My Exciting Medical Adventure

Wed. 1/23/08
Around 11ish, I suddenly felt kind of crummy. I felt light-headed and heavy-hearted. I tried to ignore it, thinking it was just one of those weird "things." But after about ten minutes, I decided to lay down in the dark studio. That didn't help Sara said I looked pale and suggested I go to the nurse to check my blood pressure. I felt like such a geek, but I went to the school nurse and asked her if she would take my blood pressure since I wasn't feeling very well. It was 210/110 and I think that kind of freaked her out. I asked if that could be the cause of my not feeling well and she gave me a "Duh!" look. She said, "You should call your doctor. Now." So I did. The only openings were at 2:15 and 3:15, so I knew I'd miss the end of the school day and the staff meeting (I wanted to share the "I Love to Read" month stuff!). I made the earlier appointment and left early (because I really felt crummy). On the drive home, I called Louie and asked him to come home and go to the doctor with me.

Wed. afternoon
My wonderful husband came home early and sat with me. He asked if I'd taken aspirin. "No." So he gave me two and I just wanted my doctor appointment to come. We went together (I asked him to come with me) and I went through all the usual questions. It was so weird because my only symptoms were a slight chest pain (more of an ache, dead center) and feeling light-headed. Oh, and my blood pressure was still pretty darn high. All of the other questions were "No. No. No." Then my doctor said she wanted me to go to the ER to get some blood work done. The clinic can't get lab results very quickly. So off we went!

Later Wed. at Burnsville's Fairview Ridges
The ER didn't seem busy to me, but lots of the medical people commented throughout the day about the busy-ness. I guess when you come in with chest pain, you get to go to the front of the line. The ER receptionist asked me to fill out a form with my full name and my social security number. While I waited at the desk for her to return, I saw that someone else's form was sitting on her desk face up. When she got back, I asked her not to leave mine where anyone could see it. She gave me a funny look and made some comment about how they don't leave the forms visible. I pointed out to her that I could have stolen the identity of the woman whose form was on her desk - full name and social security number in full view. She looked at me like I was crazy, but it made me mad that she was so casual with information that could be used so easily to commit identity theft! I suppose I ought to write a letter to the hospital administrator or something. It just made me so mad that she didn't take it seriously. Grr. Okay, so they ran a bunch more tests - EKG, blood draw, questions, etc. Since I'm writing this over a week later, some of the details are getting kind of vague. But it was definitely an afternoon of firsts - first chest x-ray, first nitroglycerin, first morphine, first EKG, first echocardiogram (just like an ultrasound, but on my chest instead of my belly), etc. It was surreal. At one point, I suggested that I felt better, so could I please just go home. When they got the blood lab results, my cardiac enzymes were not good. My troponin level, which should have been in the range of 0.000 - 0.034, was actually at 0.192 and the doctor was alarmed. He told me they would admit me to cardiac ICU. "You've got to be kidding!" was my reaction. But no, he was serious.

Wednesday evening
I had Louie call Nick and tell him to find an alternate ride to church. We asked him not to say anything about where we were - at that point, we weren't sure what was happening and I didn't want people to be all freaked out and worried. In retrospect, that was probably not a great idea. Some people were upset with me that they didn't know I'd been hospitalized until after I was out. I definitely thought about asking people to pray for me, but I went from feeling crummy to really awful. In cardiac ICU, I had the electrodes connected for the heart monitor, they put on additional electrodes for every EKG (periodic throughout the next few days), I had one IV with two ports in my right arm (inner elbow) and then another IV with two ports in the back of my hand. They were giving me shots and pills and nothing to eat or drink. The plan was for me to have a stress test on Thursday morning. I talked with Jenifer that night (returning her call on another matter) and told her at the end of our call, "Um, Jeni. This is kind of weird, but I just need to tell you where I am or you'll be mad at me later." She got kind of upset when I told her that I was in the hospital. It was kind of weird - I hadn't been hospitalized since Nick was born sixteen years ago. And I almost always feel healthy and strong, rarely getting sick.

Wednesday night
The night nurse didn't want me to get out of bed at all because my troponin levels went up and up with every blood test. After using a bedpan a few times (nasty & uncomfortable!), I finally asked if my doctor's orders specifically said I couldn't use the bedside commode. I don't think she was very happy with me, and she warned me of all the dangers, but she finally let me sit up to go to the bathroom (around 4ish in the morning). My doctor, Dr. Weiler had come to see me in the evening. She was wonderful, but things kept getting more & more uncomfortable throughout the night.

Thursday 1/24
By morning, they said that my condition precluded the wisdom of doing a stress test. So the new plan was to send me to Fairview Southdale via ambulance for an angiogram. By now, I was feeling truly awful. I had been cared for by numerous health care professionals, didn't really know why my chest still ached, had nitroglycerin headaches (quick & nasty, plus it really stings under your tongue. The nurse said it might "tingle" - I don't think she's ever had nitro in her mouth. Ouch!) The EMTs were very fun and funny as they prepped me for transport. Louie took the day off work and stayed with me. He was totally wonderful. What an excellent husband! The ambulance ride was icky. I felt worse and worse throughout the ride, thinking I might develop the nausea they kept asking me about.

