Dehydrated & Down Low

I slept like a rock. Felt great getting a solid 8 hours of sleep. Was up at 605am. Downstairs engaged in calisthenics a few minutes later. I couldn't resist. I opened the back door just to get a quick sniff of the cold winter air. Yep, it was cold - 17 degrees! Did sit-ups, windmills, and push-ups. Felt even better after exercise.

Took Mindy coffee but by then she was already up and in the shower since she needed to leave for school about 30 minutes earlier than usual. I left on the dresser in the master bath. Back downstairs I enjoyed some coffee of my own while also poking around on my PC and then doing a little work.

Work started early, shortly after logging on and checking in. And the fact that I was working changed my spin on the work day. I was originally planning to work from the office, but the fact that I was firmly entrenched in work already, I decided that I would most likely just work from home. Mindy was downstairs and out the door early, though not as early as she originally stated. She left Bella's meds waiting at her usual place setting at the table. Thinking she was out the door near 710am.

Bella was downstairs a few minutes later to woof down her medicine. She headed back upstairs around 730am. I kept working right up to bus stop time. We headed out at 755am. It felt really cold with temps in the teens, a breeze, and then standing still. Of course, it didn't help one bit that I was still in my PJ bottoms. The bus showed up shortly after 8am and as soon as it pulled away, Eiknarf and I quickly rushed off across the street for the rest of her morning walk.

Back at the house, I enjoyed another cup of coffee ahead of a stretch and a run. Headed out the door near 850am. By then it was up to 20 degrees, still cold by any measure, but the brilliant sunshine helped warm me. I felt great and did the full 4.1 miles feeling good throughout. Back home at 930am, I already knew that I failed to place our trash can at the curb earlier, and the truck had already been by our house, but I could hear the truck coming up the street to get the other side. I can was only about a 1/3 full, but getting it emptied was probably a good idea given the coming holiday as well as the extra day between pick-ups. Last second, decided to wheel our can across the street next to Carl's. By the time I walked away the truck was only one house away. Rather than head back inside, I waited patiently at the foot of the driveway so I could wheel it back once emptied. I waved hello to the city refuge engineer as he emptied and passed.

Inside, I had 90 minutes before our recurring 11am Monday call. I decided to make breakfast, frying three eggs - two for me, one for the pug. The work day turned reactive, meaning there were urgent unforeseen issues begging my attention. That was pretty much the story for the rest of my day. Had a lull in the activity at 1030am. As such, I went ahead and put the string of large icicle lights up across the front porch overhang. It didn't take long at all since i permanently mounted clear plastic clips last year. All I had to do was string them along then come back with tie wraps. Finished with 7 minutes to spare before our call. I joined the 11am call but after that it was day filled with jumping through hoop after hoop. Sometimes that can be exciting, invigorating.

It must've been around noon when I got a text that changed my outlook for the rest of the day. Bob Imber sent a text sharing that Mad River has been busy making snow since Saturday and planned to open this coming Saturday, November 30th, or exactly two weeks early. That was very exciting news. I headed to their website just to make sure it wasn't a mistake. Nope! As happy as it made me, I knew it was exactly the kind of news my wife needed to hear too. I forwarded the text along to her. Immediately, my thoughts turned to our planned Wright family TG feast we planned to have on Saturday. Screw that!!! Canceled!!!!!! :) Hell, we can eat anytime.

Sometime shortly after 12 noon, I decided to take a lunch break. First thing I did was fetch my ski pants and jacket from the basement and washed them using powdered detergent, just like most breathable, waterproof ski pant makers recommend. Liquid detergents clog the pores that allow perspiration to wick out. Interesting read. Anyway, planned to spray them with a new coat of durable water repellant afterwards.

Next, I headed to the garage where I fetched the aluminum extension ladder so I could mount the wreath at the apex of the garage roof. That was no more than a 5 minutes job. Still with a belly full of energy, I spent another 20 minutes in the garage putting all the bikes up on the ceiling hooks and then stowed the wake board and water skis in the attic. I headed back inside feeling good with all I accomplished.
Back to work. Spent most of my afternoon working on those same two pesky issues, but finally it seemed my persistence was beginning to pay off. The kids & Mindy were home from school in their usual order, first Jacob, then Bella, and finally Mindy. All were home by 4pm. Should've heard Bella shrill when I showed her the MRM webpage announcing their weekend opening. She was stoked! Mindy invited dad to dinner. He was expected around 530pm.

What to have for dinner was already planned when Mindy bought two rotisserie chickens Sunday. We agreed to make chicken & noodles on Monday. Mindy boiled down the 2nd chicken Sunday evening right after dinner. All she needed to do Monday was bring the stock to a boil then add noodles. Dad arrived right on time - near 530pm. We chatted a bit just before dinner, dad sharing that he and Pete spent their day at the casino - lost. Dinner was ready shortly after his arrival. I added lot of salt to the chicken boil Sunday evening and then again to the stock even before adding the noodles. That made a big difference to my palette.

Dad was unusually quiet through dinner. He was eating really slow too. I sensed something was amiss. Jacob had basketball practice at 8pm. Mindy planned to take him. Naturally, I figured that meant that I'd be picking up again come 930pm. I was just wrapping up dinner clean-up when dad asked if we had a blood pressure gauge. Yep! He went on to ask Mindy if she would take his blood pressure. Said he wasn't feeling well - flush, tired. He looked awash too. Mindy took his BP twice, both readings lower than I thought anyone could register and still be alive and talking - 70/51 pulse 101. I wondered if it might be a bad reading, but our gauge works pretty well and when it does read off, it's almost always high, never low. Yikes! Dad went on to further describe the way he was feeling - almost wanted to lay his heavy head down. I asked if he wanted to go to the emergency room. Quickly, his answer was yes. Immediately I set aside my kitchen clean-up duties which by then we all but done. I headed upstairs to quickly freshen up. Was ready to go 2 or 3 minutes later. Mindy understood that she'd likely be doing the drop and pick-up for Jacob's basketball practice.

