currently: @943 (1:38pm) on thursday 1.8.09 | 139 hours since last post
A day without sunshine is like night.
Anyone get the reference?
We're home again from the hospital. Been there and back so many times in the last couple months that I have a hard time keeping track. We got out of the hospital last Friday, came home, had a pretty good weekend. We were scheduled to go in and see Dr. Winter the following Thursday, as well as getting a pleural effusion (liquid between the lung and the rib cage) tapped and drained on Friday. Thursday night (well, actually, for a few days leading up to Thursday, I was having some shortness of breath and panic attacks that were sorta feeding off each other. Not feeling like one is getting enough air is a panicky feeling. Wednesday night I had an attack so bad that Debbie called 911, and the awesome d00ds at SK Fire District 7 showed up, calmed me down, and ended up taking me to the hospital again in their cool ambulance. No lights or siren, unfortunately.
At the ER they gave me some drugs and basically decided that since I was getting the fluid tapped the next day, that there was no reason to admit me. The pressure of the fluid around the lung is what was causing the shortness of breath - it doesn't allow the lung to inflate all the way. So, we went home again Thursday night, and then on Friday went in for the tap. It took about 20 to 30 minutes, with very little pain, and they drew off almost a liter of fluid that looked exactly like unfiltered apple juice. They told me to expect almost immediate improvement in my lung capacity as the lung started being able to inflate fully again, and also moderate pain as the lung started to rub on the tissue inside the rib cage again. Both were as expected; within an hour I could tell the difference in the amount of air I was able to get with each breath, and most deep breaths hurt like hell.
As of today, breaths don't really hurt any more, no matter how deep, I'm not having panic attacks about it, and things are generally going well. My appetite seems to have returned, I'm sleeping better, and with Debbie's and Sierra's birthdays coming up, that can only be a good thing. They're all going to Wild Waves on Tuesday for Sierra, though her actual day isn't til Thursday. Supposed to be in the 90's Tuesday. Yeesh.
I just heard a rumor that Thierry Henry may be coming to MLS from Barcelona. Not only that, but to Seattle's new MLS franchise. That's a nice rumor.
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