In case you need to know

The first weekend of October I started having pain in my left breast.  It was like someone was kneading it.  It came and went and it was annoying rather than painful.  But each day it got worse so much so that I started taking Tylenol about three days later.  

By this time the pain was under my arm and the rib cage was tender.  Sleeping was beginning to be a problem also.  It was a pulsing pain that would cause me to arch my back and grunt (not very lady like).  I thought perhaps what ever was under the rib cage was the problem.  Sunday the 11th I decided I wanted to go to the ER.  Jim agreed.  I knew I wouldn't be able to call the Doctor until Tuesday because of the Columbus Day Holiday and who knew when I'd get an appointment!

So after breakfast we hopped into the truck and headed down to the VA Hospital in West Palm Beach.  It's about an hour's drive.  After stating that I was having chest pains (I did say I didn't think it was my heart) I was whisked to a cubicle and before you can say Bob's your uncle they were drawing blood and hooking me up to a EKG!  The EKG was normal, the blood was off to the lab and the waiting began.  Chest xray was next.  I was told there was a shadow of something behind the heart, could be this or that.  It was never mentioned again.  Around this time I was given a shot of morphine.

They decided to admit me for 48 hours observation and a cat scan and stress test were in my future!  Before I was taken to my room I was given a cat scan.  Not a problem, it's an easy test.  You lay on a table and pass under the scanner.  At this point I was put on a clear liquid diet.  I missed lunch and dinner consisted of of jello, apple juice, instant beef broth and decaf tea.  I drank the tea.  For my health and dietary preferences I don't eat jello or drink things that are full of salt or sugar. I let the nurse know (and anyone else who happened to drop in my room).  One nurse said she'd request a dietitian to visit but it being a holiday it may not happen.  Around midnight I asked for something for the pain and I was given another shot of morphine.

Breakfast on Monday was more of the same, I drank the tea.  Because it was a holiday no tests on Monday.  My breakfast was more of the same so I drank the tea.  About this time the doctor dropped by and I explained to him about my diet preferences and why I wasn't consuming what they were giving me.  He said he'd take care of it.  A dietitian came by and my goodness she was misinformed about what vegans eat.  Anyway she noted my requests and my lunch Monday was real food!  A salad and an apple arrived along with iced tea.  My dinner Monday night was a veggie burger with steamed broccoli, carrots and cauliflower, spinach salad and a cup of coffee which I did not drink (don't like my coffee black).  

The stress test was Tuesday morning so no breakfast.  I was a little leery of this test....Jim flunked his and I really didn't want to fail either!  But it was easy  and my heart is A-OK!  I returned to my room in time for lunch and a visit from the Doctor who told me I could go home.  We talked about possible reasons why I have this pain and it could be inflamed by my under wire bra.  Perhaps I did an injury to myself and the wire just keeps aggravating it, perhaps not.  In any case he said to take Tylenol as needed and stop wearing the bra.  On the way home we stopped and bought some comfortable bras so we shall see.

As anyone who has ever stayed in hospital knows, you cannot sleep through the night.  They come in at all hours for vitals and to give you meds.  My meds consisted of blood thinner shots and Nexium (though they didn't call it that, it was for acid reflux) and baby aspirin.  I only got pain meds when I asked (twice).

They took wonderful care of me and I've nothing but praise for all who took care of me.  Even Jim and Sonsearae thought of my comfort bringing me toiletries, pajamas and my pillow from home.  They even brought me nuts, pretzels, dates and tea for my enjoyment!

As of this posting the pain is still there but not as debilitating.  I'm taking Tylenol every 6 hours but not in the middle of the night.  I have a followup appointment on 3 November and I sure hope the pain is gone by then!

I don't think I posted pictures of our new fridge.  We both like it and it sure would have been nice if this had been our first choice instead of trying to replace the cooling unit.

I'm not sure how we'll secure things when we travel so if you have a residential fridge and have traveled with it let me know how to keep bottles from sliding or breaking!

All is right in our world