So We Became Nomads

 This new series of journals or blogs will be about my daughter and daughter in law changing our lives in May of this year, 2020. The Year that tried all our patience and let us know what we are made of. 

And so it begins... May 24th, 2020

One week ago today. I almost died and I am not kidding.

My family asked me if I felt sick. If I had a clue as to what was going to happen on Sunday. And I said no. I had no pain. I was dizzy and a little light-headed. a little disoriented but no pain.

On Saturday I felt kind of crappy. I had a headache, a really bad headache. Someone in the household saw me and asked me how I was feeling? I said fine. She said you don't look fine. But I was hesitant to complain. I kept saying I'll be alright. I've always been all right.

Saturday night were the first clues that I was in trouble. I was still in denial. Megan had come in and had seen that I had a fever, I said I'm going to be fine but she went out and told Wendi. Wendi came in and felt my forehead and I was really hot and she said Mom we're going to go for covid-19 in the morning. I said no I don't need that. I don't have covid-19. But she said we're going to do that at 10 in the morning and I knew she was determined and I said okay.

In the middle of the night sometime I tried to get up and walk to my commode and I was wobbly. I was wobbling from place to place I made it there and back to my chair and that was a miracle. And then on Sunday morning Wendi came in to get me to go to covid-19. It was around 9 I think and and she was going to help me walk to the commode and as soon as I got out of my chair I was so wobbly my legs felt rubbery like Jell-O and I fell into the bookshelf in the living room. ( Wendi tells me this morning that I never asked or waited for her to help. I just got up and tried to walk.) Wendi help me to the floor and then it was kind of a blur. I know that someone in the household came in and helped me up off the floor to my chair and people were saying and if they were going to call the ambulance. I said no, I don't want to go. Don't call. I'll be all right.

But I wasn't all right I was deathly ill. They called the ambulance to get me to the hospital but before they could get me into ambulance, I started vomiting and I kept vomiting on and off and aspirated. I only remember the first vomiting, Wendi working calmly to get an IV in me and they were trying to keep me from choking to death. and then I don't remember anything else about the trip arriving in the ER nothing. I don't know how long it was until I woke up still in the ER on a monitor with a blood pressure that was 100 / 50 and a pulse of 114.

I could feel that they were doing test I felt them do the Covid testing and the burning. I felt different pokes, lab test, urinary test I knew that I had an IV in my arm. Well actually I had two sites in my arm. The one Wendi put on the back of my left hand and one in the bend on the left arm. The one in the wrist was bothering me. It just kept moving around and because it wasn't connected to really anything,was just there moving around and finally It dislodged and it leaked blood all over the sheet and me and and then they came and took care of that. The staff were very attentive, constantly checking me, blood pressure's every 15 minutes probably I don't know, I had no sense of time because it took me a while to even wake up and respond when things were being done and cognitive questions which I failed several times.They were checking everything. Wendi told them I had an autoimmune and that my Sed rate may be high along with my WBC. I had to go down and get a CT scan of my skull of my head and then another CAT scan of my abdominal area after it came back that I had an acute UTI and my white blood cell count was 20,000. I remember when they told me that I was so shocked at High number to have no symptoms. I could remember stuff for a fever and chills and I had a headache I did have some reduced urinary output but I just I don't drink enough so I didn't think anything about it.

I was in the ER what seemed like all day while they stabilized me and then they came in and they said you will be staying with us and I said for a UTI? They said this is not a regular UTI this is a severe UTI and I said okay I'm sorry I was admitted on Sunday. Monday I can't remember what kind of testing we did but Tuesday they did another CT scan on the kidney area because I have a known history of kidney stones and they told me that I had a kidney stone the size of my kidney that it was an emergency and that my kidney was being compromised. I had moderate to severe damage to the kidney and that dr. Yavari my doctor would have to be called and he was called on that Wednesday I mean on that Tuesday and then on Wednesday afternoon I was in surgery. They could not give me a lithotripsy because of stone being too large. No one can pass that size stone But they did place a stent.

I will have to have surgery to remove that stone in a few days but after 6 days in the hospital I am home and feeling some better.

I survived being Septic, dehydrated, kidney failure and infection, UTI and I am so grateful. Life is so short and this was a huge wake up call for me to take better care of myself and to communicate with my family instead of being so stoic. We are not an island. I wanted you all to know how much I love you. Always, Kimmee

136Sylvia Chao, Sherry Flowers Murkland and 134 others

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