“You’re blessed when you’re at the end of your rope. With less of you there is more of God and his rule.” Matthew 5:3 MSG https://bible.com/bible/97/mat.5.3.MSG
This scripture was part of the message from Pastor Wes at Oasis Church this morning. We certainly identified with the message and have definitely reached the end of our rope, and are leaning on God to see us through.It’s amazing when you do that, the peace and joy that you experience, in spite of difficult circumstances.
I don’t know if you remember almost 2 weeks ago when I took Garry to the ER at SBGH that the doctor indicated Garry had a troponin level of 400 which indicated a heart attack. They repeated the bloodwork, which began to go down and so he felt that it wasn’t likely that was what was happening, along with everything else.
Spoiler Alert: I’m fine and all test results are good.
So, back on December 12th I started to feel an ache in my chest. Nothing significant but it felt very similar to the feeling that sent me to the ER back in March which led to the revelation of the lymphoma recurrence.
Well, I’m back in the ER. ☹️ Triage was fast but there is a 5.5hr wait, treating 50 and 23 waiting.
Backing up a bit, I kind of ignored the symptoms for a while and then when Shirley found out, she called our oncology nurse for advice. As a result they scheduled a CT scan for Dec. 24th. Symptoms continued off and on as we waited for the results which we got on the 29th.
The good news is that the CT result is very positive. The tumor is smaller, there is no spread, no damage from the radiation and everything from neck to abdomen seems OK. However, my on vacation oncologist wants me to be seen by a DR. for assessment. The suggestion is to call Urgentcare CancerCare which is sort of like an ER for cancer patients. I’ve been there once and received quick and excellent care.
A call to them results in an opinion that it’s nothing to do with the lymphoma and not a cancer issue. Initially they say I should see a cardiologist but later after a nurse/doctor consult they call back and say I should see someone now, as is go to the ER. I call my GP and he agrees.
Now I’m waiting. It’s literally standing room only in the waiting room and it takes about 45 minutes before I get a chair. There have been several ambulances and I overhear that the hospital is “full” due to a combination of COVID and post-holiday issues.
So after a 4 3/4 hr wait I’m in a bed hooked up to the monitors. A few minutes later I see the attending and we review my symptoms. My EKG is fine and so is the blood work ( aka – I didn’t have a heart attack). He doesn’t feel that my sympyoms are cardiac related. I mention that I rode the trainer for 2 hrs yesterday without any issues and his response was “That’s a pretty good stress test”. He was quite nice, wished me a good evening and I’m discharged. All is good.
Crash Card
Also good news, they didn’t need to use this piece of equipment. I’m not sure if it’s just how busy the ER is or the symptoms I presented with but I’m in the Resuscitation Room! I think they are ready for anything here. 🙂
The chest ache? Still a mystery but doesn’t appear to be anything serious.
I’m back at St Boniface Hospital today to get some “port care”. Basically a flush of the port with saline and heperin to make sure it’s not getting clogged.
The place brings back all the memories of chemo therapy and I’m surrounded by three other chairs with patients getting treated. I’m so thankful my treatments are in the past.
On December 19th there will be one more procedure to remove the port completely and when that heals, hopefully chemotherapy will fade away in the rear view mirror.
