It's Baaa-aaaack ....
So I know where the nearest hospital is now.
Last night I was hiding in my room because Shi-chan had a guy over, and I wasn't feeling all that social yesterday since I hadn't gotten enough sleep the night before. (It was the second night ever that Shi-chan had stayed out all night, and the kittens were NOT Happy about the lack of Mommy.) I read for awhile and chatted with
starlit_purple while she write. I was kinda tired all day, but I figured it was the lack of sleep.
About 10:00 at night, I started coughing. Hard, somewhat choking coughs - like the kind I get when I smell smoke. I tried to take in some deep breaths and calm down, but it wasn't working, so I warned Challon I was going to go get some fresh air. Shi-chan looked up when she saw me at the door, but since she had a guest I just waved her off and said I was going for a walk.
I headed down the hallway, down to the ground floor and over to the man-made lake that was put in next to our apartment complex. Found a bench to sit on and just ... tried to take a few minutes to get some air. But my breathing wasn't getting better. It *hurt*, from collarbone straight down to the center of my abdomen. I tried to center myself, tried deep breaths, short breaths ... it all hurt. Constantly. I called Brother, because first of all, sitting in the dark by myself at night was starting to depress me, and second because I was getting really light-headed, and I didn't think it was a good idea to not have someone who knew where I was and why. But after half an hour out there, I realized the pain was *not* getting better, and I was hot and dizzy and I felt like I was about to pass out because I wasn't getting enough air. So I told him I was heading in and hung up.
I had *planned* on laying down and going to bed. I told Shi-chan and her guest that was going to bed because I didn't feel well, and laid down to sleep. But the pain wasn't going away, and it still felt like I wasn't breathing enough. About half an hour later I heard her come in from walking her friend out to his car, so I finally got up and went to get some water. I admitted how I was feeling, and she asked if I needed a hospital.
It took a little convincing to get me to agree, because I always think I'm being a baby about pain. (I have almost no pain tolerance, which is fun with the pain scale everyone asks about.) But she asked someone where the nearest hospital was, and we headed out. I spent most of the car ride borderline hyperventilating. The odd thing is that I was so focused on telling her what I was feeling and trying to stay conscious - because that's what everyone tells you to do and I wasn't sure how long I would be - that I wasn't really freaking out about it. I was scared, but more in the way hospitals tend to scare me now. Which is that nothing really ever comes of going to one.
This visit may have been one of the shortest I have ever had. I was brought in and taken back almost immediately. (someone in the waiting room was kind enough to grab a wheelchair and bring it to me, seeing as I was bracing myself on the wall at that point, and the admittance nurse rather said 'Welcome to Texas' with a sort of wry concern) They took the usual blood pressure, temperature, pulse, and some vials of blood before giving me an IV. They did an EKG and some chest x-rays.
I lost a little bit of confidence in them at one point because I had been insisting that my left arm hurt, from my mid-upper arm down to my elbow where the IV needle was. They checked it, but nothing seemed to be wrong. Shi-chan told me it was likely because I was shaking, and it was putting strain on my veins which in turn made the needle hurt. (Which really was probably somewhat true.) But then my gown slipped when I was getting my chest x-rays, and the technician noticed that someone had forgotten to take off the tourniquette from when they put in the IV. x.x (Obviously it didn't hurt as much after that.)
Eventually all they were able to diagnose me with 'Chest Wall Pain'. They tried to explain what that means, but I wasn't all that coherent after the medications they gave me, so Shi-chan broke it down a little better for me. Basically, it's something in the muscles of my chest itself. My heart and lungs are fine, and for all my hyperventilating my blood oxygen levels are actually really good, which means ... all they can do is give me muscle relaxers and send me home. >.<+++
Although I did finally find out what the medications I was given at my pnemonia visit that gave me the rash were: tortal and dilotted. (Which I'm probably misspelling, but I really could care less at the moment.) They gave me pills this time instead with the usual saline drip, just to be safe.
The downside is, I don't feel better. At all. I'm still in just as much pain as I was last night, and it's been consistent no matter what I take. The only difference is that when I wasn't medicated it was a sharp pain and I was having trouble getting enough air. After taking the pills, it's a constant dull ache that makes breathing a bit easier, but no less painful. I'm also incredibly drowsy, half the time it feels like the room is spinning, and I stumble a lot. Sometimes I feel feverish, sometimes I'm cold. My chest hurts if I yawn or breath in too deeply. I looked over the 'come back if you feel any of these symptoms' list, but I realized I already *had* most of them when they released me. Still do.
So for now, I'm taking aleve and muscle relaxers, and sleeping a lot. Trying to stay hydrated. I'm not sure what else I *can* be doing, really. Except hope it goes away soon.
