Take Me By the Heart

 My brother wrote a song in honor of our wedding called "By Heart".  It starts with the lyrics, "Take me by the  heart, then we can start our lives together". . .I had no idea how much the heart would be part of my past week's experiences.  All in all, everything is fine, but a trip to the ER and then even (one) night's stay in a hospital is enough to give one perspective.  I'm at the hospital all the time, and I probably visit Brandon Regional more than any.  It is 1/2 mile from the church, and I've been to all sections of it.  It didn't occur to me that I might at some point be there as a patient.

  After a few days fighting what was diagnosed as strep throat (and I believe it was), I began to feel some pressure in my chest, shoulders, neck, head and arms.  If it was coming and going, I probably would have done nothing about it, but it was not subsiding, so I drove myself to an urgent care place.  But it was after 10pm and few of them are open late.  So it was off to the ER.  When you mention anything with the word "chest" you have a golden ticket to the front of the line.  EKG, chest x-ray, start the IV (thanks--"Dusty the paramedic"), some children's aspirin, then eventually some morphine, some nitro paste, and something to help the nausea.  I must have met 15-20 different people through my stay, all very nice and caring.  Our local hospital doesn't always get the best reputation compared to some neighboring care centers, but they've done well by us with two children born, and now an overnight stay by yours truly.

  With elevated troponins (heart enzymes), the signs pointed to heart attack, but I wasn't a candidate with history, age, etc.  Other things can cause these high levels, which essentially show that the heart is in distress.  In my case it was the ongoing fight against strep that had started to affect this lower area of my upper body.  I had a heart catheterization at 9 am and it revealed healthy arteries.  A Echocardiogram revealed no fluid buildup.  Pericarditis (inflamation of the sac surrounding the heart) was the diagnosis, attributed to my strep infection.  Treatment includes some ibuprofen to control the inflamation.  I don't know if my body was so run-down that I was more susceptible to this infection than usual, but it really did attack more severely than I thought it had.  I'm grateful for those who took care of me, and especially for Kelly, who managed to balance the need to be a mother and a wife all at the same time.

  On this day when we are remembering the events of 9/11, with swirling escapades of Koran burning, in a world that has both become smaller and more divided, my gratitude is a bit closer to the heart today--for health, family, and as I'm interrupted in finishing this--for little boys who take the initiative to poop on the potty.   We have to go to McDonald's.  Gotta love it!

Strep by Strep

So, I had every intention of a wonderful Labor Day weekend.  I was going to fly to Pittsburgh, reunite with my family, surprise my friends as Kelly and I joined them for a few nights in remote Pennsylvania, and then some family time over the holiday before we all returned to Florida together.  What happened instead was that I left the church early on Thursday because I wasn't feeling well.  I prepared to leave, got the house closed off, dogs boarded, headed to the airport, and through two flights really started to feel worse.  I reunited with the family, had dinner, and Kelly and I headed off to surprise my friends.  Still feeling worse.

When we got there I just wanted to crawl in bed, and so I did.  Got up for about 3 hours on Saturday, and after lunch went back to bed as my friends sat in the other room laughing and reminiscing.  I felt very far away.  That afternoon, after realizing that I had spent the past 21 out of 24 hours in bed, Kelly asked if we should head back.  I reluctantly said we should.  So I bade farewell to my buddies, got in the car and headed back to her parents house.  That night I was up every two hours, shivering and never getting even close to comfortable.  I didn't sleep, and I didn't feel very well.  I really wasn't enjoying Labor Day weekend at all.  I almost felt as though I shouldn't have come.

Sunday I got myself to a walk-in and even though the quick-strep test came back negative, the PA thought I was in the margin of error.  Amoxicillin, lots of liquids, and rest.  I was starting to feel well enough for a 6 hour day with the boys and family, enough to salvage some of the dream weekend.  I think my Labors were catching up with me.  Kelly was disappointed, I was distraught, and we just felt an opportunity missed.  Only now am I thankful for the chance to get away and see my family again, or that I really did relish seeing my friends, even for a few minutes.  I trust there will be other opportunities and better times.