The Diagnosis

I found out today that my co-worker is going to be out for another two days.  She had a Transient Ischemic Attack (TIA) and needs to rest for at least the next two days to make sure that she does not have another attack.  If she has another attack, she needs to go the the ER immediately.

A transient ischemic attack (TIA) is an episode in which a person has stroke -like symptoms for less than 24 hours, usually less than 1-2 hours.
A TIA is often considered a warning sign that a true stroke may happen in the future if something is not done to prevent it.

Scary....

Scary Day

At lunch today one of my coworkers was in the office with me.  She asked the secretary if the nurse was here today.  The nurse was not in, and we were wondering why she wanted the nurse.  She said that the episode was over now, but she felt her body go numb on the left side from her fingertips all the way up her arm into her shoulder and even the left side of the face.  I immediately thought stroke; the secretary thought heart condition.  After talking to her for a few minutes we let it go.  I worried about it some during the afternoon, but became really concerned after school when she came to talk to us.  She said that things seemed to be surreal and that she was going to call her mother who was a nurse and see if she needed to go to the emergency room.  She ended up in the emergency room, and it was not a stroke, but I am not sure exactly what the diagnosis was.  She is to take time off to rest tomorrow and see her family doctor.

A few months ago I was listening to Sunday morning radio and the program was on the signs of a stroke.  It talked about an acronym to remember, which I could not today.  I looked it up at www.stroke.org under signs and symptoms.  It is important to act within three hours in the case of a stroke.  The acronym is FAST.

Face: Ask the person to smile.  Does one side of the face droop?

Arms: Ask the person to raise both arms?  Does one arm drift downward?

Speech: Ask the person to repeat a simple phrase.  Is the speech slurred or strange?

Time: If you observe any of these signs, call 9-1-1 immediately.

Whirlwind April

(Although much delayed, I wanted to document this event in my blog because it happened to me directly and I also want a log of my husband's status updates from facebook.)

April started out innocently enough.  Just 15 days to go until Spring Break.  Report cards were done; packing started for trip to Florida; camping items bought.  Then..., on Wednesday, April 6th, I woke up with a stomach ache.  I was trying to shake it off to go to a meeting, but couldn't.  I had the chills and couldn't lay down.  Tums and Maalox did not help.  Chicken soup did not help.  The kids went to school, and Ron went to work.  I laid around dozing and in pain, still thinking it was a stomach virus.  About 11am Ron called to tell me what the symptoms of an appendicitis were; I asked him to check what the symptoms were for a gall bladder attack. (I really didn't think that I had either.)  He asked me if I wanted to go to the hospital again, and I finally agreed mostly to get him off my back.  I got dressed and sat down to wait for Ron to come home.  Off we went to the hospital.

When we got to the hospital, Ron dropped me off at the door, and I walked in by myself to stand in line behind two people who walked in right before me.  I was not able to stand up and when Ron came in, I made him stand in line for me, and I sat back down.  When the registration man called me, I was able to tell him my information, and we sat down and waited to be called back.  Once we were called back, I explained to the nurse what my pains were and how they were spreading and what started out as pain under my rib cage became pain down near my pelvis and down my sides and my back.  They took blood and put in an IV which I insisted the tech put in my left arm.  (I honestly hate IVs and have only had one a few times in my life, but with the birth of my first child learned that I am very right hand dominant and do not like them in my right arm.)  Then, they came back with some pain medication and when it did not work, came back with stronger stuff.  The doctor decided that they wanted to do a CT Scan with contrast and had me drink some liquid with raspberry Crystal Light.  They wheeled me to the CT Scan and they results came back: appendicitis.
At 3:30 as they were wheeling me to pre-op, I was calling my colleague to help me out with sub plans, and Ron was calling the principal to have a sub called for me for the next two days.  By 5pm I was in surgery.  These are Ron's status updates from this day.

My poor wife was in pain this morning. At first she thought she had the stomach flu.4 hours later we found ourselves at the hospital. She had a CT scan performed and it revealed that she has appendicitis. She will be going in for surgery soon. I'll follow up post surgery.

Penny is out of surgery and all went well. She is still snoring and should be in her room soon. She will have to stay overnite and hopefully released tomorrow AM. Thanks to everyone for all of your kind thoughts and prayers. Penny will be back on FB soon enough.

True enough I was released the next day!  Went back to work on Monday, took Tuesday and Wednesday off mainly to rest and for a post-op appointment, worked Thursday, and left Friday morning for our Disney camping trip.

Hawaii Day One: Travelling There

I decided to use my blog to journal about our trip so that when we get back, I will have an easier time when I do the journalling for my children's picture books.

We left home at 5am for our early morning flights. Ron and Riley flew together, and Reese and I flew together. Reese did really well with me as a lap child. She slept the whole first leg of the trip, and more than half of the second leg in two segments, 4.5 hours at the beginning and an hour at the end of the flight. During our lay over, Reese played and walked and we toured the airport. I bought her some French Fries for lunch and she was content.

Riley slept the first leg except for take off and landing. He got popcorn and McDonald's during their lay over and stayed up for the second leg of the trip.

We got to Maui about 4:30pm local time. Reese was sick on our trip, and although I was giving her Motrin regularly, she still seemed to be coming down with an ear infection or sinus infection. We got off the plane and took her straight to urgent care since the next day was Christmas. She just had a cold with no infection, and it was recommended that we give her Benedryl.

We had a nice dinner at home that night and ended up missing church on Christmas Eve.

Illnesses, Please Go Away!

Since the end of February we have seen a cold virus, a respiratory virus, an unknown virus, a double ear infection, a false chicken pox scare, strep throat, another ear infection, influenza, and bronchitis. We have had enough, especially me since I have had to take care of everyone because the only illness that I have gotten is the last one.

My children tend to bring things home from school or in the case of Reese, gets things from both school and her brother who she loves to drink after.

Ron was sick two weekends in a row, one with the unknown virus and one with strep. I happen to be a carrier of strep which means that when I was a teacher, I would bring it home, but never get it myself!

Reese is finally on the mend and hopefully, Riley will be well by the end of spring break!