Thursday @ Fairview
They admitted me directly to the cardiac ICU - same place my mom stayed after her heart attack. Then they prepped me for the angiogram. Joy. Thankfully, I slept through the procedure. The gals down in the cath lab were great - clearly enjoying their job and very efficient at it. When the cardiologist talked to me about the possible dangers, I understood that they were minimal, but I had to think, "I could potentially die. Am I ready?" The first thing that popped into my mind was, "No! I don't want to leave Louie and the boys." Then I thought, "What a terrible reaction. Since I have accepted Jesus Christ as my Lord and Savior, I believe that my soul will go to Heaven to dwell with God eternally. Why isn't my first thought of the joy of eternity with Him?" I am so glad for God's grace! He knows my heart and loves me anyhow! The angiogram went fine (I found out afterward) and my cardiac arteries were nice and clear. I have pictures! It was a relief to find out that I wouldn't have to have a stent and that clogging of arteries was not one of my problems. My cholesterol levels were also good - that was nice, but not surprising.

Thursday night
Jenifer and Louie were both there for me, giving lots of love! I felt pretty dopey and out of it, and I had had a little pity party that neither Nick nor Al had come to the hospital to see me (and in my view, didn't seem very concerned about their mother) and that Morgan probably didn't even know that I was *in* the hospital! (Until I called him Saturday from home). My dad, mom, and Louise came by the hospital to see me. It felt good to be loved, but I was still pretty dopey. Ann came later, prepared to stay the night and look after me. What a sweetie! She left little love notes for me (and the nursing staff) after I convinced her that I was doing better. I truly felt better. It's weird - it almost seemed as though the angio itself made me feel better. . . Anyhow, I had to stay overnight in the cardiac ICU.

Friday 1/25
This is getting long . . . so on Friday, I got to leave. Louie took me home. I have blood pressure medication now. I need to exercise and get healthy. I need to decrease salt and caffeine! Eek.

Weekends are too fleeting

I love weekends! I love sitting by the fireplace, relaxed and warm. I love spending time with my family and giving my dog belly rubs. I love not having to set my alarm clock on Saturday and setting it for two hours later than usual on Sunday. I love having time to quilt, do laundry, make phone calls, and putter around the house.

It was nice to have Tyler and Sarah over today, though they couldn't stay very long. This week is going to be insanely busy, so I need to be really prayerful about my choices!

Salad Rules

We play this goofy card game my mom taught me called Salad. When we look online for rules, we only find versions of "Canadian Salad" which are much more involved (12+ hands, more rules, etc.). So this is our current rule standard for the LaMoore family. We were up at my sister-in-law's lake place and didn't have the rules with, so we punted. It worked out okay, but I thought putting it in my blog might help for future events. Here they are! The Salad Card Game Rules. (I couldn't upload my pdf, so here they are in full form.)

On 7/11/16, I updated some info to clarify questions that came up in comments. When I originally posted this on 1/2/08, it was so I could access it anywhere I had internet connectivity. It's gratifying that so many others have enjoyed it!

Salad (4, 5, 6, or 7 players)

4 players – full deck

5 players – remove 2 of diamonds and 2 of clubs

6 players – remove all 2s

7 players – remove 2s of diamonds, clubs, and spades

(Actually, we’ve played with 8 people, 2 decks, and it worked fine. . . )

Dealer is determined by cut (1^st hand only).

Play clockwise to left.

When all cards have been dealt, each player selects three to “slough” to the player on their left. First player leads whatever they want. Highest card in original suit played takes the hand. Keep track of points each hand – this gets interesting!

1^st hand No Tricks - 5 pts / trick

2^nd hand No Hearts -  5 pts / heart

3^rd hand No Queens - 25 pts / queen

4^th hand No Kings -  50 pts / king

5^th hand Last Trick -  75 pts for last trick

6^th hand All of the Above pts as above

7^th hand 8s and Solitaire (see points below)

Points for 7^th hand:

1^st done = -100 points

2^nd done = -75 points

3^rd done = -50 points (unless 4 or 5 players, then 0 points)

4^th done = +50 points

5^th done = +75

6^th done = +100

On Solitaire hand, 8s must be played first. Aces are high. A player puts an eight on the table. If the next player has an eight in a different suit, or a 7 or 9 of the suit already played, they can play one of those cards. If they do not have any cards that can be played, they must "pass." If someone can play a card, they must play it. (They cannot pass just to hold off other players.) Play continues around until players have played all their cards. (From the eights in the middle, cards will extend from each side seven through two and nine through ace.)

Person with highest points loses.