We've had a little drama at our place the past week. My husband caught a cold last week, not a huge deal for most people, but being that he's immune suppressed that makes it a bigger deal than usual. This cold immediately became a hacking cough and fever type of cold. I gave him the OTC stuff for a few days, but on Saturday evening his temperature wouldn't come down and his coughing was out of control. Time to go to the Mayo Emergency Room.
Can I just stop here and say that I am so very grateful that we moved to Jacksonville almost 6 years ago. Walking into the ER at Mayo is just heavenly. Hardly a soul is there and all of the doctors in the ER are part of the Mayo Staff. We get right in and all of Tom's history pops up on the screen. Not to mention, they know exactly how to handle a post transplant patient and all of their medication dos and don'ts.
He's the only one at the ER, so he gets in right away. No matter how fast you get into an ER, the wait is three hours before you get to go home. Labs take time to test and read if nothing else, so I'm always fully prepared for a three hour wait. This night was no exception. The doctor comes in, chats with Tom, listens to his breathing, listens to his concerns and orders a chest xray.
Pneumonia.
They give him an antibiotic while he's there and give us a script for more.
Three hours later, nearly on the button, we go home.
The next day, Tom is feeling much better already and I feel awful. Damn, I got it.
I stay in bed half the day, rest and try my hardest not to breathe the same air as Tom. I don't want this any worse. I end up only being sick for Sunday and Monday and slept most of Monday, barely awake past 7 pm. By Tuesday I'm pretty chipper but still I could sleep most of the day!
Monday, Tom takes his antibiotic and is feeling itchy, but he didn't think a thing of it. I wasn't awake, nor was I sleeping in the same room as him with this cold the two of us had, so I had no idea that he was having a reaction to the meds.
Tuesday comes around, he goes out on a job and comes home complaining of being itchy. I suggest several things, but the medication issue hasn't clicked with me either. At 9pm he takes his antibiotic again and goes to bed. He comes back out an hour later and he is head to toe hives and red blotches. I run off to the drug store and get him some Benedryl.
Around the two hour mark, post Benedryl, his face starts swelling and he has a fat lip. Mayo ER here we come again.
Poor guy was allergic to the generic form of the medication. The ER folks spring into action and he is quickly given and IV Benedryl, Prednisone and a few other things to help him relax and doze off while the drugs work on getting the swelling down. Three hours later we are on our way home.
It's Thursday now and he is so much better. The hives haven't come back and he has hardly coughed at all the past 12 hours. He is jumpy and wide-eyed from the Prednisone but it's only a 5 day dose, so he'll get through it. He managed to fall asleep last night so that's a big plus.
So that's what I've been up to...
Hope your life has been a lot less drama and a lot more fun!
Kristin
