Ironing Out the Details

I was up late last night again even though I left early to get to bed sooner! I woke with a sore throat. This is common for me, sometimes I even get a sore throat after a sneezing fit. This one was more rough than usual, though. So, I walked to a Walgreens nearby to get a sinus rinse in case it was just allergies. I learned years ago sinus rinses were my ticket to curing 90% of my sicknesses. I just hopped on a bus at the store to get to the hospital. 

Amanda told me she didn’t have any parties without me last night, no red surbs showed up. The transplant PA added IV Bumex pushes to the regiment and she was double dosed with the oral and the push back to back when I arrived. Later, the oral Bumex was changed to IV and kept at three times a day along with the Furoscix. Amanda had gained 3 pounds so they needed to change something.

When the PA came in early to talk with us, she explained things. I asked about the dopamine at home. She’d already spoken with Dr. Nair about it, and he was against it. Her kidney function was good, so he didn’t want to use it. It seems there was nothing we hadn’t tried to get us home. Metolazone was mentioned, but that’s what tanked her kidneys before, so bad that she had to stop all diuretics for a few days.

I joked with Amanda before leaving to get lunch that I looked like Mister Rogers since I usually have a light jacket on with khakis! I was grabbing Salata for lunch again, the third time this week. I’m getting to know the workers there well, too. They are usually the same crew since they aren’t open past 3 pm and not open on the weekends. I finally got the app at their urging so we could earn points. I was glad to hear I got $7 off my next visit since I’d just signed up, the cashier joked that it would be tomorrow.

The team came by in the afternoon. I was just about to leave, and already had my backpack on and out the door to go to the apartment when I saw the NP in the hall. So, I turned around and returned to hear what they had to say. The cardiologist wanted to add the Metolazone even with our bad past experience. He said he just wanted to add the smallest dose they make to see if we can get the right combination. It is designed to make the diuretics more effective. He mentioned he’d hoped for the Furoscix to be all we need with that. I could see in Amanda’s face that she didn’t like that idea, she questioned whether that diuretic alone would work.

I left after the team did and made my way to the apartment. I let Tank out quickly and loaded him up. We had an HEB curbside order to pick up, and I needed to drop off a few Amazon returns with Whole Foods and UPS. While waiting at HEB, I noticed the Westin driver that always honks at me about to walk by me. I rolled my window to honk at him and say hi. He was with a friend, their car broke down, and he was walking to get parts. He needed a little more money to get the part, so I got some cash out to help him. He was eager to say he’d pay it back, mentioning he didn’t return to work till Saturday. I wasn’t worried about it, and glad to help. I’m not sure if I was getting scammed, but he genuinely seemed to need help. I was thinking, what are the odds of me seeing someone I know in all of Houston? I returned and worked on a few things I’d ordered for the apartment, a clothes rod set up for the closet, and put together a side table for between our recliners.

It was later when I returned to the hospital, about an hour or more later than usual. Too late for Amanda to want a refresher. We ordered dinner quickly, it would be ramen tonight. I have been feeling worse as the day went on. It was getting obvious it wasn’t allergies. Amanda encouraged me to go to an urgent care. She thought it was probably best to get on it early in case it’s flu for something worse. With all the hospitals in the area, there aren’t very many urgent cares. So, I plan to go to the St. Luke’s ER, which is close to the apartment. It’s on my way from the bus stop, I walk right by it. Praying it’s nothing too bad and if it is that I don’t give it to Amanda. I may need to stay home tomorrow. We already talked about it, if I were to be contagious for long, she may just need to stay in the hospital a little longer.