It Can Only Get Better……

Hello folks! Sorry for the loooonnnngggg absence here on the blog. How boring. I should tell you first that our Christmas was just the two of us, and it was lovely. Who would’ve known that New Year’s would not follow suit? Not me! We are off to a rough start for 2012. Very rough indeed.  Let me fill you in…. (and this is only if you are interested. I have to document this as it is a pretty big deal for us. And if you do continue reading, right now would be a good time to get a snack and drink- for it’s a doozy.)

To ring in the new year of 2012, we went to Bend, OR with some of our friends. The second night we were there- Greg passed out and hit his head, hard. Like, really hard. Why did he pass out you ask? It’s a mystery, but I attribute it to dehydration and long hours of standing with locked knees. This happened on the 30^th. That night I was waking him every 2 hours making sure he knew 2+2 and who the current president is. The next day we went to Urgent Care, the doc there gave him some anti-nausea pills and some IB Profin, said it was probably just a small concussion and watch out for further symptoms.

Fast forward to January 5^th- those symptoms were presenting themselves in a big way. He just didn’t look right! Everyone at his work was concerned, I was concerned, and so I picked him up from work and took him back to urgent care. There, they drew his blood and scheduled a CT scan for that evening. An hour later he got a call from the doctor saying his sodium levels were too low and he needed to go right away to the ER. There, they drew more blood and did the CT scan of his head. His sodium levels were still low (lower) and the CT showed a walnut size bruise on his brain frontal lobe and a small bleed! Huh, what!? Next thing we know they are getting him a room at the Corvallis Good Samaritan Hospital and calling the ambulance to bus him over there.

What we learned was that the brain contusion caused a hormone called ADH (anti diuretic hormone) to be released which caused his body to retain fluid, which drastically lowered his sodium levels. This condition is known as SIADH. Do you know what happens when your sodium levels drop? It causes brain swelling, damage, and death. How do they fix this problem? Very s.l.o.w.l.y. If they raised his sodium too quickly, it would cause a whole lot of problems, including his brain cells shrinking, brain swelling, brain damage, and death. The good news was that he didn’t need any brain surgery due to the contusion and bleed. That would all heal on its own, and was healing.

Greg spent the next 5 nights in the care of Good Sam. He was put on a fluid restriction, had to endure a 24 hour EEG, and getting his blood drawn every 2-4 hours. He looked like a heroin addict -his arms had so many holes. At one point, his sodium had dropped to 110. The normal range is 135-145. YIKES! Even the renal specialist said he was quite worried. Slowly, but steadily, he started to improve. Tuesday (1/10/12) afternoon, he was finally released.

He is doing so good now. He is back to work and more himself. We had an appointment with the renal (kidney) specialist yesterday who said that he looks good, and he doesn’t have to restrict his fluid anymore. Oh, to note on that subject, he was allowed to have about 200 milligrams of water about every 4 hours. He could have drunk that amount in one gulp, but stretched it in small, small sips. So glad he doesn’t have to deal with that now. He is back to work. Hurray! He’s getting his sodium checked tomorrow to ensure that things are still good with the fluid restriction off. Our next step is seeing a neurologist. I’m so grateful for doctors who know what they are doing and communicate what they are doing (for doctors are NOT created equal- so many of them are TERRIBLE – thank goodness for the good ones, and THANK GOODNESS FOR NURSES!). I only had to fire one doctor, and I won’t go into the details, but I will say- if you ever find yourself in the hospital (which I dearly hope you don’t), you do NOT have to just take whatever they say as law and abide. Get a second opinion if something doesn’t seem right. You have the right to fire and hire anyone there. Just so you know.

On the whole, I am just so THANKFUL that he is ok. He lives people! He lives! He must have like 9 lives or something with all that he has gone through medically. He is one tough cookie. I believe in the power of prayer and I believe that helped him pull through. I really don’t know what I would do without him. I love him so much. Did you hear that Greg? I LOVE YOU!!!! No more banging your head OK? :)

So anyway- you are now caught up. All is well and returning to normal. I’ll get back to regular and more fun, upbeat posts very soon!