An Emergency Room Visit

Canyon Ferry MT - no change - smoke and hot

Been pretty quiet around here since Mick and Ginny left. Jim has been fishing but not catching and I'm reading and doing online jigsaw puzzles.

Sunday afternoon our friend Vaughn and some buddies dropped by after a day of kayaking on the lake. Vaughn and I have been friends for over 45 years. Always good to see old friends and be able to share a hug.

I also found out that my childhood friend, Dianna, died on Saturday. We saw her in Apache Junction before we left and knew that we wouldn't see her again on this earth. I miss you my friend. 

(I document all of the following so I can refer back to it if necessary.)

However, things changed on Saturday when Jim started complaining about his right shoulder and neck hurting. I figured he'd pulled a muscle or stretched it too much but we couldn't figure out what he did or when. 

By Sunday he was in terrible pain and could not use his right arm at all. He couldn't straighten up because it hurt so bad. Tylenol took the edge off for a little while and then the pain came back with a vengeance.  

The last time he had a pain in his back and thought he had pulled a muscle, he actually had a heart attack and needed bypass surgery. (he reassured me that this was different and it definitely was not his heart) So Monday morning saw us at the ER. Now you need to remember that Townsend is a small town - 2091 people. They are doing lots of construction on the hospital so we had to find the parking lot for the hospital. When we did find it, there was parking for 12 vehicles. Visitors and patients. 

We walked into the ER (with masks on) and checked in at a small cubicle. 

 

Then I looked at the waiting room. There are exactly four chairs in the very small waiting area. Nobody else there so Jim and I got to sit. 

They took Jim back almost immediately.  I stayed in the waiting room. Several folks came in but at different times. Two of them needed blood work, another guy had to see a doc about his hand, and who knows what others were doing there. All very interesting.

The doctor came out to talk to me. She explained that Jim was having a muscle spasm. They gave him an injection 💉 which ended up not helping at all and a pain pill which helped a little. They also gave him a prescription for 5 more pills. But basically there is not much they can do and he needs to "power" through til the muscle decides to loosen up. Supposed to do as much stretching as he can. 

By Friday he was beginning to feel much better even though he still couldn't turn his head or reach his arm up.  We are hoping by next week, he will be feeling much better.