One Is NEVER Enough.....

 Babygirl is recovering nicely from the RSV. No fever since before Thanksgiving. Cough is.... less vomit-inducing. Since she was out of danger (as much as she ever is), I went without her to Brooklyn Saturday to see Citygirl and her boo.  Sincerely excellent bonus:  I got to spend the day with my niece, who SHOULD inherit the Citygirl moniker LOL. 

I arrived in time for a breakfast run.  We had some time to kill before Saturday AM actually opens up in Brooklyn (11 AM for most non-food venues, but we found a used bookstore open at 10!).  We did books. We did an amazing salvage store.  We did another thrift store, and then we headed to our main event.

Shuffleboard.  

I confess that I have a friend in her 70's who plays and says it's fun.  I've never had the pleasure.

The business had a bar with drink specials and bar food.  The booths were set up to look like cabanas. There was flamingo wallpaper and a stage full of flamingoes (with a sign telling us not to DUCK with the flamingoes). And there were 10 or so shuffleboard courts? Lanes?  I DID learn that what I would have called "pucks" are actually called "biscuits."

I had two espresso martinis while playing my first round of games.  I had to switch to caffein-free and went with rum and pineapple. I am 100% sure that this improved my playing skills dramatically. (HEY! Let me remember it how I remember it. 

We went to Citygirl's "AirBNB" and had wine and pizza, and played a couple of rounds of Taco, Cat, Goat, Cheese, Pizza.  I did NOT win but I was also not injured, so......I call that even.

Sunday, I rode with  Citygirl to her Dad's place in Middletown and was treated to a lovely authentic Indian lunch. The drive from there to home was supposed to be about 1 hour 40 minutes.  About half an hour into the incessant rain, Google kept updating the length of my trip to, well, 1 hour 40 minutes.  I swear, I was 30 miles from home before whatever accident on I-81was upsetting Google before my arrival time began to look more promising. I got off early and took another route around the problem and was home 10 minutes later that originally guestimated by Google. 

So what, may you ask, besides espresso martinis and other day drinking delights, does one apparently always need more than one of?

Viruses. I awoke this morning with a cough and sore throat, and was winded in the time it took to get from bed to potty, about 15 feet.  I'm assuming it's RSV, I mean, massive exposure, right?  

I knew I would fail the Covid screen for work, and testing wouldn't be ready until tomorrow, so I'd miss more than a day of work if I didn't do something proactive. I went to the ED. Generally, 6 AM isn't too busy, right? Nah, we are in Flow Condition Red, and the leftover non-emergent crazy people are wandering around, yelling, complaining and generally making the few people remaining in the waiting area either entertained or uncomfortable, depending on viewpoint. 

Eek.  I did get triaged promptly, and respiratory panel, blood work, EKG and chest x-ray ordered and done (I'm OLD. And diabetic. Shortness of breath was respected, thank you).  The doc came in (different guy than Babygirl's) and said, "Wanna place any money on what it is?"  "RSV" He looked a little surprised that I was choosing something so.... sophisticated?  "Nope! It's parainfluenza virus." 

In plain English, I have Croup.  He gave me a shot of Decadron (SuperSteroid) in the arm. Blood work, x-ray, EKG all fine. Employee health took a look at the whole thing and cleared me to go back to work today.  All my patients had already been cancelled, so I'll work from home tomorrow and go back to the office Wednesday.

I kinda like Decadron.  It hurt like a BEAST for a few minutes, but then the breathing magically got better. I was home about 2 hours after I arrived, because I never needed to be in a Room - I got diagnosed, treated and released from the waiting room.

Where are we getting these things?  I'm just calling this another case of Grandma Flu. 

DeeDee

Thanksgiving Quarantine.....

 It's been a long week.  Month. Year.  

Babygirl's acute kidney failure. I'm working through a divorce.  We need a new roof. My tenants are buying a house, and I need to do some serious work on the apartment before new tenants can move in. AND our furnace just died, and we don't get a new one until tomorrow.

Oh, and one more thing.

Babygirl caught a cold about a week ago.  Typical symptoms, feeling crappy but not ill, until Monday.  She sent me a text from dialysis:  "I'm getting a fever. Temperature was 99.8." Typically, she runs about 97. But I know the rules:  "over 100.4 we go in."

She got up to 100.8, but didn't initially say anything. She thought I meant 104 degrees. We cleared that up.

We hit the ER at 6:15, plus or minus. The put her in a private waiting room, but I wasn't allowed in until she had a Room.  Ah, no worries.  Snacks in the doctors' lounge, a nap in the massage chair in the Wellness Room. When they finally actually took her vitals, her temperature was 102.4.

These days when you go to the ED, the triage nurse has the ability to assess the situation, and order whatever tests match the patient and the symptoms. For someone like Babygirl, this would usually be the "Sepsis Workup."  Labs. Cultures. X-rays. They did not do this. They swabbed her throat and did a respiratory disease panel.

We got to a Room about 3 hours after arrival.  The doctor came in, all excited, and said, "You have RSV!  We know what is wrong with you, so you can go home. Did you get the ibuprofen I ordered? That will make you feel a lot better!" The look on my face must have told him something.

"You know, Doc, she got winded taking off her T-shirt and putting on the hospital gown. Also, she's in kidney failure. She CAN NOT take NSAIDs. Her transplant is still getting rid of water and potassium, and keeping her from a lot of miserable diet/fluid restrictions."

He was unaware that one can need dialysis and still have partially functioning kidneys.  I was not surprised by this. If I had given it a moment's thought before Babygirl's diagnosis, I might have thought the same.

To his credit, he took a better look at her.  Examined her, even.  And ordered the sepsis workup. 

Fortunately for us, it was all negative except for some diagnosis-expected bronchial swelling.  We were home a little before 1 AM.

But there is no treatment at all for RSV. It can and does kill babies, the elderly, and the immunocompromised.  And because her immune system can't fight, she needs to stay in her "bubble" for a full month - about 3 more weeks, so she doesn't spread it to the babies in the family.

Today is the first fever-free day. The cough remains appalling.

I have to say that this acute illness has been....grounding. I had quite literally reached the point of bubbling pre-hysteria. A kind of What the Everliving DUCK is my life right now? But Babygirl got sick and is now getting better. The rest is just.... stuff. Hard stuff, but stuff nonetheless.

So here we are, celebrating gratitude for, well, everything. The house is pretty warm today because we have an oven that works and a turkey (that we were supposed to take to another dinner with family), in a roaster in the dining room, adding more heat. I taught Squeaker (who was the bringer of "the cold") how to make homemade piecrust, and the magical chemistry of pumpkin pie. Babygirl made apple crisp from the last of our "Family Apple Picking" supply. 

Home dialysis equipment arrived Wednesday.  I sign for a home equity loan to get everything done on Monday.  I had enough money to pay for a furnace, when a large percentage Americans can't find someone to borrow $500 from (true story.  Someone did a poll about this).

There is a sign in my dining room that says, "Gratitude Changes Everything."  

Yes. And amen. 

DeeDee