A very stressful week

Some days, it seems like you’d have been better off staying in bed.  That pretty much sums up last week!  Not really, but it sure felt like it at times.  I did get over my sickness by about Monday or Tuesday.  Dennis left out Tuesday morning to head to the deer woods of East Texas.  I had CASA visits lined up all week.  Ricky was sick one day with the stomach bug, but he was able to work the other 4 days.  I was expecting the week to go pretty well.

Things kind of fell apart on Wednesday.  I had a very stressful situation arise on one of my CASA cases.  It pretty much consumed me all day.  I could feel my blood pressure rising, so I started taking it several times throughout the day.  It was higher than it had ever been…much higher than I was comfortable with!  I took an extra BP pill, but it barely made any difference.  Ricky came home from work and cooked supper for us, so that I could rest quietly to try to keep it down.

I started out Thursday taking 2 pills to avoid it spiking so high again.  I had responsibilities that I had to take care of, and I was still dealing with the same issue that stressed me out so bad the previous day.  It still ran high all day, especially when I was dealing with the problem at hand.  So I decided I’d better make an appointment to see my doctor Friday afternoon.  I was busy with a visit all morning, so I made my appointment for right after lunch.

My BP was still pretty high at the doctor’s office, so they decided to do an EKG.  There were some “little abnormalities” on it, so they told me to go directly to the ER.  They asked if I wanted the EMTs to drive me, but I told them I was fine to drive myself.  The hospital was just a few miles down the highway.  The doctor’s office called ahead to tell them I was coming, so all I had to do was walk in and tell them who I was, and they whisked me off to a triage room.  The nurse who did my intake was upset that I had driven myself to the ER.  I told her I had been driving all day and was fine.  She asked if anyone was with me.  “No.”  Did anyone know where I was?  “No.”  She told me to call my husband.  “He’s in the deer woods in East Texas, without cellphone reception.”  “Then call your kids!”  So I texted Sheila to explain what was going on.  About that time, Ricky texted to see what I had found out at the doctor, so I told him what was going on, too.  He immediately left work and drove to the ER.  Sheila also left work early and headed over.  The nurses and doctors in the ER were moving like crazy getting me admitted, bloodwork drawn, UA done, EKG done, IV hooked up and chest xray done.  They were taking things very seriously, which kind of freaked me out...and REALLY made my BP shoot up!  They administered a different medication into my IV to bring my BP down quickly, and then started getting all of the test results back.  My bloodwork was fine, as was my chest xray.  The EKG showed the same abnormality as the one in the doctor’s office, but the ER doctor said it wasn’t indicative of a serious problem.  (My doctor had already started the process to refer me to a cardiologist for a complete workup.)  The medication brought my BP down to a normal level, so I was released to go home.  The only test result that came back positive for anything was the UA…I had a slight UTI.  The ER doctor started me on another BP medication, which I will continue until I see the cardiologist.  I was sure happy to get home!!!

While I was lying in the ER, Stephen facetimed me with the boys.  It was great to talk to them!  Jesse just couldn’t understand what was going on though.  He kept asking me, “What are you DOING, Granny?”  LOL!  Stephen tried to explain that I was “sick” and at the doctor’s.  I don’t think he ever figured it out though!  Talking to him and Shepherd was “good medicine” for this old granny!

Sheila had already planned to come over and spend the night, so she headed home with me and we had a good visit and watched a fun movie.  She left the next morning to spend the day with Jessica.  I pretty much took the day off and just rested up.  My BP has continued to remain at a reasonable level.

After it was all over, I finally was able to talk to Dennis and fill him in on everything.  He had been having a pretty crummy week, too!  It was very hot and wet in the woods, and he didn’t kill a deer.  He had planned to gun hunt on Saturday morning, which was opening day of gun season, but he discovered a flat tire on his truck Friday night, so he had to go into Lufkin to get a new tire the next morning.  After getting that done, he had to break (a very wet) camp and head home.  Since it has been rainy here, too, the tent is set up for an indefinite period of time in the front yard until it finally dries up enough to fold up and put away.

Dennis was cleaning his glasses last night, when his frames broke right in half!  So he’ll have to go to the eye doctor’s office first thing in the morning to get some replacement frames.  Thankfully, he still had an old pair of glasses that he can use. 

I have a meeting tomorrow night, then I’m free until Saturday morning, when Sheila and I have a visit to do; so Dennis and I decided to make our annual trip to San Saba this week to buy pecans.  Lord willing, we will head down Tuesday, stock up on nuts, spend the night, and then come home Wednesday.  It will serve as our “anniversary trip” again.  We always enjoy the drive down, and we LOVE exploring all of the yummy varieties of pecans and spreads in the San Saba Pecan Company store.  We try to buy enough to last us all year.

Well, that’s been our week!  I hope all of you have had a better week than we did!  I’m determined that THIS week will be good!  Take care!

(Just to make things clear, my heart is fine!  Either do to my weakened state from being sick and dehydrated, or due to the stress of the week, or just because my old medication has quit being effective for me, or a combination of the three was what caused my blood pressure to go crazy.  We still don’t know what the “abnormality” on the EKGs is, but I will be seeing a cardiologist in the very near future to get that checked out.)