Saturday morning he said he felt like he was getting a chest cold and I was wondering if he was going to make it to the special concert that AJ & Laney were a part of in another town. (They were chosen by their band teacher to be in Honor Band, where they meet with kids from other area schools and learn some songs to play together for a one-day event. AJ is in percussion & Laney plays clarinet.) He figured he would be fine to make it to that.
Later that morning, he rode his bike down to the baseball field to make sure the high school tournament started ok. On his way back, he felt more pressure in his chest. With the history of heart issues in his family, and from past experiences from people we know, we wanted to make sure something more serious wasn't going on. So, he decided that I should go up to see the kids in Honor Band while he went to the doctor. He left and just as I was ready to head out the door, he came back in & said, "I think you better take me...it's getting worse."
So we left Faith with the 2 younger boys and headed to the ER. On the way, he complained that his chest hurt and that it ached into his shoulders. "Here we go," I thought to myself, "here come the heart issues!" I called the ER to let them know we were coming and about the time we got into Marshall, he tells me, "I'm starting to sweat...You better hurry! I'm getting dizzy...now my vision is getting blurry." And then he scared me when he looked me right in the eyes, with fear in his own, and said, "I love you." I just thought, "Oh no you don't! You're not saying going anywhere!" and I just tried to get him to breathe and relax.
I'm now dealing with street lights and a situation that's getting worse. I pulled up the ER door and ran inside to get a nurse and a wheelchair. Now my adrenaline was going because I started to feel shaky, but we were at the hospital, so I felt much better. He felt better as soon as we got him in the ER, and in hindsight, we guess he was so uncomfortable from the car ride and also nervous, that his symptoms in the car were from the ride making his pain worse.
They hooked him up to EKG and the monitors to check heart rate, blood pressure and oxygen levels, and all were pretty normal. They put an IV catheter in and took all of the precautions of someone with his family history presenting with chest pain. They did an x-ray and based on the tests ran, they diagnosed him with pericarditis, which is inflammation of the sac around the heart. All of his symptoms correlated to that as well. We were very grateful that no signs of heart attack were present.
He was sent home on anti-inflammatory meds and a schedule of resting. The rest of that day was pretty uncomfortable for him. Pericarditis makes it painful and difficult to breathe because the heart "rubs" on the adjacent body parts. Lying reclined makes it even more uncomfortable, so resting as prescribed is easier said than done. How can you rest and relax when you can't lay down?? So our Saturday was spent trying to keep him comfortable and resting while the kids ran around.
To make things more stressed, he started developing a fever later that afternoon....a sign of infection that can get serious quickly. I called the ER to ask if I should bring him in and they had me give him some Tylenol and monitor his temperature. They were ok with it getting up to 103 degrees. I, on the other hand, was not. After just reading the discharge sheet, remembering a conversation with the nurse in the ER, and reading online info, a fever over 100.5 was reason enough to go back to the ER. Well his got up to 101. I was willing to meet in the middle, and when/if it hit 102, I would be taking him in. Thankfully, the fever leveled off at 101, and just before bedtime, it subsided and we both were able to relax and get some rest. I knew he was resting well when he started snoring.
Each day he has gotten much better and we will know more when the results from his ECG (ultrasound) come back today or tomorrow. It's one of those conditions that comes up suddenly, and the causes vary. It is treated based on the symptoms and concerns arise if it doesn't improve or continues to reoccur. Even though he is starting to feel normal again, he has orders to refrain from physical exertion for at least 2 weeks when they will recheck his blood work for signs of inflammation.
We are not sure what will become of all of this, but what we do know is that we are thankful for the outcome so far. We are grateful, (as serious as the condition is), that it didn't turn out more serious as other heart conditions can be. For now, we continue to trust in the Lord in our lives and thank Him for the gift of life and our time together on this earth, for too many of us know how quickly it can change.
On that day, I was especially grateful for the opportunity to have family close, (Jason's mom went over to get the kids when we knew we'd be in the ER for a while), that we have a hospital close by, for the anniversary lunch date we had when we left the ER, and for understanding kids that realize how important their Daddy is. I am grateful also to a gracious God who allows me opportunities to recognize what's important each day.
