MEDICALLY however...
All things considered, thought I was doing well until last Monday, October 25.
I awoke around 4 that morning to answer Nature's Call and felt light headed. At the time I thought it was just a question of rising too fast out of bed, which has happened to almost everybody at one time or another. I sat on the edge of my bed until the feeling eventually passed, then managed to do what I needed to and went back to sleep without further incident.
Or so I thought.
A couple of hours later I wake up for the day and OH BOY!
I was seriously light headed and could barely keep my balance when I tried to walk!
It was the worse case of vertigo/dizziness it has ever been my displeasure to experience.
Those around me thought I looked very pale, so insisted I have breakfast and my morning medications first in hope that things would get better.
When my condition didn't improve, they called for an ambulance.
Can't blame them. I was very scared too considering at that point I had barely been out of the hospital for a week post heart operation.
Now let me clarify things a bit before I continue.
At NO POINT did I ever feel nauseous, have a headache, lose consciousness or experience blurry and/or double vision. It was always more like I was trying to walk across the deck of a ship during a bad storm at sea.
Anyway, the ambulance came and took me to the Emergency Department of the local hospital where a bad situation became worse.
I understand the purposes of Triage and Prioritizing patients, but I sat on a gurney in the Waiting Room's hallway for OVER ELEVEN HOURS😵 unattended waiting for a CAT Scan!
Worse, because of the impending procedure, I was allowed no food or water, so missed both lunch and dinner as well as suffered a very sore/dry throat by the time they finally wheeled me into the Emergency Room proper and on to the CAT Scan machine.
Then after that they also wanted to do an MRI.
Personally, I can't blame anyone for wanting to run the tests.
I was scared out of my wits from the word "Go" and wanted to find out what the heck was going on.
But this new test took time to book so it wasn't until well after 3 Tuesday morning before I had anything to eat and/or drink! By that time I would have eaten the plastic wrapper to the cheap vending machine ham and cheese sandwich I was served. And considering I don't like ham to begin with... 😕
The end result of all of this was that they THANKFULLY😀 ruled out a Stroke and the possibility of some piece of plaque the original artificial heart valve was collecting breaking away and going somewhere it shouldn't have.
The general consensus is that I probably (no official confirmation) experienced your basic Inner Ear Infection. Whether or not my situation was made worse because of the recent heart surgery to replace the first artificial heart valve with a better model is also unknown, but I'll be totally surprised if it wasn't.
All I can say is that from my perspective, the whole situation stank🦨 17 different ways from Sunday!
After I was discharged and got a ride home, I slept most of what remained of Tuesday and well into Wednesday morning. Besides the fact I never got one decent wink on that stretcher, the only way I can sleep safely is with a C(onstant)P(ostitive)A(ir)P(ressure) machine, which I did mention a couple of times but no one seemed able or willing to scrounge one up for me.
Was still somewhat unsteady on my feet for the next couple of days, but that was due more to nerves and a lack of confidence walking, considering what I had just been through.
Thankfully that part has corrected itself since my second homecoming, yet I can't help feeling that I'm not back to the point where I was on Sunday, October 24 before all of this started.
Not that I don't feel better.
More like I hit a speed bump/set back in my recovery.
Oh well.
One day at a time.
Lee Houston, Junior
31 October, 2021
