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Yup... Congestive Heart Failure.
3 years ago
Good to see you again all my Fellow FA Friends, Fans, Artists, Writers, Fursuiters, Crafters, Photographers, Makers of Music, and Dreamers of dreams.
I almost lost you all because I was so stubborn. You might remember when I mentioned in my previous journal at how I was dealing with coughing which I thought was the symptoms of a bad and re-occurring case of the Flu? Well, in the months and days after I submitted that journal, I found it more and more difficult to breathe, and even mild tasks such as walking up and down stairs or taking out the laundry would leave me so out of breath that I'd have to sit down for a few minutes to regain my composure. About a week ago, things became so bad, I thought I was going to pass out, right on the Kitchen Floor. Fortunately, my friend Schirm was there to help me, and I had to call the local paramedics to haul me over to the Verdugo Hills Medical Center. There the doctors were first talking about bypass procedures and cutting me open to "tinker with my ticker," but instead, figured that I might be able to beat my CV problems by draining the fluids accumulating around my lungs and heart by forcing my systems to make me pee considerably. Thus, I spent three nights under clinical supervision, usually going at the rate of one bathroom trip every fifteen minutes or so. Of course, there were a couple of nights where I needed my sleep, but I had to answer "Nature's call" to same myself the embarrassment of wetting the bed.
Let me tell you, Spongebob Squarepants had it easy. All he had to do was call for "Hans" and get wrung out.
Anyway, I was put on 2 Liters of O2 a day, and nightly hooked up to a giant CPAP machine, which first would do the breathing for me. I was attached to the main Oxygen supplies by a 20-foot length of tubing that was often more than enough to get me to the restroom and back, I often teased with the nurses about those old "Hard Hat" diver's rules in telling them, "Remember. One tug for 'give me more line,' and two tugs for 'Haul me up Quick!" Now I really understand what it's like to stumble about in the chilly darkness, depending on someone up "Topside" to translate the intentions being conveyed through simple tugging on a line.
If the line is jerking about spasmodically, I'm most likely caught up in the wreckage, or battling an Octopus.
So now I have two O2v compressor machines at my disposal, One that's portable, and the other that's for when I sleep at night. After my first night's being "Hooked up" I must say that I had the most restful night's sleep I've ever enjoyed.
Thank you all for your best wishes and support. As always...
"Peace".
I almost lost you all because I was so stubborn. You might remember when I mentioned in my previous journal at how I was dealing with coughing which I thought was the symptoms of a bad and re-occurring case of the Flu? Well, in the months and days after I submitted that journal, I found it more and more difficult to breathe, and even mild tasks such as walking up and down stairs or taking out the laundry would leave me so out of breath that I'd have to sit down for a few minutes to regain my composure. About a week ago, things became so bad, I thought I was going to pass out, right on the Kitchen Floor. Fortunately, my friend Schirm was there to help me, and I had to call the local paramedics to haul me over to the Verdugo Hills Medical Center. There the doctors were first talking about bypass procedures and cutting me open to "tinker with my ticker," but instead, figured that I might be able to beat my CV problems by draining the fluids accumulating around my lungs and heart by forcing my systems to make me pee considerably. Thus, I spent three nights under clinical supervision, usually going at the rate of one bathroom trip every fifteen minutes or so. Of course, there were a couple of nights where I needed my sleep, but I had to answer "Nature's call" to same myself the embarrassment of wetting the bed.
Let me tell you, Spongebob Squarepants had it easy. All he had to do was call for "Hans" and get wrung out.
Anyway, I was put on 2 Liters of O2 a day, and nightly hooked up to a giant CPAP machine, which first would do the breathing for me. I was attached to the main Oxygen supplies by a 20-foot length of tubing that was often more than enough to get me to the restroom and back, I often teased with the nurses about those old "Hard Hat" diver's rules in telling them, "Remember. One tug for 'give me more line,' and two tugs for 'Haul me up Quick!" Now I really understand what it's like to stumble about in the chilly darkness, depending on someone up "Topside" to translate the intentions being conveyed through simple tugging on a line.
If the line is jerking about spasmodically, I'm most likely caught up in the wreckage, or battling an Octopus.
So now I have two O2v compressor machines at my disposal, One that's portable, and the other that's for when I sleep at night. After my first night's being "Hooked up" I must say that I had the most restful night's sleep I've ever enjoyed.
Thank you all for your best wishes and support. As always...
"Peace".
The world is a better place with you in in.
Dominus tecum
V.
Take care please.
He's already been opened up to have a quad-bypass and later an implanted pacemaker.
He's been re-plumbed and re-wired! Still has issues with energy and getting enough oxygen when he sleeps.
Decades of apnea have not been kind, but he's still alive and himself, so he uses his CPAP now.
Hope you don't have to go through all that to get your ticker re-wound anytime soon, but please do what's necessary to keep you going for however much longer!
Glad you can find the humor in these times and joke with the hospital staff, probably a welcome bit of levity in their line of work!
I hopet things will get better soon!
"Kia kaha" mate, be strong and get well soon!
(P.S. Luv my CPAP...:)
OMG! So glad you got help.
thank you, mortal coil.
I'm afraid my mom might have somethign like that, too. she caught a cold from me a month ago, and decided to sit it out. of course it didn't, so she coughed, wheezed, moaned, and cursed for almost 4 weeks, refusing to see the doc who resides 200 paces down the street... so it's not like traveling the whole country, right? but, still. so she got some pills (antibiotics if I see right) and it slowly gets better... but maybe it doesn't. not that she'd see the doc again and say something, nope!
I mean, I had to threat her to drag her there if she hadn't visited the doc by the time I come home from work, being tired of her coughing and wheezing and everything, yes? maybe I have to threaten her again. don't want her to end up in hospital again with a pneumonia like that one time when the dehydration pills didn't work, and the water finally started to collect around and inside the lungs...
does one become like that when getting old? :(
Please stay safe and keep getting better for yourself and all of us.
Take care and keep us updated on your progress!
Glad you're still with us.
Wishing you all the best.