Almost 3 months Smober, 89 days

[Tabbiekat]

First off just let me say I envy those who get 7-8 hrs sleep no matter what. I get to bed around 4am and I am up by 8am no matter what. Sleeping in just does not happen for me. Last night was a rough one and I thought about smoking a lot, but I don't do that anymore so they were just thoughts.

I had to take my husband to the ER last night...

We get to the hospital at 11pm. My husband is taken to a room and hooked up to the monitor, BP 121/68 pulse 68, o2 96..EKG showing PACs and as the doctor later explained, very common with someone who less then 20 days ago had cardiac ablation.

The lead up to the Saturday night trip ER visit was that on Thursday, while not doing the heavy lifting, my husband did a lot of walking while our roommate and his brother moved the pool table from the garage to the basement, he was feeling it. Friday was pill sorting day, I take my husbands pills and put them into a monthly sorter. He decided to help and the bending and stretching had him in discomfort after a few minutes so he went to lay down, got up 10 minutes later and continued to help. With the bending and stretching he ended up overdoing it. He was in pain, but not to bad. It was the next day Saturday that he was having a lot of discomfort, but being stubborn he never let on to how much pain/discomfort. Around 8pm I took my sleep aid and was winding down, about 9pm he went to bed. From the chair where I normally sit I can see into our bedroom and I saw him sit up on the side of the bed coughing. I just watched for a few minutes and since he was still sitting up I went in to check on him. His by-pap machine was causing his chest/lungs hurt and he started choking from it, that is why he sat up. He said he was breathing, but felt like he couldn't get a full breath in. I checked his pulse and while it was not racing, I could tell it was very irregular. He got up and sat in his recliner and played a game on his x-box for awhile before trying to lay down again. Once again he started choking and having lung pain with the forced air. We talked, figured it was his overdoing it and just strained something within his chest. He felt better when he sat up, but could not handle the by-pap even while sitting up, something he has never had trouble with before. Due to the pain while breathing, irregular heart beat and a google search showing it might be Pleurisy I knew it was best to get him in to the ER.

After the initial monitor check showing everything was normal, even the doctor was thinking pleurisy or irritation of the lining around the lungs. He gave him some anti-inflammatory shot and a pain pill. I found out that my husband stopped taking the ibuprofen he was suppose to take for a month post ablation and I also saw the bruise on his neck/shoulder from the ablation still present. I explained to my husband that his heart took a beating during the ablation. Until his external  bruises were gone, his heart/internal bruises were just as bad if not worse so he needs to stay on the ibuprofen for the full month like his doctor said. We get home around 2am and he goes right to bed, but without his by-pap. Due to being overly tired from sleep aid along with drinking soda I was tired, but wide awake and couldn't get to sleep till 4ish, then up at 8 to start my day, by telling my husband he took his medication 2 hrs early, oh well not a huge issue. It won't kill him to take meds early once in awhile, but if it becomes an regular occurrence I will have to go back to dispensing his medication myself, last time I did that was when he was on high doses of strong pain meds=not fully aware of his surroundings. 

I had thought of smoking or  had the "it would be nice to smoke" moments and they came quit frequently last night. I was tired, a huge trigger for me, I was stressed, worried about my husband and did I mention I had taken sleep aids before this whole ER trip thing. I am thankful the ER is only 1/2 mile away since anything longer would mean I would be lulled to sleep by the drive and I would have been calling for someone to come pick us up.  The life moments that you truly cannot prepare for, but knowing I am a non smoker and reminding myself that I do not do that anymore does make getting through the moments as a non-smoker very possible.