Why no update, more bad news.

My mom has troubles with chest pains. She gets a cough and then pleurisy, an inflammation of the lining outside of her lung. However, it is chest pain, and even though none of the symptoms are similar to a heart attack I still have to call the advice nurse and answer the questions.

  1. Is the pain localized or does it radiate down the arm?
  2. Is there pain elsewhere?
  3. Do you feel nauseous?
  4. Are you sweating?
  5. Do you have shortness of breath?

Of course we know the problem, and we know that Advil pretty much cures it, but even though the symptoms say it’s just pleurisy, she has to go to the emergency room to make sure.

Unfortunately, this time they found something. They heard problems in the lungs and got her a CT scan. They thought she had bilateral pneumonia and they admitted her so they could give her IV antibiotics. I stayed with my mom until 3AM, enduring the same questions over and over. A resident who looked like a little kid was the most thorough, but also the most annoying. My mom just wanted to leave.

Well, the good news was that they thought she could leave today. The bad news is that it wasn’t pneumonia, but a pleural effusion. I guess she got a blood clot in her leg and it got up to her lung. She’s going to be on blood thinners for a while. Even worse news is that she had a reaction to some of the antibiotics and looks like a pumpkin. She has to stay another night until her rash goes away.

So, I should be getting some sleep since I have an interview tomorrow, but I’m just a little keyed up. I’m sure I’ll fall asleep at the wrong time, right in the middle of some hard questions. Hooray.

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