I was worried about dad getting down the steps and to the car. But he made it fine. I offered my arm for support.
We took 70 to West Broad St then Broad St to Davis. Dad knows the way well. Been there enough times of late.
I dropped dad at the garage door to the elevator then went to park - his idea. I met him a couple minutes later in a packed emergency room. Holy smoke! Must've been about 40-50 people there with some sort of affliction - the majority looked scary. and the smell unpleasant (stale cigarettes and old booze). Dad was called back just a couple minutes after we found two seats. Apparently his condition warranted priority triage.

He was back there for just a few minutes, long enough to gather his vitals and draw some blood from both his veins and wallet. :) Said his BP was near normal in triage. I guessed that would mean a much longer wait for the call back to see the emergency room doctor. I was prepared for a long wait, having enough foresight to bring a bottle of water and my Kindle. However, with a belly full of chicken & noodles and a warm emergency room, the sleepies soon befell me. I tucked the Kindle into my jacket then laid my head back. Bam! I was out just like that. Not 5-10 minutes passed before they called dad back again. No sooner had he got to the counter when I thought I heard dad calling my name. I popped up to see him motioning for me to come with him.

I headed back to observation room #17 with dad. There, a triage nurse questioned dad for his reasons for coming in. Part of me wanted to laugh, because I know that asking dad such an opened ended question can lead to an hour long answer. He didn't disappoint. He left no stone unturned. :) In great detail he shared the smell and color of his 5 most recent bow movements. While a tad embarrassed, I had to laugh because she hadn't even asked about them. OK ... I'm kidding. He did, however, take a while describing his condition. Soon they had him hooked up to the 'machine' that displays the vitals - BP, HR, RR, etc. His BP was 120/70 and pulse about 80. For 78 years old, that's awesome!

My gut told me that it might simply be a result of the meds dad's taking. And shortly after I asked dad if he had a list of all the meds he takes and encouraged him to keep such info in his wallet, another nurse came and pretty much asked the same questions. Wanted to confirm everything he's taking. I was shocked at the length of the list. Holy smoke! Must've been about ten different pills/meds for one thing or another. Before she walked out I asked if she would give me a copy of the list. Said she would after updating it with the changes dad described.

I'm guessing about 30 minutes passed before the emergency room doctor came in, a big man of German descent, I think. He was wise. He checked dad out then said he'd come back after reviewing the lab results from the blood he'd given earlier. Over the next couple hours, a few nurses were in and out, including Josh, who I learned through conversation is a fireman at firehouse #2. Asked if I was related to Eric Wright. No, but I know him. He used to work part time at Time Warner. We laughed at his size compared to mine (He's 6'8" and I'm only 6') :).

I asked if he knew Todd, Larry and Mike, Yep, knows all three. Said he was actually at Mike's house fire and most recently worked with Todd at #10's. I pointed out that he resembles Todd quite a bit (Bald and muscular). Said he's heard that before. We didn't see anyone for probably another 90 minutes. I was getting a little anxious sitting in the same stiff chair for so long. Around 10pm another nurse came in sharing that they lost one of the blood samples for testing and would have to draw more. They came in and pulled more blood but promised to have the results tested right away and then the doctor back to talk with dad about his prognosis. The nurse also shared that he was all but certain that dad would be going home once the doctor got those results.

Dad was off to pee when the nurse came in and told me that I would soon be able to go home but that they were going to keep dad overnight. Dad seemed surprised when I shared the plan with him a few minutes later.
It was after midnight when another doctor came in, this one on an achilles cart. I'm guessing he tore his achilles tendon. He asked the same questions the first nurse and first doctor asked. Really? Are we going to have to go through all this again? About 5 minutes into the dad's repeat story I interrupted and asked the new doctor why we had to describe the symptoms all over again, now for the third time. I could tell that he was a little put off, but so what? He curtly advised that he's the admitting doctor and needs to know the issue first hand. Look at you, you must be a south pole ER doctor!

After the new doctor got the information he needed first hand, he officially shared that dad would be staying. Felt that it was the smart thing to do. At the same time he also shared that his sudden drop in BP and subsequent nausea was almost certainly a byproduct of his meds which caused him to dehydrate and have kidney issues. Before walking out, the doctor asked dad his preference regarding resuscitation should the unexpected occur. It caught me off guard, and judging by the look on dad's face, it really took him by surprise.

Once the plan was clear, I begged off for home. The new overnight nurse took my cell number promising to call with his room number once it was learned. Probably 1220am when I got the parking garage. While in the hospital, it had been snowing. It was forecasted but I didn't think it was expected until Tuesday. Hmmm? Looked like an inch or more on the ground. Called Mindy once I had my cell plugged into my 12v charger. She was in bed but happy to chat.

Got home around 1240am. I headed up to greet Mindy but was quickly back downstairs needing to follow-up on a work issue, one of the same issues I'd been working on all day long. While working, I enjoyed two bowls of Fruit Loops. I headed to bed at 115am. Even though I was tired, I was also wired. Mindy was gracious enough to share in conversation with me. She also scratched my head which always helps me fall asleep.