At Least June Is a Short Month

When I last posted, I shared a bit of our May Madness. May was full of happy events; it was just overflowing, period. And I was glad to flip the calendar to June.

And here's a taste of the first part of June for the mountainbillies:

June 1:

6am - Randy went to school complaining of a pulled muscle from sneezing hard and frequently, thanks to the worst pollen in years.

4:30pm - Randy came home, complaining a bit more loudly about the pulled muscle.

6pm - Randy took two ibuprofen. We ate dinner.

10pm - Randy took two more ibuprofen. He never takes ibuprofen, and he had 4 in 4 hours.

10:15pm - Randy grabbed the rocker in sudden, excruciating agony that made me nauseous. In between grimaces and a sort of howling, I somehow got that he was having a muscle spasm from #@$& from his back (mid-low) all the way up to his neck. I informed him we were going to the ER.

10:16pm - As Matthew led Randy to the truck (because it was easier for him to climb into than the trusty '88 Camry low rider), Matthew commented, "A bird just flew in the house." Joy. They left for the ER as I attempted to usher the bird out. After 2 minutes, I gave up trying to find the bird and headed to the ER.

11:15pm - We went back to a room, where eventually the ER doctor determined Randy's problem was musculoskeletal. He was explaining how Randy could address the pain when he left to look at the urine specimen. He returned with a report that there was a tiny bit of blood in the urine, so he needed to run a scan to see if Randy had - or had had - a kidney stone. Yippee.

June 2:

2:15am - The scan had been done and sent to ARIZONA to be read. Yes, ARIZONA. The wait was long, and we began dozing. Miraculously, I did not fall out of the chair. The doctor returned with the news that Randy's kidneys were fine, with no evidence of a stone, past (or passed!) or present. However, there was 'something' at the base of his left lung. Randy needed another scan, with dye, to see what was up with his lungs. Yippee again.

3:15am - Randy was wheeled up for the scan. I called Matthew, who had gone home long before (and found the bird back in her nest by the door, so thank goodness she found her way out) because I figured he'd be worried. He was sound asleep and thought we were already home.

5:45am - The doctor, looking pretty weary by now, came in to tell Randy the scan had been read in ARIZONA... and he had pulmonary embolism (Randy, not the doctor). Clots - CLOTS - in his lungs!!! Before we knew what hit, Randy was hit with a Lovenox injection and told he'd be admitted ASAP. Stunned, I called Matthew again so Randy could relay the list of school phone numbers to call.

June 3 - A Doppler on Randy's legs revealed a tiny DVT (clot) behind his right knee. A few years ago, he had a huge DVT behind his left knee. Blood was drawn to see if he has a genetic clotting disorder. Yippee.

June 4 - After 3 days in the hospital, we finally irritated our doctor's last nerves, and he allowed Randy to come home. He'd be giving himself injections for a few days and remembering to take Coumadin, but we were home!

June 5 & 6 - Blood tests at the ER lab.

June 7 - Our 36th anniversary! Randy returned to school (Matthew drove). Blood test at the doctor's office.

June 8 - Blood test at the doctor's office, then school.

June 9 - As Randy got closer to school, he felt a tightness in his back way too similar to the pain from the last week, so he asked someone at school to drive him to the ER near school. Matthew and I made the 60-mile trek and met him at the hospital. The tests checked out fine, and no one had a clue why he'd have pain. Maybe it was the pulled muscle from the sneezing.... It didn't stop us from indulging in a Chick-fil-A at the new spot in Wilkesboro.

June 10 - Blood test at the doctor's office, then a football meeting, then graduation at Randy's school at night.

June 11 - Blood test at the doctor's, then to football fundraiser golf tourney. Randy did not play, but he still sweated. Matthew would have played, but he took a player to UNC to a football combine. Received the first NOT A BILL from the hospital. Needed resuscitation.

June 14 - Summer football program starts!

June 15 - The middle of the month. Whew.

Meanwhile, back in the real world, the Blue Ridge Parkway is celebrating its 75th anniversary! We're just under 5 miles from the Parkway, so come to Angel Mountain Cabin and celebrate the Parkway... or something :)

We'll be celebrating getting this far in June....