Monday, August 19, 2013

Emergency Room

Helena, MT  High 95  Low 56

Not Jim this time – my sister. Yesterday morning we were getting ready for church when my sister called and asked me to take her to Urgent Care. Her chest felt really tight and she was having trouble breathing. Also her legs were swelled up about triple their normal size. Not good.

We were the first ones at Urgent Care so they immediately took her back and started asking questions. Didn’t take them long before they came back out and told me they were taking her to the Emergency Room which is right next door.

I headed over to the Emergency Room and was only there about 10 minutes before they called me back to sit with her. Their first concern was her heart but they ruled that out after doing their tests. They took a bunch of blood and did X-rays and then a CT Scan of her lungs. She has had blood clots previously and that immediately became a big concern. They also wanted to check out her kidneys.

Most of the tests came out okay – no heart problems, no pneumonia, no kidney disease, no blood clots. But her lungs were not working real well. She had severe asthma as a child and her lungs just aren’t as strong as they should be. They gave her a nebulizer treatment which seemed to help.

After almost five hours of mostly just sitting waiting for test results, they released her with a prescription for a Z-Pac and an inhaler. She still wasn’t feeling good this morning and called her regular doctor. Got in to see him this afternoon. If she’s not feeling better by Thursday he’s going to put her on steroids.

At least I was smart enough to take my book with me.

20 comments:

  1. Sorry to hear about your sister but glad it wasn't her heart. Hope they figure out what is going on and she feels better soon.

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  2. Sorry to hear about your sister's ordeal. I'm sure it's scary waiting for test results all day in the hospital. Hope she feels better tomorrow.

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  3. How scary! Has she been doing too much with you guys? I see it is really hot. I hope she can kick this quickly.

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  4. Whoa! That was scary, good thing you were close by to help your sister. Thank goodness she's on the mend.

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  5. Glad you were in town to be there with her.... Hospitals are more scary when you are alone..

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  6. I'm glad to hear that you were able to help out, Sandie. Now that she's back home again I hope she feels better.

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  7. I wish your sister a speedy recovery.

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  8. Wishing your sister better health soon!

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  9. That would have been scary. I guess it could have been a lot worse. Hope the meds get your sister back to better health soon.

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  10. Hi,
    I want to offer a few suggestions if I may, since I suffer from similar issues.

    The swollen feet/legs along with breathing problems indicate that she is holding on to too much water, both in legs and lungs. She probably needs a diuretic to help control this.

    I suffer from COPD, (I was a smoker for years) so I'm kinda familiar with the symptoms. At the first sign of a respiratory tightness and cough, I'm on a steroid called Prednisone and some type of antibiotic. I am also trying a new nebulizer to see if that helps cut down the respiratory infections.

    Glad she is out of the hospital and doing better.
    MikeD

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  11. oh, my, Sandie... when I saw the title on my blog roll update! I immediately thought Jim... so sorry for your sister but relieved Jim is okay.

    wishing her well! and glad she's okay....

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  12. glad you sister is out of the hospital now..hope she feels better soon!!

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  13. Sorry about your sister. It's good it wasn't her heart but I know it's still something of concern. I hope she gets to feeling better soon. You're right about taking a book. I've also learned to wear warm clothes when I go to a hospital or ER.

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  14. Oh dear. How scary. We are so happy they ruled out some very serious issues. We will keep her in our prayers for peace, rest and healing.

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  15. Good thing you were there to take her to the clinic, best get those things checked out as soon a possible to rule out some severe causes.
    Hope gets feeling better soon.

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  16. Glad you were there to help her out. What a scary ordeal. Hope all is well soon.

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  17. Instead of call 9-1-1 she called you. That probably got her to the hospital faster. Hopefully, she'll work through this and feel better soon.

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  18. Sounds so similar to my Mom's problems. I suggest asking about a diuretic.

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  19. Two very important things: being there for family and bringing a book.

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  20. That was scary-glad a bunch of the big items were ruled out. Hope she is feeling better real soon!

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