In case you might be wondering what it's like in a Covid area in a hospital, other than what you have seen on TV. I'm here to tell ya.
With sharp pain in the right upper area of my back and shortness of breath I called my pulmonologist for something for pleurisy. He refused to order anything without an office visit. After hearing of my symptoms, he decided I might have a blood clot in my right lung and promptly sent me to the ER.
I told him, "no one wants to go there these days". He insisted I must. I walked out of his office and told Bruce we had to go to the ER...now. A half mile later, we were there. They stopped me at the door. As they took my temperature and asked why I was there a transport chair arrived. They told Bruce to get lost. "No visitors allowed here."
Within five to seven minutes our world turned upside down. They took me inside to an isolation room for a brief interview and an EKG. Some one decided I was a possible Covid-19 risk. I was then placed in a "negative air chamber" to wait my turn. The fans blasted away for more than an hour, then a nurse arrived in full PPE and took me to an obvious quarantine area into an exam room.
Many questions. Much blood drawn, plus a Covid swab of the nostrils (and it felt like the lower brain pan). Then a wait of two and a half hours for a CT scan of the lungs. Then in forty-five minutes the results. Good news. No blood clot. More good news. No pneumonia.
There will be no results from the Covid test until possibly Monday (four days from now).* Go home and self quarantine. Duh. That's what I've been doing since March 16th!
Let it be known. Every time someone had entered the room I was in, they were in full PPE. And as they departed my room they discarded it, rolled it up and put it into a container inside my room. I felt like a leper.
Before I departed the area I was given a big infusion of two different steroids...to lessen the inflammation of possible pleurisy.
Stay safe. Wear your mask.
Oh, Judy, I'm so sorry you went through that. Sending "negative" vibes your way.
ReplyDeleteI hope the results are negative. I would not want to miss another fence painting of yours plus don't want your husband to have to worry, nor you.
ReplyDeleteScary for you both. Please update as information is available and you feel comfortable sharing.
ReplyDeleteHope all goes well.
ReplyDeleteIt is good to know the system is working, to be careful..pity about some of the rest of the world populace.
All the best..sending a big hug to you both (((0)))
I hope all goes well with the test results and that you are feeling better, Judy. That was quite an experience. Yikes. As Zhoen said, "Sending 'negative' vibes your way." Take care there.
ReplyDeleteI would have wanted to rule out a pulmonary emboli also, the CT scan would have done that to a great degree, though a nuclear scan (perfusion/ventilation) would have been more definitive. Intercostal muscle strain can manifest those symptoms, as can a aortic dissection, but that probably would have shown up on a CT. I assume the EKG was within normal limits.
ReplyDeleteAre you taking aspirin daily?
Hope it goes well
Mike
Praying.
ReplyDeleteThanks for the picture of what it is like on the 'inside'. Always wonder if they know what they are doing because this is all new to them. Better to go in June than back in March when everyone was scrambling to figure it out and had no test kits or protocol. Hope you feel better!
ReplyDeleteI hope the weekend shows a large improvement! Thinking of you both.
ReplyDeleteYikes...what an experience. I can't tell you the number of times I've wondered what would happen if I had a health emergency. Now I know. Hopefully, there won't be any.
ReplyDeleteQuite the experience. Interesting to know what it's like when you have to go to ER. What a nightmare. Glad you are OK. Take care!
ReplyDeleteNot a fun experience, but it's encouraging that they are taking the precautions seriously. I'm glad it wasn't an emergency, and fingers crossed the test comes out negative. I've heard the test is very painful. Good luck!
ReplyDeleteYeesh. If only they'd listened to you in the first place! I wouldn't have thought your symptoms suggested COVID, but of course I'm not a doctor so what do I know.
ReplyDeleteI am concerned that even with the thought it could be a blood clot, you had to wait 3.5 hours for a CT scan!
ReplyDeleteHope everything comes out okay, and that the steroids ease the pain of what ails you. I've had both a pulmonary embolism and pleurisy, and the pleurisy was more painful!
Yikes!
ReplyDelete