Journal entry by Wendy Fry —
On 1/2/24, I contacted my doctor's office with some concerns about weakness and being short of breath. After speaking with two nurses, I was told to go to the hospital to get a chest X-ray to check for pneumonia. After arriving, my doctor was a person I know, the wife of a former coworker, so she knows the recent struggles I've had with my chemo. She wanted to also do a CT with contrast to check for clots, and an EKG as well as a breathing treatment. It was found that not only was I severely winded on exertion (walking to the bathroom, for example), I was tachycardic, with my heart rate in the 130s.
While they did lots of tests to find out what was going on, all results came back normal. It was finally decided I needed to be admitted so they could keep an eye on me. Jax left and I was placed in a distant ER room because there were no rooms in the actual hospital. I slept poorly overnight, with a high heart rate that continued and shortness of breath when I exerted myself (remaking my bed after rolling over, for example).
I had an echocardiogram the next day to check my heart. That also came back normal, thank goodness. On the third day, other breathing tests showed I was having a massive asthma flareup. Breathing treatments and medicine helped calmed down my shortness of breath, and I was eventually released from the hospital with some followup appointments later in March to test and deal with my asthma. My heart rate also calmed down when I was able to breathe better.
Not sure what caused my asthma to flare up. This was the worst it has ever been. Normally, I just feel a little tightness in my chest, or I get a cough that flares up when I get a cold. This was the first time I ever sucked wind because of it. But anyway, due to the medicine I'm now on, I'm doing much better and am feeling pretty close to normal in all ways.
Thanks to Jax for taking me to the ER, and to Dad for picking me up when I was released! And thanks to everyone for following along on Facebook and the supportive comments!
While they did lots of tests to find out what was going on, all results came back normal. It was finally decided I needed to be admitted so they could keep an eye on me. Jax left and I was placed in a distant ER room because there were no rooms in the actual hospital. I slept poorly overnight, with a high heart rate that continued and shortness of breath when I exerted myself (remaking my bed after rolling over, for example).
I had an echocardiogram the next day to check my heart. That also came back normal, thank goodness. On the third day, other breathing tests showed I was having a massive asthma flareup. Breathing treatments and medicine helped calmed down my shortness of breath, and I was eventually released from the hospital with some followup appointments later in March to test and deal with my asthma. My heart rate also calmed down when I was able to breathe better.
Not sure what caused my asthma to flare up. This was the worst it has ever been. Normally, I just feel a little tightness in my chest, or I get a cough that flares up when I get a cold. This was the first time I ever sucked wind because of it. But anyway, due to the medicine I'm now on, I'm doing much better and am feeling pretty close to normal in all ways.
Thanks to Jax for taking me to the ER, and to Dad for picking me up when I was released! And thanks to everyone for following along on Facebook and the supportive comments!
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