The saga continues...

[Guest guest]

Hope you are all doing well on this Memorial Day holiday. I feel like

a lurker sometimes, but doesn't that imply reading the messages just

not replying to them? I don't really know. It just seems that when I

write, it's about me. Well this time is no exception.

This past Thursday, I had an appointment at the endocrinology clinic.

I have a knowledgeable endocrinologist. The main thing about him that

concerns me is that he's on the slow side. I had a Thyroid Uptake and

Scan in March. The doctor didn't call me about the report until this

month. Now, I don't really remember what he told me, I think my

thyroid back in March at any rate, was picking up 70% of the

radioactive iodine. He said that I probably have that Grave's

Disease. There is autoimmune activity. Anyway, I didn't see him on

Thursday, I saw his assistant. She's a really great woman who is an

ARNP, a nurse practitioner. She said that I have Grave's Disease, an

autoimmune hyperactive thyroid disease. She talked about various

treatments and I finally asked if other people try the anti-thyroid

drugs instead of the radioactive iodine. She said yes, then I asked

about the different dose levels and said I would be willing to try the

pills if I could start with the lowest dose. So she put me on

Methimazole 10 mg. This is the generic equivalent of Tapazole.

While I was in the exam room, I got very weak and had to lie down. I

could have been dehydrated, even though I drink regularly, plenty of

water, juices, and other alcohol- and caffeine-free beverages. She

gave me several cups of water to drink, then let me rest. When she

returned, she asked how I felt and I said better, which might

not have been entirely true. But, I was able to stand and walk slowly

out of the exam room. I had to schedule two appointments, then the

driver helped me into the Medstar van and took me home.

When I got home, my oldest and youngest sons (both disabled) were

home. The first thing they said was that a coupon came in the mail

from Hollywood Video, " Rent one, get one free " . So I took them to

Hollywood Video. Once again, I got that weakness throughout my body.

I ended up sitting on the floor while the boys made their final

decisions. When they had their games picked out, I struggled to get

up from the floor and gave the guy the money and the coupon.

When we got home, I went straight to my bed to lay down, I did not

feel well at all. My oldest son came in the room saying that he was

concerned about me and that I should call 9 1 1. I told him to call

and he said he couldn't, he wouldn't know what to say. So I called.

The dispatcher asked what emergency I was reporting and I told her

that I wasn't sure, but I was very weak and had been coughing which

caused convulsions, in my stomach, and subsequent vomiting. I was

laying on the bed when the paramedics showed up. They took me to the

hospital. The ER doctor ordered tests. The IV that the paramedic had

started had to be restarted in my other arm, then I had to get another

IV started because the doctor ordered two different IV meds that

couldn't be given in the same line. He ordered a thyroid test, then

came in with a med cup of 6 pills. He explained that my thyroid was in

a severe flare and he needed to get the flare stopped or I could go in

a coma. The medication was a similar one to methimazote. Taking two

at a time, I swallowed all the pills. Then he said that I needed to be

in an ICU bed, but he didn't have one available and he would have to

send me to Yakima. He said he would make the calls to see which

hospital could take me and came back and said he might have to send me

to Harborview in Seattle. How would I ever get home from there???

Then the nurse came in with the transfer forms and said that they were

sending me to Yakima Memorial hospital as a direct admit. I didn't go

to ICU, but was put in the telemetry unit which is close. Oh, I

forgot, as the paramedics were taking me back to the ambulance, I

heard the nurse tell them that I was positive for pnuemonia.

There's more to this story, but I won't go into it now. I did want to

add that I'm not a coffee drinker and never have been. If I have a

hot drink, it's usually tea or hot chocolate. On Friday morning, I

was sent a breakfast tray with one of those thermal cups. I couldn't

really smell it, but tasted it instead and it was coffee. It was not

good. I spit it out without swallowing and when the nursing assistant

came back in, I asked her if I could have some tea instead. She took

my cup and rinsed it out in the bathroom and brought me back a cup of

hot water with a tea bag in it. The funny thing was on Saturday

morning. I had a late breakfast because I'd had to go to radiology.

The tray had a cup of coffee on it, once again. The student nurse

took the cup and said she would bring the hot water and tea bag for

me. Well, a different girl brought the cup back. It didn't have a

tea bag in it and since the cup was a dark brown anyway, I couldn't

tell if she had just gone ahead and steeped the tea herself. I put

the two packs of sugar in it and took a sip. It was hot, but I

thought, my goodness this tea sure was weak. Funny, when I finished

drinking, and took the cup in the bathroom to rinse it out, I realized

that what I had just finished drinking wasn't a cup of weak tea, it

was a cup of hot water. I just thought it was hilarious. When I told

the nursing assistant, she didn't see the humor of the situation and

just said, " I'm sorry " . She did offer to get me another cup of hot

water and a tea bag.

I was discharged from Yakima Memorial on Saturday afternoon, the same

Medstar driver that had brought me home on Thursday was the one that

brought me home yesterday. The restrictions that have been put on me:

No heavy lifting, no strenuous activity.

When I see the lung doctor, I'm going to ask for a nebulizer. The

deep breath I have to take to use an inhaler often puts me into a fit

of coughing. When I was at the hospital, I had a nebulizer treatment

every 4 hours. I could breathe normally during the treatments. It

took a little longer than using an inhaler, but what else can I do?

I'm not to do any heavy lifting or strenuous activities. Since most

activities are at least a little strenuous, I think a nebulizer would

work. The house doctor, asked me why I want to have a nebulizer. He

said that it's not very portable like an inhaler would be. I imagine

that there are different styles of nebulizers and some are likely to

be more portable than others.

People who have auto-immune diseases sometimes have more than one,

from what I've heard. Does anybody know?

Enjoy what's left of your holiday. Take care, everybody.

Donna