Thursday, January 13, 2022

10 On The 10th: January 2022

This week has not gone at all like I thought it would. We were supposed to be leaving today for a short getaway to celebrate Dave's 40th birthday, which is on Monday. Unfortunately, my body decided it had other plans.

Since it's Covid and our province has gone back to Step 2 (whatever that means -- partial lockdown and more restrictions), we'd planned something for Dave's birthday, and then we've revised it and revised it again. By the time we made our getaway plans, we were on Plan Q or something like that. However, Plan Q involved possibly going downhill skiing which the kids have never done.

So on Sunday, we were at our local ski hill, waiting in a long line to rent equipment and sign the kids up for an intro lesson when I started feeling fairly awful. The left side of my chest was aching and I couldn't get comfortable. It felt like a sore muscle but also like something... not good... was happening.

Finally, much to the kids' disappointment, I said we needed to leave. As we were walking to our car I felt a big squeeze on my left side (lung/heart area) and lost my breath. We headed to the ER, wondering if I was having a heart attack. I received very good, and very quick, service and after about an hour (and heart monitoring and x-rays and blood work and a EKG and...) the doctor announced it was a spontaneous pneumothorax.

Back in 1999 and 2000, I had two spontaneous pneumothoraces (sudden, random partial lung detachment) on my right lung and had surgery in February 2000 to fix the issue. I have had no problems since then. Until this week.

Now I have one on my left side. The current plan is "take it easy and monitor." I can't shovel snow, go to work, or lift anything heavy -- the doctor specifically mentioned "like piles of books" which makes me think the fact that Dave and I brought a bag with three books (two for me, one for him) to the appointment was a dead giveaway!!!

In my two previous experiences with this, my lung fixed itself -- the hole stopped leaking and my lung completely reinflated on its own. As of yesterday (my third monitoring x-ray), my lung showed "slight improvement and no leaking." Unless anything changes suddenly, I don't need to go back for another x-ray until Monday.

So this is my "10 on the 10th" of Natasha's Hospital Visit And Being Assigned To Bed Rest.

When we got to the hospital, even though it was no longer an emergency, I still had to register with the emergency room. Here are Dave and I waiting to be triaged and to register. I'm so thankful Dave could stay with me through the whole process.

Hospital gowns are so flattering. Because I was so cold the previous day at the hospital (likely because I'd been standing outside for over an hour when it happened), and hospital gowns are all short sleeved, I brought my sherpa jacket to keep me warm.

Dave has been allowed in as my "care partner" and he gets a special sticker, designating him as such.

This pole at the parking lot, covered with Care Partner stickers, made Dave and I laugh.

For some reason I am always cold when I get home from the hospital so I was in bed, under two blankets, with a snack and a book.

I am amassing quite the collection of hospital bracelets. Excellent accessories, I tell you :)

Okay, at least they make good bookmarks. And yes, I've basically been reading a book a day since this whole ordeal started.

I was really craving a salad so Dave bought a superfoods salad at the grocery store while the rest of my family ate Kentucky Fried Chicken.

Rachel enjoys using this handy flowered tray to bring me things in bed -- a pear for a snack, a cookie, my phone.

Since there are only so many pictures I can take from bed, this picture is actually from the next day. I asked Dave to bring a bouquet of tulips upstairs so I'd be able to enjoy them.
 
And that was my more exciting, but simultaneously more boring than I'd anticipated, January 10th. Hopefully by February 10th, this is all a memory and we've gotten on with our lives...

12 comments:

  1. Oh goodness, this sounds scary! How long do you have to be on bed rest? Good luck!

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  2. Bless your heart. Believe me, I get the ER feelings... the scare of it - the waiting - the COLD... I didnt have a partner when I was in there & that made everything even more stressful. Rest up friend!

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  3. How SCARY!!! I can't even imagine!!! I am glad you are okay and hope your lung (or lunch, as I first typed) continues to heal so you don't have to do a bunch of procedures! I'm so glad you didn't have to be alone and so sorry that you and Ryan were ER twinsies!!

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  4. I love that you use your hospital bracelets for bookmarks! Glad you're feeling better now.

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  5. Definitely not a fun 10 on 10th. :( Hoping for a better February!

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  6. Oh that sounds so scary. Glad you are feeling better. You're lucky to have been able to have Dave back with you with all the COVID stuff going on.

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  7. Oh Natasha- I am so sorry- I am wishing you a speedy recovery- hang in there- on the bright side, it is a great time of year to be inside and cozy! :)

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  8. Oh my goodness. I hope you feel better soon.

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  9. Please take care of yourself!!!!

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  10. Oh, my goodness. I am thankful you weren't having a heart attack which was my first concern. I think anything with the lungs is about as serious and as painful or more so. I know PC had a collapsed lung and it was awful. My mom had pleurisy and was in agony. Hope you are able to take it easy and see this issue soon resolved.

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  11. Oh so scary! Wishing you a speedy recovery. Good thing you didn't just ignore it and keep on going with your day.

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  12. Reading this a week later and knowing you're doing better makes me so happy. I love the bookmark hospital bracelets.

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Thank you for being interested in my life as I blog it and for leaving a comment. Comments make me happier than reading a good book and drinking a cold Coke. Almost :)