Last night I was hiding in my room because Shi-chan had a guy over, and I wasn't feeling all that social yesterday since I hadn't gotten enough sleep the night before. (It was the second night ever that Shi-chan had stayed out all night, and the kittens were NOT Happy about the lack of Mommy.) I read for awhile and chatted with
starlit_purple while she write. I was kinda tired all day, but I figured it was the lack of sleep.
About 10:00 at night, I started coughing. Hard, somewhat choking coughs - like the kind I get when I smell smoke. I tried to take in some deep breaths and calm down, but it wasn't working, so I warned Challon I was going to go get some fresh air. Shi-chan looked up when she saw me at the door, but since she had a guest I just waved her off and said I was going for a walk.
I headed down the hallway, down to the ground floor and over to the man-made lake that was put in next to our apartment complex. Found a bench to sit on and just ... tried to take a few minutes to get some air. But my breathing wasn't getting better. It *hurt*, from collarbone straight down to the center of my abdomen. I tried to center myself, tried deep breaths, short breaths ... it all hurt. Constantly. I called Brother, because first of all, sitting in the dark by myself at night was starting to depress me, and second because I was getting really light-headed, and I didn't think it was a good idea to not have someone who knew where I was and why. But after half an hour out there, I realized the pain was *not* getting better, and I was hot and dizzy and I felt like I was about to pass out because I wasn't getting enough air. So I told him I was heading in and hung up.
I had *planned* on laying down and going to bed. I told Shi-chan and her guest that was going to bed because I didn't feel well, and laid down to sleep. But the pain wasn't going away, and it still felt like I wasn't breathing enough. About half an hour later I heard her come in from walking her friend out to his car, so I finally got up and went to get some water. I admitted how I was feeling, and she asked if I needed a hospital.
It took a little convincing to get me to agree, because I always think I'm being a baby about pain. (I have almost no pain tolerance, which is fun with the pain scale everyone asks about.) But she asked someone where the nearest hospital was, and we headed out. I spent most of the car ride borderline hyperventilating. The odd thing is that I was so focused on telling her what I was feeling and trying to stay conscious - because that's what everyone tells you to do and I wasn't sure how long I would be - that I wasn't really freaking out about it. I was scared, but more in the way hospitals tend to scare me now. Which is that nothing really ever comes of going to one.
This visit may have been one of the shortest I have ever had. I was brought in and taken back almost immediately. (someone in the waiting room was kind enough to grab a wheelchair and bring it to me, seeing as I was bracing myself on the wall at that point, and the admittance nurse rather said 'Welcome to Texas' with a sort of wry concern) They took the usual blood pressure, temperature, pulse, and some vials of blood before giving me an IV. They did an EKG and some chest x-rays.
I lost a little bit of confidence in them at one point because I had been insisting that my left arm hurt, from my mid-upper arm down to my elbow where the IV needle was. They checked it, but nothing seemed to be wrong. Shi-chan told me it was likely because I was shaking, and it was putting strain on my veins which in turn made the needle hurt. (Which really was probably somewhat true.) But then my gown slipped when I was getting my chest x-rays, and the technician noticed that someone had forgotten to take off the tourniquette from when they put in the IV. x.x (Obviously it didn't hurt as much after that.)
Eventually all they were able to diagnose me with 'Chest Wall Pain'. They tried to explain what that means, but I wasn't all that coherent after the medications they gave me, so Shi-chan broke it down a little better for me. Basically, it's something in the muscles of my chest itself. My heart and lungs are fine, and for all my hyperventilating my blood oxygen levels are actually really good, which means ... all they can do is give me muscle relaxers and send me home. >.<+++
Although I did finally find out what the medications I was given at my pnemonia visit that gave me the rash were: tortal and dilotted. (Which I'm probably misspelling, but I really could care less at the moment.) They gave me pills this time instead with the usual saline drip, just to be safe.
The downside is, I don't feel better. At all. I'm still in just as much pain as I was last night, and it's been consistent no matter what I take. The only difference is that when I wasn't medicated it was a sharp pain and I was having trouble getting enough air. After taking the pills, it's a constant dull ache that makes breathing a bit easier, but no less painful. I'm also incredibly drowsy, half the time it feels like the room is spinning, and I stumble a lot. Sometimes I feel feverish, sometimes I'm cold. My chest hurts if I yawn or breath in too deeply. I looked over the 'come back if you feel any of these symptoms' list, but I realized I already *had* most of them when they released me. Still do.
So for now, I'm taking aleve and muscle relaxers, and sleeping a lot. Trying to stay hydrated. I'm not sure what else I *can* be doing, really. Except hope it goes away soon.