Unexpected Hospital Time

It's always something, that is for sure.

My arm and hand have been a little more swollen than my normal swell ever since the airplane ride back home on Monday night.  My hand started showing signs of an infection late Wednesday evening.  By Thursday there was significant pain, swelling of the index finger, and some redness.  I had a physical therapy appointment Thursday afternoon.  The therapist examined my hand and told me that I needed to monitor the situation, if it got worse I would have to go the emergency room and get antibiotics for cellulitis.  She did some lymphatic massage to help move the swelling in my hand and arm out towards the other lymph node clusters.  The redness appeared to go away and the pain was a little less.  We wrapped my arm before leaving her office.  The next morning I unwrapped my arm and my hand was significantly more swollen than the day before.  So much, that I could not fit my compression glove on.  I got ready and head to work.  As the day progressed, the pain in my hand increased to the point that I decided I needed to go the hospital and get some antibiotics.  Knowing how emergency rooms operated, I stopped by my house after work to grab a few things to make my wait bearable, including Southpaw.

I arrived at the ER about a quarter past five.  The triage nurse took my vitals, checked out my hand, and wrote down my symptoms.  I told her that I also had some pain in my chest.  I described it as one feels when they are catching a cold or have the flu.  The pain you get when you are getting sick and it is hard to breathe.  In my mind, I had an infection.  She gave me a mask to wear in the waiting room.

ER fashion at its best.

After about three hours they finally had a bed for me.  The doctor came right away and started asking me a ton of questions.  He was very concerned about the pain I had in my chest.  I reviewed the events of the past week:  airplane trip, I did a short little jog on the beach Tuesday morning, physical therapy yesterday, worked, nothing out of the ordinary for me.  He asked if I had any cramping, I told him the other night I was woken out of a deep sleep by an insanely painful leg cramp in my calf muscle.  I told him I didn't think much of it since I have a tendency to get cramps in my calves often.  He told me that he wanted to check me for a blood clot.  Argh!!! Really!!!  I apparently hit the blood clot symptom trifecta: cancer, swollen arm, long airplane trip.  Plus, the chest pain.  I was going to be there for awhile.  It was already after 8:30pm.

Southpaw comforting me after an oh so painful IV placement.
Right in the crease of the elbow - not fun!!

The battery of tests came fast: chest x-ray, IV placement, blood work, ultra sound, and then a CT scan of my chest.  In between all the tests, I was given an IV drip of concentrated antibiotics for the cellulitis in my hand.  By the time I was finished with the CT scan it was now about 12:30am.  All the tests came back negative.  Whew!  But, the doctor was still puzzled by the pain in my chest.  He told me that  it would be best to admit me overnight for observation.  It was already the middle of the night so, why not.  He did not like the idea of releasing me yet since tomorrow was Saturday and I would not be able to see my doctor until Monday.  They took me up to the cardiac isolation ward for my stay overnight.  The nurse settled me in, hooked me up to a heart monitor and the team of doctors (2) came in and asked me a bunch of questions, too.  They took their notes and left.  It was now about 3am.  I got to doze off for a bit before the nurse came in around 4:30am to check my vitals and heart monitor.

Southpaw checking heart monitor

Fell back asleep for a couple of hours.  The nurse came back in shortly after 7am.  I would get to have breakfast after they came and took my blood again.

Not the breakfast in bed one hopes for.

The doctors made their rounds just before 11am.  The two doctors from last night, plus their boss and a few others.  We recounted the events of the past week once again and what brought me there last night.  She told me that all my tests came negative including this morning's blood work.  She asked how I was feeling this morning.  I told her that I was feeling better and the pain in my chest had mostly gone away.  We discussed doing a follow up with a stress test to make sure that all was well with my heart.  She did not see any reason for me to stay any longer so they would go ahead and discharge me after lunch.

Finally, left the hospital around 1:30pm.  I headed home, stopping to pick up my antibiotic prescription on the way home.  When I got home, I took a shower and then fell asleep on the couch.  It had been a very long 36 hours.