Unexpected Set Backs

A couple of medical issues provided a bit of drama, not to mention a bit of a scare as we were starting our summer adventures… Sorry–no real pictures to accompany most of this blog entry. I think you’ll understand why. This is also why it has been so important to us that we BOTH are competent and feel comfortable driving Vinny!

Barry tweaked his back when he got up the last morning (Thurs) that we had Isaac and Mona with us at the beach. He gently eased into the morning using his supportive lower back brace/belt and ice. It surprisingly started feeling better much faster than expected, so he was able to play with the kids on the beach. And play he did! I was surprised he was able to be up and down on the sand helping them build sand castles a good portion of the day.

Unfortunately, super early the next morning (Friday) his back rebelled. It was worse. He could hardly move. I helped him into his “living room” chair/recliner. Ice and Advil were his buddies. He asked me to get out one of our hiking sticks for him to use. That helped him a lot. After a while Barry’s back muscles seemed to loosen up a bit. He felt he’d be OK while I ran some errands and played a little pickleball. He would basically rest and ice while I was gone. We were expecting it to get as good as it did yesterday.

I returned with a nice heating pad and more Advil. Improvement from first getting up Friday morning was significant, although his lower back still hurt and would spasm if he moved “wrong”. Barry alternated heat and ice throughout the rest of the day and evening.

Upon waking Saturday morning, Barry’s back was again worse! I helped him to the chair. We decided it was time to go to a walk-in clinic to get some muscle relaxer or something to provide relief and recovery. We have a major trip to be starting. Obviously, I will be doing the driving till the spasms are completely gone (AND he is not on any drug)! This reminded me of early July 2018, when I badly sprained my right ankle. We had just started full timing in Vinny, and were getting set up in a site near the north Yellowstone entrance. Barry had to drive the rest of the month.

The doctor at the walk-in clinic in Chula Vista gave Barry a shot to help with the pain for 8-9 hours. Then he had a choice of EITHER a muscle relaxer to help with the root of the pain (uh, YES), OR a narcotic (Hydrocodone) to help with the pain. She said, yes the muscle relaxer would start relaxing the contracting muscle, but he would still have some pain. The narcotic would deaden the pain and allow the muscle to start to relax. My thought was to go for the muscle relaxer and use Advil for pain, but with the pain he was experiencing , his priority was to find relief from the pain/spasms. Therefore, Barry opted for the Hydrocodone. Barry continued with using the heating pad off and on, and walking back and forth a little inside the motorhome.

AND THEN CAME SUNDAY!
Barry woke me up again around 4:30 to help him get out to the chair/recliner. He was really stiff and in pain. As I helped him lower into the seat, I began feeling extremely warm and light headed. I sat down at the dinette. I went in to use the bathroom. As I was coming out I was “hanging” onto the door/doorway. Barry said I looked drunk, and then all of a sudden I went down. I hit my knee and the back of my head as I passed out.

Fear and adrenal took over Barry as he pushed through whatever pain he had to get over to me. I partially came to, and was answering him, but then he said I went quiet and my eyes rolled back. He grabbed his phone and called 911.

We had just recently got our Emergency Reference Magnet from “TodayIsSomeday” also known as “You, Me and the RV” for our refrigerator. I had our current park name and site number on it, but of course I had NOT put the address of the Silver Strand State Beach on it! I didn’t know what it was. The 911 operator kept asking Barry what’s the address? What street is it? Evidently “Silver Strand State Beach” wasn’t good enough. They finally located us via his phone, and the Coronado Fire Department arrived momentarily. I will be diligent from here on out to completely fill out the emergency info on the magnet! In fact, we have now added a couple additional emergency contact numbers. I think I will use our label maker to more permanently attach our pertinent info to the board. It will look much neater, too!

I have little recall of much that went on with the firemen and paramedics (or upon arriving at the hospital). Evidently, my pulse and bp were extremely low. Not surprising since that happens when I pass out…yes, I have a history of passing out since I was a kid. The paramedics immediately started an IV and my vitals started going up. They transported me to the hospital in Coronado. The ER staff drew blood and did a chest x-ray–I don’t recall any of that. I do remember the nurse telling me she was going to do a Covid test. I remember the nasal swab up both nostrils for the Covid-19 test, and pleased that it didn’t seem to reach my brain. (Result was negative). I was now more coherent, but very tired. A bit later I had a CT scan of my head without contrast, and then one of my head and neck with contrast.
All tests came out fine. They felt I was extremely dehydrated and that additional stress of Barry’s situation, and getting up out of bed so fast caused me to pass out. I’m so glad it was not a stroke!! I do recall noticing my urine being much darker than I expected for a week or so. I always drink electrolyte water while playing pickleball, but I don’t drink much the rest of the time. Since it hasn’t been that warm, I just don’t think about drinking water. Then when I realize I’m thirsty I was grabbing for a cold can of sparkling water. Plus I rarely would drink an entire can all at once, due to the amount of effervescence from the carbonation. Ironically, over a week ago as I was noticing darker urine, I was starting to question whether I should be drinking sparkling waters so much–or at all? Are they helpful to hydrate? Are there negative effects? After my experience today, I’ve decided to seriously limit those carbonated waters. Instead, I will use my Ultima Electrolyte powder in my water once a day when out and about. And the rest of the day will be plain water–maybe with added ice. I used to drink water and be fine with it. Time to get back to it.

WHAT ABOUT LEAVING SILVER STRAND TODAY?
I kept thinking about how we were supposed to leave Silver Strand State Beach before NOON today…and drive to the Oceanside Elks so I can get my braces off on Monday! How are we going to move at all? Surely, each of us having a medical issue like this, the personnel at Silver Strand will let us stay and pay for one more night. If someone was due into our spot, hopefully they could ask them to take a different spot that they have open. How was I going to get home from the hospital?? I thought I may need to call Connie (our daughter-in-law’s mom) who lives nearby, or call an Uber. The nurse talked to Barry. He was coming.

Barry somehow was able to move around to some degree while I was at the hospital. He got the inside of the motorhome ready to move. Luckily, yesterday, I had already packed up most of our outdoor accessories, and had the refrigerator fairly ready. I had the Jeep already packed and ready. BUT Barry still had some final things like putting the tow bar on, putting the bike rack on and then the e-bikes, as well disconnecting the power and getting the cords etc into the lower basement storage. No way could he do any of that with his back! Justin was unfortunately at work and could not break away at all, but he was able to send a buddy of his over to the beach. What a Godsend Scarby was!! Barry moved the motorhome and the Jeep to the nearby beach parking lot. He was able to come pick me up. I was feeling fine by now. I got dressed drove us the hour or so to Oceanside. We both just took it easy the rest of the afternoon/evening. My orthodontic appointments were our only focus for the next two days. How nice it was to only be 24-35 minutes away from Escondido!