First snowshoe

So glad that I was able to breath again so that we could enjoy the first snowfall.  Originally I didn't want to go out because it was freezing.  The high was only 17 but we enjoyed every minute and it wasn't cold at all.  In fact next time I'm going to wear lighter long underwear on top.

Unplanned hospital visit

I repeated this so many times on Monday, Dec 11 when I went to the Emergency Dept at RGH but I'll just document it here for my reference.

Here is the whole story.

On Saturday Larry was going to heat up the last of the Moroccan Stew that I made and before he put it in the microwave I grabbed a spoon, took a taste and started to cough because something went down the wrong way.  I didn't cough it up but after awhile I couldn't feel it anymore to cough up, but my throat was a little sore.  

The next day I noticed a shortness of breath.  I couldn't understand why it happened but it felt like back in the old days if I had too many cigarettes and it was hard to do an inhale without coughing.  We took our usual 2 mile neighborhood walk and life seemed normal.

On Monday Larry wanted to go for a walk but I didn't want to because it was COLD.  Eventually I changed my mind and we set out.  As we came around the block and up Ensign (small hill)  I couldn't catch my breath.  I was breathing so hard and I checked my heartbeat on my apple watch and it was over 140.  We walked down another block and stopped to talk to a neighbor and I caught my breath.  We finished the rest of the walk but I didn't have my usual energy.  After we got home I kept checking my pulse rate and it never went below 115.  Usually it's resting rate is in the 60s or less.  

So of course I looked up my symptoms on the internet and I decided we needed to go to Emergency.  Before I made the final decision I took a shower and washed my hair just in case.

On the way to the hospital we stopped at the doctor's office which we were driving right by and they also said "Head over to ED."

Good thing we did.  After an X-ray and CT scan I was told that based on the story starting Saturday I had aspirated food into my lung.  They wanted me to stay overnight and I was scheduled for a bronchoscopy the next day.  It was supposed to happen in the morning but didn't until the afternoon.

Fortuantely I brought my iPad and iPhone and portable charging device with me.

I stayed awake for most of the bronchoscopy but I think I must have dozed or just don't remember them removing the food that went into my lung.  They told me it was a potato but I knew there weren't any potatoes in the recipe and when I looked up the recipe I saw that the culprit was probably a garbanzo bean.  After some more hanging around I finally got to go home.  For the next couple of days I was really cautious about what I ate, mainly yogurt and smooth foods.  I'm also being kind of vigilant about making sure I chew everything really well now too.

I spent the afternoon in the hall watching all the activity

My CT scan machine

missed dinner but this was good except for the white bread

My overnight and 2nd day stay room in MCO - Observation

P.S.  12/27/17 - When I went home, I was told I should make an appointment with my personal physician within 3 days.  I actually got one for the next day.  The reason they wanted me to go was so that she could tell me they found "an ill-defined area of low attenuation within the periphery of the right lobe of the liver" and it was advised that I go for a follow-up CT scan.  I don't know why they couldn't have done it while I was already in the hospital.  Anyway I got an appointment for Dec 22 and went to the imaging lab over by RGH, a really nice, quiet space.  And for $60 I had my CT scan and then had to wait for the results.  I sort of remembered that 14 years earlier when I went to emergency for some complication  I thought I was having right before I was leaving to go to Greta's before Myles was born they found something on my liver but checked it out then and it was nothing.  Anyway, of course, I had to worry that I probably had cancer although in researching spots on livers they usually turn out to be nothing - but that didn't matter - I was giving myself 2 months.  On Tuesday, 12/26 I got a call from the doctors office and put a name to what it was - a benign liver hemangioma.  It's nothing and probably something I was born with - Happy New Year!!!!

3 wise women

I came across this and with the womens movement now I thought this was so cute.


What would have happened if it had been three wise women instead of three wise men who visited Jesus? They would have asked directions, arrived on time, helped deliver the baby, cleaned the stable, made a casserole, and brought practical gifts.