Friends of ours dad just died in Nashville from the virus. This **** is real
I'm in Nashville and an in the midst of a China virus scare.
The back story is in January, right before we really begin hearing about this virus where I had to go to the ER. I had gone to the Vandy walkin clinic thinking I had the flu because my shoulders and neck were hurting and I felt a bit nauseous, but then my chest was also hurting, but it felt more like an external pain than internal, but the pain increased when I laid down, as opposed to easing as it would with a heart attack. But my daughter took me to the clinic and when I described my symptoms they did an EKG and said it showed heart irregularities. So they sent me down the street to St. Thomas's Heart Center ER. The first thing they also did was an EKG, which they said didn't look as irregular as the first one, but also did a chest x-ray and cat scan. They finally made the determination that I had pericarditis, which is an inflammation of the heart sack, the membrane that supports the heart. Thy put me on the 15 pills in 6 day steroid treatment (6-5-4-3-2-1) and sent me home after about 5 hours there with a script for the roids and a mild painkiller, whch I never used as the pains had gone away completely by that time. I was basically just really weak so they told me to take a week off and do nothing.
Flash forward to last night. I went to bed around 10:30 feeling fine, but woke up about 1:30 with shoulders hurting again making it unable to get comfortable. So I got up and set in a chair, as I had done in Jan., to try to ease the pain, but it did no good. About 2:30 the chest started hurting again, but it wasn't sharp or constant. But I got my clothes on and drove straight to St. Thomas ER again assuming the pericarditis was back. I had to be screened by a nurse at a table just outside the ER asking if I was experiencing any of the Chinese virus symptoms, which I wasn't, and advised her I was having same pains that brought me there in Jan., so she sent me in to the ER desk. Once I got in the ER room they did the EKG, then the chest x-ray. At some point early in the process they hooked up and iv and gave me a shot of morphine, and the pains were soon relieved. Thy then took me for the cat scan.
A doctor came in a short time later and told me the tests were negative on the pericarditis but showed I had some inflammation in the lungs, that could be mild pneumonia, and would be consistent with the Chinese virus. I will be 68 in April and have a suppressed immune system, so was obviously somewhat concerned, although to be honest, my immediate thought was I was going to be fricking quarantined in the hospital for 2 weeks. But I reminded myself that I was not yet exhibiting any of the symptoms that are associated with the virus, no fever, no coughing, no sneezing, no diarrhea, and no shortness of breath. They also did the nose swabs, one to check for viruses and influenzas, and a second one to check for the Chinese virus. At that point they begin pumping a couple of antbiotics in me to treat the inflammation in my lungs
The latter had to be sent off and they said it takes 24-48 hours to get the results, so tomorrow or Saturday before I know. But the 2nd doctor who was in the room at that point told me that he did not think I had the Chinese virus, but they obviously can't take any chances.
About 1PM they took me up to the 6th floor where I stayed until about 4PM, when another doctor came in to check on me, asking lots of questions about how was I feeling, yada yada. At that point he asked if I wanted to go home and stay self-isolated, or would prefer to stay in the hospital. I obviously said I can be up and ready to go in 60 seconds. He said that even though I was isolated and doctors and nurses were putting on those disease robes every time they entered, that I was still at a higher risk of picking up anything in the hospital with my suppressed immune system. He said if the Chinese virus test did show positive I could still self-quarantine for 14 days, although obviously if I show any of the symptoms to come back in immediately. So I was released and was home by 5PM. He did tell me to get plenty of rest the next few days because of the inflammation in my lungs, but I feel ok right now.
But damn it sucks with spring coming on to be dealing with not being able to go to places like Lowes and Home Depot.
