Positively Tuesday-Delayed Post and Here's Why

     Monday started out very normal. We had a pretty relaxing weekend and I was ready for a new work week to start. I got in four productive hour before I stopped to have lunch with my daughter. Unfortunately my EoE decided to flare up, and with the first bite, my throat closed and the normal unpleasantness began-and wouldn't stop. I also had severe chest pains, and I couldn't even keep saliva down. My daughter had already gone to work before the worst started but I started tryng to figure out what urgent care options might be. I called DH and he got me to the ER. Three hours later and they couldn't get my throat to open, while I was progressively getting worse with pain and vomiting. A last ditch effort involved them giving me two medications intravenously and drink a fizzy medicine. The combination was to try and bubble up any potential small particles of food that might have been lodged when my throat closed. The effect was awful, like a hurricane. They waited 10 minutes and had me try water. No luck, that came out as well.

     I ended up having a trip to a large hospital in St Paul, where I had to be dropped off at the ED entrance for processing, though they were preparing for me to have a procedure to scope and clear and widen my throat. Due to all the COVID precautions, it felt quite eery and sad to see so many ill or hurt people with no one with them. Once in, the ED doctor tried the water  plan again, just in case it would save me the procedure. No luck. Two hours later I was in surgery, and by 12:30 DH had picked me up and got me back home. Apparently there was a combination of a little food but also some loose throat tissue, which was not going to come off with vomiting. Needless to say,yesterday I had a very sore throat and was very tired and had cob webs in my head from the anesthesia. I have a new dose of medication now, and hopefully that will help again. I also have to eat a bland diet for a while, and slowly see what foods might set off the constriction. 

     Where is the positive in this? Well, I'm lucky that I have access to medical care and it ended successfully. With all the precautions, they did a COVID test and it came back negative. That was a real fear as I did not want to expose either medical team since I couldn't keep a mask on while vomiting. I got to witness the real heroes in action, from the staff checking folks in with screening questions, to lab technician, to nurses, doctors, surgeon, and service staff. I lost track for sure but think I had interaction with no less than 20 medical professionals in this single day ordeal, and all were kind and efficient, but juggling a whole lot, particularly in my local hospital ED, where they had one doctor on duty and perhaps two nurses. 

     I'm going to have a large out of pocket bill because of ending up out of my primary network, but I am hoping our medical account covers the bulk of it. We'll perhaps postpone my sleep mouth guard and an elective procedure for DH until after January 1 so we can use the account next year. We'll decide after we get the bill. The second half of 2020 is continuing to be a roller coaster. I was looking for a little activity to put in the calendar. I think I'll rethink that hope, and just ride out the rest of the month and be satisfied with calm evenings..