I started feeling a little off on October 26. My head was a little clogged up but I didn't think too much of it. Wednesday I felt pretty good but then Thursday started feeling poorly. Tried to make an appointment the next day either in Enderlin or Lisbon but they were full. Over the weekend it kept getting worse and worse. I could tell the congestion was getting bad. There was a lot of rattling in my lungs every time I breathed. I have a video of me trying to breathe and it is not good.
I was able to get an appointment November 1 in Lisbon at the Sanford clinic at 3 PM. Before they would let me in, I had to do a Covid test. So I had to get there an hour early to make sure I was clear of that stuff. When I was cleared I went in and didn't wait long to get called back to room. The NP was in quickly and she could tell right away that I was sick. She looked in my ears, down my throat and said everything looks good there. Then she give a listen to my lungs. She put the stethoscope in one spot and that was enough. She said you have pneumonia. She then said she was going to give me a shot of steroids to help open up my lungs and she would put me on some antibiotics right away. She also told me to put a humidifier in my room. I cranked it on high, it felt like a rain forest in my room. Like a sauna…
We stopped at the drug store on the way home and picked up the prescriptions and nebulizer. I was parked right in front of the Cattleman's. It was tempting but I knew better. Good grief. Anyway when I got home I popped a pill and it felt pretty good for a while. When I woke up the next morning I took another pill and could breathe a little bit better. Had some soup for lunch and pretty much slept the afternoon away.
Wednesday, November 3 when I woke up I knew things were not good. I was very short of breath. I could not breathe in deeply at all. It was almost like hyperventilating. About 11 AM that morning I decided maybe I should get up to see if that would help my breathing at all. About noon I realized being in the wheelchair wasn't helping. It is not fun not being able to breathe. I think it was around 12:30 PM when I decided I either had to go to the ER or call 911. I realized that I wasn't going to be able to get to Fargo without the help of some medical assistance. So we decided to call 911. An ambulance was going to come from Casselton and in the meantime first responders came from Enderlin. LaTeasa and Don B showed up. Then came a Cass County Deputy. He was going to direct the ambulance to the right location. LaTeasa hooked me up with oxygen which seemed to help a little bit. It kept me from hyperventilating. But I was still very short of breath.
The ambulance got there around 1:30 PM. I was in my wheelchair in the living room so mom had to throw me on the stretcher. Once they got me all strapped in I was out the door, down the ramp and in the back of the ambulance. When I was inside Don B was shutting the doors, as he was shutting the second door I voiced to him, "Make sure Sarah knows!" He nodded as he shut the door. At that point I had no clue what was going to happen. You never know.
As soon as the door was shut the driver turned west and then we went north on county line, turned east towards Alice and north to I 94. It wasn't too long and we were at the new Sanford Medical Center. On the way there I learned that the paramedic has been doing this for 36 years I believe he said. He was good. We were bouncing up and down in the back while he put a needle in my vein to get everything ready for when I got to the ER. I was impressed. Some can't find a vein while I am sitting still in a room let alone going 85+ mph down a bumpy interstate.
Once we got to the hospital I was brought into my own room and the doctor was there in no time. He listened to my lungs and within a couple minutes there was a respiratory therapist there to see what he could do. The first thing he said he was going to do was a quad push. For those of you who do not know this is designed to help quadriplegics cough. It is like getting punched in the stomach with an upward motion to make you expel the air out of your lungs. It is not a pleasant experience. I guess I had to do this quite a bit when I was first injured but I do not remember it. Thank goodness. He tried this two or three times and nothing worked. I was too clogged up.
So next up was the NT tube. This is when they stick a tube up your nose, down your throat and into your lungs. This is fun. Good times. The tube is hooked to a vacuum and it sucks out everything it can. He did this down one nostril and got quite a bit of sludge up. Then he did the other nostril. He did each side four times. After that I told him no more. My nose was getting to sore and it was starting to bleed, internally. It was helping but there's only so much you can take. NT suctioning sucks, literally and figuratively.
Next up was throat suctioning. This is when they shove a tube down your throat and into your lungs. This was like heaven compared to the NT tube going down the nose. He did this quite a few times with different angles trying to suck up as much as he could. After numerous times of getting stuff up with suction he decided that he had gotten everything up that was going to come up, so he let me rest for a while.
I did not realize it but all of that fun stuff lasted quite a while because I didn't get into my room until about 8 PM that first day. I think I was in the ER from 3:30 PM until the room was open around eight. During my stay I learned there was 67 tiles on my ceiling and 34 are whole tiles, not cut. This is in room 816 if you ever want to check my math.
When I got to my room a nurse and nurse assistant got me into my bed and soon after there was a respiratory therapist ready to make a plan for the week. They did not have a cough assist machine on hand but she guaranteed she would bring one in the morning. That night she could tell I was clogged up so she did the NT tube again. This time only three times down each nostril. Man that sucks. But it did help. She also tried doing a couple quad pushes. That didn't seem to help. By the time she was ready to leave I asked the nurse if I could eat anything. Of course the kitchen was closed but she brought me some dry whole-wheat toast with no butter that I could put some peanut butter and jelly on. I am not a fan but man that did taste good after eating nothing all day. During the night I had to call the nurse to have respiratory therapist come to help me breathe two different times.
