DAY 16: It Wouldn’t Be Vacation Without a Trip to the E.R.!
We really have to stop making a habit of this! Per my note from this morning, Richard woke up feeling much better. His “hives” had spread downward a bit but the old ones were fading. We thought we’ve beat it and hit the road. I drove because I wanted to him to keep his feet up because his hands and feet were swelling a bit. I was a bit concerned because his feet hurt to put on socks. So, he was barefoot in the RV. He assured me he was fine. That was Lie #1.
A concern with hives is that they can get into your throat, making it difficult to breathe. I’d been watching the hives on his neck closely, making sure they didn’t spread upward. What Richard didn’t tell me was that he had a hive on his tongue when he woke up. That was Lie #2.
I stopped for cash and sandwiches at a truck stop. Richard ate a Subway veggie on wheat bread. About an hour or so later, I was truckin’ down the freeway and Richard said he was itching under his arms again. I glanced over at him while he was talking and was shocked when I noticed his face was beet red. He was downright scarlet! My heart starting beating really hard and a heat flush went from my head to my feet. I was SCARED! I said, “Your face is RED!”
He got up to check in the mirror and came back, comfirming that, yes, he face was pretty darned red. I tried to talk him into stopping at a hospital or urgent care clinic. He said no. He just wanted to get to the next campground. I told him okay (that was my own lie) and told him he needed to lie down in the bedroom.
I said a short prayer and told God, “If I see a hospital sign, that’ll be a sign and I’ll pull off the freeway.”
About five minutes later, there was that big, beautiful, blue “H”. I pulled off. Richard didn’t get up until I got to a stop light. I knew he’d come up to the front if he sensed I’d gotten off the freeway. I heard his footsteps behind me and I braced for the debate…knowing I was going to win. He said, “Where are we?”
Right there next to us was another big H sign. I pointed at it and said, “We’re going to the hospital and there’s nothing you can say about it. WE ARE GOING!”
He shrugged his shoulders and said okay.
I had to drop Richard at the E.R. with an umbrella and then I tried to find a parking space. That was NOT fun. Finally found one that wasn’t too far away from the E.R. It was POURING outside and I was thrilled to find two small umbrellas above the RV door. I packed a small backpack of toys and snacks for the boys, put both of our laptops in my computer case (in case the RV got towed – ha ha – that wasn’t likely due to the size of the RV vs. the size of that small parking lot), and made a dash for the E.R.
Richard only had to wait about 20 minutes to get in a room. There were only 2 other people in the waiting room and Richard was called in last. The service there was amazing! We ended up being there for about 3 hours. Most of it was spent waiting for the blood work.
Basically, the doctor there believes Richard has vasculitis, which has been brought on by an allergen or an illness (he has not been sick). His blood is pooling under his skin and his hands were so swollen he couldn’t make a fist. He hadn’t told me that so I considered that Lie #3 – but that one was lying by omission. Richard had vasculitis a couple of years ago but the presentation was very different – small red spots. This is large areas of red spreading everywhere, just like hives.They never figured out why Richard had vasculitis before though I suspected all along it was from the doctor doubling the dose of his thyroid meds a week before the blood vessels starting erupting at the skin’s surface. After two months, specialists, a biopsy and countless tests, he only got better when they took him off the thyroid meds. He did start taking them again later, but at his original dose. The rheumatologist said at that time that it might come back someday. But, we always thought it would look the same.
All the blood work today came back normal. The doc put Richard on two antihistimines and prednisone. He told us to head straight back to Bangor in case Richard takes a turn for the worse.
We have stopped at a hotel for the night. It was hell getting here. We got lost, it’s raining (still!) and there’s something wrong with the headlights in the RV. I’ll try to tell you more about that tomorrow night. I have to get some work done and then have to get to sleep. I have to do all the driving because of the meds Richard is one.
HERE is a picture of Richard’s hands several hours after getting a Prednisone injection. They were much redder before.
HERE is a picture of numerous broken blood vessels under his arm. It looks like this under his arms even hours after the Prednisone injection.
And, HERE is a picture of Richard in good spirits at the hospital. (Yes, Richard’s used to me whipping out my camera during, um, stressful times.) That’s Mason next to him, watching cartoons. Thank heavens for TVs in some emergency rooms! The boys were angels today! 
July 29th, 2009 at 5:05 pm
Ah, “Poor Richard’s Almanac” brings back memories. Five years ago, while teaching a writing workshop near Cuba, New Mexico, I came down with a rash. One of the workshop participants happened to be a nurse, who quickly diagnosed “shingles.” Ouch! I rushed off to the closest clinic–just outside the Indian reservation about 35 miles away. After a six hour wait, witnessing dozens of dramas in the waiting room, I was finally admitted, given a couple shots of this or that and sent on my way with a little bottle of pills called “hydocodon” (codeine), same thing I’d gotten for a root canal a few years before.
Other than the long wait, the medical staff was great. However, I now faced having to run a workshop with 27 participants for the next five days. While the pain wasn’t horrible, the drugs I was taking caused my attention to drift and I found myself drifting off into stream of consciousness instead of sticking to my usual workshop agenda. I warned my students what was happening and told them that if I drifted too off the subject they had my permission to interrupt and tell me to get back into the real world. To make matters worse, I had the impression that I was competing in a slow-talkers contest. Amazingly, in five days, I had only two or three “reminders” from my students to get back on track. A few who’d attended my previous workshops said it was the best workshop I ever taught. I hope this wasn’t the case since it might mean that my “best” depends on drugs–or maybe pain? As flattering as it might have been to hear that, I suspect that my “brilliance” that week was more the result of my students’ smoking too much jimson weed than anything to do with my perceived genius. It gives a whole new meaning to sick and dopey.
While this isn’t quite as bad as Richard and you spending vacation time in ER, your story was a reminder of what a drag it is to be sick when you’re away from home, no matter what the circumstances. My sympathies to both of you.
Here’s to better vacations…
July 30th, 2009 at 6:02 am
I have always said (or thought at least!) that you two and your family are like the pioneers who settled the West — that’s why I am so taken with your unique lifestyle and adventures in Writers Weekly. You are all such survivors–working, working, in face of nature, illness, whatever! But please–you both take too many chances with your medical emergencies, push the envelope. There’s nothing cowardly about stopping at the hospital emergency room.
But here’s a clue to better service. Instead of starting off that day you stopped, you’d be better to stay parked at the RV place, call 911, and let am ambulance take Richard there. Ambulance ALWAYS trumps walk-ins.
maggy
P.S. Now me, if I lived back then when they were giving out land in the mid West, the gold rush, etc. — I would just have stayed on the East Coast — you-all would have gotten in your covered wagon and headed West, having babies along the way.
July 30th, 2009 at 6:05 pm
No matter how well you plan there is always the unexpected. One month after we adopted a year-old dog we went on a long-planned road trip. At 3 a.m. the morning of our departure for Lake Tahoe, the dog began to shake her head and paw at her ears. Then, when we took her out to do her “business” before getting in the car, we noticed suspicious “sesame seeds” in the deposit she left on the ground. From that we knew she had worms, but the ears were a mystery. Since she seemed to be in good spirits, undaunted we drove six hours to our destination and immediately took the dog into a vet. Turns out her ears were infected and our suspicions about the worms were confirmed. The kind and concerned vet kept our dog half a day, wormed her, cleaned her ears and we continued our vacation of two weeks with a bag full of daily meds to continue treatment. We go back to Lake Tahoe every year and although our dog is healthy and well-cared for now, we keep that vet’s business card, just in case.