18/08/2024
CONTENT WARNING: medical conditions, hospital exams, treatment using meds
Update: I don't have pneumonia. Nor do I have a blood clot in my lungs, to check for which I was readmitted to the hospital Friday afternoon. What I do have is pericarditis, which I have had on at least 10 other occasions since moving to Norway. Like a dope, I mistook each instance for mere muscle strain. Unlike previously, this time it's not something I can heal from on my own.
Don't let any of that scare you, I should recover just fine. The sac around my heart is inflamed and filled with too much fluid, which is putting a lot of excess pressure on the right side of my heart. It makes me feel like I am being autopsied pre mortem, and I hurt especially when bending down to pick up things I drop, use the restroom, brush my hair, or towel off after showering.
They kept me overnight, ran a CT scan, ekgs, and did ultrasounds to figure out what's actually going on. They are administering ibuprofen for the inflammation, and a med I don't know the name of in English to reduce the amount of fluid in the sac. I'm here until at least Monday. If the fluids aren't receding fast enough, they will send me to a hospital in Oslo to drain them.
I am short of breath, but infinitely less so than Friday. I tire after a couple of hours just embroidering my bunad, and I had two low blood sugar incidents Friday night. I'm in a lot less pain, and Tommy and I mini celebrated our 8th anniversary with roses and a few hands of Murder of Crows, playing Raid: Shadow Legends, and him reading to me while I embroidered.
I still rattle and wheeze some, but I no longer require being wheeled around, and I hurt less during the day. Folks, don't be a dope like me. Even if you think you just pulled a muscle, head to the hospital for ALL kinds of chest pain. If Tommy and our friends hadn't convinced me to seek help, this might have become a memorial account.
PS. I was this years old when I learned that in addition to the brain's myceal sheath, we have similar protective sacs around our hearts and lungs. It makes sense, but no one ever accused me of being the brightest.