs. When I was released, the nurse took me directly to the emergency room to be with Betty. Of course, there is nothing to be done about the ribs except to let them heal on their own and when we went to the orthopedic surgeon to follow up on the foot, he said since it was her left foot, which is affected by the MS (it doesn't work basically), there was no reason to put her through the trama of surgery when it will heal on it's own. So, she is in a splint and Dr Russell is making sure it is healing.
I guess I've rambled enough for today. I'll try to keep everyone informed as things progress. We had to postpone our planned trip out West and we will not be going to my 50th Reunion, but those things happen. Sorry there was no photos to break up the boredom but I don't think you would be interested in Betty's radiographs of her foot, or a photo of me lying in a hospital bed.
So until next time, have a pleasant day,
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Well it's about time I know you have been sick but what about the other 2 months you really do need to S--- or get off the pot I got tired of checking and nothing new for such a looong time.Lets see if you can do better than you have been doing.I think the whole world is falling apart.
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