The next morning after like getting no sleep, literally no sleep, one of the respiratory therapists was there around 7 AM. The cough assist machine still wasn't there but she put a tube down my throat numerous times and got quite a bit of sludge up again. She also tried quad push with no luck. Then she told me what the plan was for the next couple days. A respiratory therapist would come around 7 AM, 11 AM, 5 PM and 10 PM every day. They would also be available throughout the night whenever they were needed. She also said during their visits they would start with a nebulizer with two different potions before using the cough assist machine. One potion is to loosen up the sludge in my lungs and the other is to open up the airways. Sidebar: She didn't use the term potion, but I can't remember what was in the two different nebulizer solutions. At 11 AM when the therapist came the next time she brought the cough assist machine. This was the first time I have ever used one.
A cough assist machine does this… "As the patient breathes in, the cough assist machine gives extra air which expands the lungs called “positive pressure,” then as the person exhales the machine then uses suction to withdraw the extra air from the lungs called “negative pressure.” This action forces the patient to cough deeply enabling them to shift mucus from their lungs." It will literally knock the wind out of you. It is kind of designed to do that. It is kind of spooky the first time you use it. But when you realize it is helping you, it becomes almost natural.
There was a couple times when there was stuff coming up but it got stuck halfway. One time my eyes got really big when she was suctioning through my throat and something got stuck in my airway and the respiratory therapist said, "Don't worry, I won't let you choke!" Evidently she could tell I was worried by the look in my eyes. She raced around the bed and grabbed the cough assist machine and smashed it on my face. She turned it on and it blew air down my lungs and sucked it back out. Whatever was in there was dislodged and I could finally breathe. There were a couple moments like that during the week. That sucked, literally.
In fact, before they would let me go home they said I had to have a cough assist machine. I wasn't going to argue because I knew how well these machines worked over the last couple days. They are seriously lifesavers. Every respiratory therapist I had wrote in their notes to the doctor that I needed a prescription for a cough assist machine. The caseworker got the doctor to sign the prescription and before I left two therapists brought down a new machine and showed us how to run it. It is pretty simple, which is nice.
Everything about the new hospital is nice and shiny except for the menu. This is the same exact menu they have had for at least 15 years. Over my past stays I have learned what to eat and not to. Thankfully I usually have visitors who will bring me food but that is usually just for supper. For dinner I usually order an everything omelette with hashbrowns on the side. They seem to never screw that up and it actually doesn't taste bad, not good either but not bad. The other go to meal if you're ever there is chicken strips, potato wedges and a plate of raw veggies. Another good one is turkey breast with a side of scalloped potatoes. I would suggest never getting any cooked vegetables. Always get a plate of raw veggies. It is not on the menu but they have it. You can also get individual pizza or a sandwich made with anything you want. Everything else sucks. Trust me. You're welcome.
This was my menu for the week:
First Day - whole-wheat toast with peanut butter and
jelly.
Second Day - everything omelette with hashbrowns for
lunch. Meatballs and noodles from Brutus Brickhouse. Thanks mom and Randi.
Third Day - chicken strips, potato wedges, raw veggies
for lunch. Buffalo wings, onion rings and coleslaw from Wings and Rings. Thanks
mom.
Fourth Day - everything omelette with hashbrowns for
lunch. House Special Pizza from Duane's House of Pizza. Thanks mom.
Fifth Day - chicken strips, potato wedges, raw veggies
for lunch. Chinese food from Nine Dragons. Thanks mom.
Don't worry, I tipped her well for the week of food. She's the best. By the way, mom had a little vacation herself. She stayed at a really nice hotel next door with a hot tub and some Angry Orchard beer.
I also learned while going through notes from my stay that I have had 27 surgeries since 2004. For some reason that is as far back as it went. I know I had more before that. Most of those surgeries are for kidney and bladder stones. A couple flap surgeries. At least one skin graph. A couple surgeries were to clean out infected areas of stuff and things. One of these days I'll have to add up my total tally. I'm way over 30. That doesn't seem real but it is. Crazy.
I got a total of 12 hours of sleep during my six day, five night stay at the all-inclusive Scamford Inn & Suites. I guess the old saying is true, you don't go to the hospital for rest. Too much beeping and interruptions for any sack time. The worst part was that I found out when I am just about to fall asleep my heart rate drops below 50 beats per second and that is when the alarm goes off on the monitor. Evidently the monitor thinks that is too low for a person to be alive or something. Jerks. One of the nurses even said, "Man, you sure know how to relax when you relax." They always ask when they see my heart rate and blood pressure, "Do you feel all right? Are you going to pass out on me?" I assure them that I am fine and this is just the normal me. I don't get too excited.
I learned quite a few things during my stay. I have learned that I have been quite lucky with my quadriplegia. Most in my position have had many bouts with pneumonia or some other type of lung problem. The doctors and especially the respiratory therapists could not believe that I had never used a cough assist machine before.
FYI: Sanford has a strict policy of only two visitors per day. They
take a picture of your ID at the door.
As I write this I have only been home for about a day. I have used the cough assist machine five times so far. And it is working well. I have gotten stuff up the last couple times. It is simple to use. I was prescribed to use the cough assist machine four times a day after doing a nebulizer session. The nebulizer takes about ten minutes and I do five reps with the cough machine. If nothing comes up I quit if something does come up I do another five reps. It doesn't take too long. One thing that I find is weird is that I never had a temperature or anything else that made me feel sick. Just the congestion in my lungs. I feel totally normal except for the rattling in my lungs. Not sure how long that is going to last but I need to keep doing the nebulizer and cough assist machine until it is gone. All I know is community acquired pneumonia sucks.
I have to say everyone that I dealt with during my stay was top-notch. The nurses, the nurse assistants, caseworkers, respiratory therapists and the doctors were great. I had no problems at all with anyone I encountered. Until next time Sanford…
Thanks for reading, Clint.
