The Third and Final ER

 

So - my husband and I went home and spent 7 more days still trying to recover, figuring we both had "long Covid".  I continued to feel dizzy and off balance and had lower blood pressure than was normal for me. 

In the meantime, our dear friend in Indiana passed away on the 2nd of February from complications of Covid - he was 71 and had emphysema.  That saddened us to no end!  He was such a gooooood man.  

We'd barely caught our breath when I received news of my late-husband's 98 year old Dad passing away on the 4th.  And then, my own father passed away on the 7th.

Our sons' birthdays were February 2nd and 15th too.  And they weren't at home with us for those events, of course.  One's a grown man in Canada and the other is away at college - Senior year.

Just sad, sad times on top of us feeling lousy from Covid.

Then, on Valentine's Day, the 14th, that night I took a bath (as I do every night) and when I got out of the tub, I got so dizzy and lightheaded, I wrapped a towel around myself and called down the stairs for my husband, who came rushing up to me.

I told him, "Something is wrong. This isn't right.  I'm weak and very dizzy.  Dizzier than ever."  

I chose not to go to the Emergency for a third time because - well, BECAUSE - we'd been twice before and it had only been about a week since we were there.

I got into bed and sat up to watch tv on my iPad.  My right knee started aching.  Just like that, it started to ache.

In the morning, I went down to my usual recliner and my husband and I discussed the crazy symptoms from the night before - when I started suddenly to slurr my words.  I could hear myself and my husband concurred.  We immediately left for the Emergency Room.  This time at at hospital downtown instead of the one nearest to us that we'd already been to - twice.

I noticed while we were driving there that I had double vision - all the billboards were unreadable and I kept chatting to see how my speech was doing.

We got there, and Rob said the right thing to the triage nurse: "My wife is having signs of a stroke."  They had me sit in a wheelchair and immediately brought me in.

Before I knew it, I'd had bloodwork, been given a quick neuro-exam, was given a shot in the stomach of some kind of blood thinner and then an MRI.

The MRI came back showing I had a "very teeny" blood clot in the "superior peduncle' of the cerebellum.  In other words, I had had or WAS having an Ischemic stroke. The neurologist told me he'd "seen a TON of post-Covid strokes."

The neurologist did another clinical exam and my left side was greatly affected.  My arm wouldn't do anything smoothly - it felt like there was helium in it and it was floating where it wanted to go.  All that was new - hadn't happened at home - it happened in the ER.  My vision remained double for the duration and for a couple of weeks afterwards as well.

I told him about my knee and though he didn't examine it, he asked if it was swollen or hot or had any indication there was a blood clot in there.  I said, "no" and they pretty much dismissed the knee and focused on the stroke.  Which made sense to me.

I stayed one night in the hospital for them to do other tests- I had an echocardiogram and an EKG and lots of bloodwork and a CT in the morning.

I was put on an "anti-platelet" drug called, "Plavix" for a month along with baby aspirin - the aspirin I'm supposed to stay on "forever".  I was also put on Lipitor "for life" - not because my cholesterol was high, but because it's got anti-coagulant properties that prevent strokes.  It's apparently a routine Rx for strokes - even if your cholesterol is low.

My oxygen levels without supplemental oxygen were always going down into the 80's until I talked or moved around.  Just resting, yup, 80's and even lower once in awhile.

I was discharged on the 16th and went home.  I was to follow-up with a neurologist and my GP and physical therapy.

I saw my GP pretty quickly and the neurologist eventually.  I complained to my GP that I had constant pain in my chest and he said it could be the Lipitor, so we switched to Crestor - and he was right.  It went away.  My good GP spent an HOUR with me, listening to my tediousness. 

I told him about my knee hurting and that I would address it FIRST when I went for PT because IT was hurting more than my post-stroke effects.  He agreed.  

I was using a cane until a walker we ordered was delivered.  I also put a brace on the knee, which helped.  

The knee "locked up" painfully in the hospital once and three times at home.  Wow!  It was painful.  We all assumed it was "the meniscus". And I went four times to PT for it in March - but the last time I'd gone, that night it locked up on me for the fourth time and I quit PT.  I said, "It may NOT be a 'meniscus' - I need an xray before they make it worse." And made an appointment with the orthopedic surgeon who did a left hip bursectomy on me years ago.

I had to wait a couple of weeks to see him - in the meantime...

I'd had a "sleep study test" in December which showed I had mild sleep apnea which everyone seemed to think was so mild as to not warrant a CPAP, but the neurologist said, "No. You need one. You were 'above a 5'."  Okaaaayyyy - so I got a CPAP.

I added it to my nocturnal oxygen concentrator, which I'd been on since October, and here we are.

But while my dizziness was sort of going away, my visual disturbance wasn't.  

I saw my ophthamologist and he said, "I think that will clear up eventually."  And I got new glasses and lenses with transition lenses because I find my eyes are more sensitive to light now.

THEN I found out I was supposed to see a NEURO-ophthamologist.  *sigh*  who knew?  I didn't even know there was such a thing.

So I'm seeing one on Monday.

I finally saw the orthopedic surgeon on April 14th.  He did an x-ray in his office and told me that I had "osteoarthritis" with three bone spurs in that knee and fluid build up.  He wanted an MRI to confirm the meniscus wasn't involved and get a better view.  I'm getting that MRI tomorrow (April 23rd).

The ortho-doc told me the virus can interfere with the cartilage of joints - and he thinks that's what's happened to my knee.  The "good news" he said is that I don't have to have surgery - but injections to help the pain.  I'm presuming steroid injections.  My sister asked why not go in and remove the bone spurs, but I believe it's because it's not just the bone spurs - it's the cartilage at the end of the bones too that have eroded and it's getting more and more "bone-on-bone" that's going to hurt more and more, regardless of removing the bone spurs.  It's a progressive disease and one that will cripple me eventually.  I already have signs of it in my hand joints - he saw my hands and said they were "classic" for osteoarthritis.

But Covid-19 attacked my already vulnerable 65 year old knee and advanced it to an 85 year old's.  

Thanks, Fauci.

So - my will be taken care of - hopefully - in the meantime I tried an OTC drug many Longhaul Covid patients were talking about in my "support group" on Facebook.  It's "Pepcid AC".