Saturday morning, October 25th, Mike woke me up at 4:00 am telling me he was having really bad back pain and that it hurt when he tried to take a deep breath. Hmm. I figured it was pain from sleeping on his back with his legs straight for the 9 days since his ACL reconstruction on October 16th (more about our ACL experience later). So I helped him roll onto his side, gave him some pain meds, and gave him a back massage so he could get back to sleep. Two hours later that 10mg of oxycontin still wasn't doing the trick. That's a pretty strong drug, as in it should've knocked out all pain. So two hours later when he woke me up, I got a little nervous. I helped him up into the recliner in our apartment and he was a little better, but still unable to take a deep breath.
I knew this couldn't be good, so I called my mom. Nurse for 25 years, she usually knows what she's talking about. After I described Mike's symptoms, she and my stepdad really urged me to get Mike to the hospital. I was really in denial thinking to myself, Oh he probably just sprained a rib or an intercostal muscle, he'll be fine. I couldn't get ahold of Mike's mom, Michelle, so I called my boss because I knew she'd also have some good medical advice. And her and I were supposed to be going to Fells Point for a video shoot for our new website. My boss hears what's going on and immediately tells me, "Julie, you need to call 9-1-1, Mike may have a clot in his lung." Still in denial, I tell her "okay," and hang up still thinking, there's no way Mike has a blood clot, while starting to get scared and frantic.
Mike, being stubborn of course, doesn't let me call 9-1-1. I somehow managed to get dressed and gather up all our stuff while putting socks and shoes on him (remember he's 9 days post ACL reconstruction so he's not moving around much). I get him in the car and we head to Howard County General because it was 10 minutes away. At this point, I'm really on autopilot and in shock that we're even doing this. Mike and I were talking like "oh we'll be home after this...I'm sure they'll tell us everything's fine, but it's better to get checked out...etc." Mike was even saying to me, "maybe we'll be home in time for you to go to Baltimore with Laura." Little did we know, we would spend the next 10 days on the telemetry unit at HCGH.
When we arrived at the emergency room, Mike tells the receptionist he has a heart condition and that he's having chest pain. He had his aortic valve replaced in 2010 with a pig valve, hence the heart condition. We didn't even sit down in the emergency room. We maybe stood there for two minutes before they had the sticky electrodes on his chest doing an EKG. After they were finished with that, we were taken to a different room for triage. The nurse was really nice. She told us his EKG looked okay, just that his HR was fast. She explained that was probably because he was in pain and anxious. She took all his vitals before two younger techs came with a wheelchair to take us to an emergency room bed. I still hadn't reached Mike's parents at this point so we were feeling pretty alone.
Once in his room, the young techs are trying and failing to start an IV. Mike is sweating because it's super hot in the ER. The nurse finally came in and got one started. Yolanda, the nurse was so nice. They start his fluids and she says they're ordering a CT scan of his lungs as well as ultrasounds of his legs. She said she's trying to push for the CT scan to happen as quickly as possible. While were sitting in there waiting and trying to get ahold of Mike's family, his pain starts to escalate. He was at about a 4 out of 10 when we got there thanks to the slow-release oxycontin I had given him at 4 am. But I guess that was wearing off because he went from a 4 to a 7 in a matter of minutes. Yolanda was no where in sight. I asked 3 different people to get her with no results. Mike is at the point tears so between running in and out of the room checking on him and looking for a nurse, I spy the doctor who had examined him. I just went up to him and straight up told him, "my husband is in a lot of pain, I can't find the nurse and he really needs pain medicine." Turns out, going straight to the doctor got the pain medicine ordered immediately. Score. Watching Mike writhe in pain in that emergency room may have been the hardest thing I've ever experienced.
Eventually Mike's parents show up and I almost lose it when I see his mom. I took her into the hallway to bring her up to speed and of course Mike is yelling at me telling me not to tell them anything because he's in pain and super angry, etc. Soon after they arrive, they take him back for the CT scan. I went back with him and waited in the radiology waiting room. Alone in the waiting room, I am praying and crying and of course frantically texting Jackée. She, of course, takes it all in stride and provides the most simple and encouraging words throughout the whole day. I also never stopped texting my sister. It was good to be able to share with the both of them exactly how scared I was. Because for Mike, I had to be strong.
They bring him out of the CT scan and he is feeling a little better because of the pain meds, but he's still having trouble breathing. They put him on oxygen at some point in the ER. So here we are, back in the ridiculously hot ER room, waiting. The doctor comes in and says the words I never in my entire life thought I would here. He says to Mike, "The scan showed bilateral pulmonary emboli..." I don't even remember what came after that. It still makes me nauseous writing this weeks later. It was unreal. I had learned about pulmonary embolism so many times in school and it was always this big scary thing. And here Mike and I were, less than a month into marriage, facing this. Thankfully my mom and my boss gave me the right advice and I listened to them. I know I have God to thank for helping me act quickly that morning and for getting me through that long day.
As soon as the doctor finished explaining the CT scan, the nurse was in starting a second IV for the heparin bolus and the heparin drip. Kristen arrived and then they took Mike back for a ultrasound of his legs. They let Kristen and I come back and watch and the ultrasound tech actually explained some of it to us and showed us what was going on. The ultrasound confirmed the clots came from his operative leg as we expected. After that, my mom and Dave arrive as Mike was having an echocardiogram. That was probably one of the coolest things I've ever seen. You could actually see the valves opening and closing. So cool. Thankfully his heart and his pig valve looked good.
I'm not sure if there is anything else remarkable to write about that day. My mom and Dave went to our apartment and brought all kinds of stuff for us. Tori came up from St. Mary's and she went with me to my apartment so I could shower and get Chickfila for dinner. What a day that was.
Mike was moved to the telemetry unit that afternoon. While he was getting settled, we all waited in the waiting room of the 3rd floor. I eventually went to check on him and the nurses were in there talking to him and helping him get settled. Geri was there that afternoon. She was great explaining everything. Once the nurses left, I asked Mike what he wanted me to do with all the people in the waiting room, his parents, sisters, grandparents. He told me he didn't care who came in the room, but that he couldn't talk. He was having so much pain breathing that he couldn't bear to talk. Something we take for granted, being able to talk and breathe at the same time, he couldn't do. It was scary. It was hard to sleep that first night, because I just wanted to watch him breathe. Michelle stayed with me for a while, before I finally convinced myself, he's on a heart monitor, if he stops breathing a bajillion alarms will go off, so I could sleep. A really sweet nurse helped me make the bed where I would sleep for the next nine nights.
We spent 10 days there dealing with different hospitalists, nurses, etc. I will probably write a second blog about just our experience on that unit and with the hospital, but for now, this is all!
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| My bed |
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| Sunrise Sunday morning. |
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| Sunday morning ADLs. |
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| Sunday when my mom and Dave came to visit, my mom had to take over the unit. The nurse would not get me a portable oxygen tank to take Mike for a walk even though I explained to her he needed to be getting up to do his PT for his knee. Finally my mom went and talked to her and we got to go for a walk! |
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| You can tell he's feeling better because his tongue is out! This was later in the week and he started being able to sit up in the chair. |
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| Mike & Ike's from Mandy & Jared. :) |
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| Look how pleased he was to take pics when I tried to squeeze myself into the hospital bed with him. Haha. |
Touching and endearing!
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