We got back from Colorado yesterday, shortly before midnight. I was home for all of about 30 minutes and then left again. In an ambulance.
I had been having pretty severe chest pain for about 2 hours, so I called (and woke up) Dr. Moore. He told me to call 911, which I did, and our wonderful paramedics and EMTs came to check on me. They very quickly (before we even left the house) verified that it did not seem to be a cardiac event (EKG looked fine), but it was scary and painful enough that I decided to let them take me to the Health Center anyway since a) I wanted to know what it was, if possible and b) I had already woken up poor Dr. Moore, the least I could do was go see him!
Well, after just a few minutes, some drugs, and a bunch of questions at the Health Center, I was feeling loads better (I assume that was the drugs!), but Dr. Moore had decided I needed to go to a hospital for further testing. It was now about 1 AM, and I needed to get to a facility quickly (explanation on that in a moment), so I got a ride with the Marines in their speedy Chinook helicopter. Health East from Pitt Memorial in Greenville, and Nightingale from Sentara General in Norfolk both couldn't fly due to ground fog, but the USMC ("Pedro", as they are called...I don't know why and would love to find out, so if you know, leave a comment!) will fly when others won't. They agreed about the ground fog, though, so they took me to New Bern. They took wonderful care of me. Plus, they were really strong and good looking to boot! (Nothing wrong with having a handsome guy to look at when you are generally not feeling wonderful, in my opinion.) But seriously, I was hugely appreciative of them. God bless all our men and women in uniform.
Anway, after a sleepless night in the ER (the poor guy next to me called out repeatedly in his sleep, plus the lights were on and I was wondering what the heck was wrong with me, so snoozing wasn't happening), a chest x-ray, and a CAT scan including contrast dye pumped through my IV (which was a sneak preview of a hot flash), the ER Dr. (Lavine) was able to rule out a pulmonary embolism, which was the reason Dr. Moore wanted me to go to a hospital quickly (to verify that wasn't the issue, since those can be fatal).
At the moment, I'm not sure what the cause was, although Dr. Lavine recommended checking my gall bladder next. Luckily, I think can do that by driving to the hospital in Nags Head for an ultrasound. Although...there's something to be said for helicopter travel - the flight was smooth, the landing was wonderful (unlike airplane landings, which often make me feel really sick), and it was the fastest I've ever gotten to New Bern!
No, this adventure is not the reason the blog is so terribly far behind - my trip to Colorado is. I will get it caught up eventually, though, I swear!
Hope your life has been smooth and free of helicopter rides (at least for emergencies) recently, wherever you are!
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10 comments:
Glad you are feeling better and all test were OK. How does the helicopter fit in with insurance and health cost? Since Ocracoke is so isolated, is it considered same as an ambulance ride?
Kati,
So sorry about your health scare. Please let us know what the outcome is. Definitely could be your gallbladder. :-(
Missed your blogging; glad you are back.
Pat............
that sounds awful, I hope you feel better
Thanks everyone. I am feeling mostly better, although I will feel lots better once we know for sure what caused the pain, so we can (hopefully) prevent it from happening again!
To answer the question about costs, helicopter rides are pretty darn expensive, but covered by most insurance. When John was flown to Norfolk last year, the bill was $10,000 (no, I'm not kidding) and I was EXTREMELY grateful for our insurance. Since I was taken by the Marine Corps, my understanding is that there will be no charge for my ride. So I guess if you're going to have an emergency which requires an airlift, try to do it on a day with ground fog or some other weather which prevents the expensive guys from flying! :)
Pedro is the callsign for that aircraft. Each base will usually have one call sign that they assign to a unit or type of aircraft and then a number following it for each sortie. When I was in Florida they called it Bolt. So the first aircraft flying that day was Bolt 001. Glad to hear you're feeling better!
Thanks...I found out after I wrote the blog that Pedro is the call name for both the aircraft and the unit, but I was still curious about the origin - i.e. why Pedro? Sounds like there may not actually be any grand reason, though. I got a kick out of the fact that even the patches on the guys' uniforms said Pedro. :) I've learned a great deal more about the unit at the MCAS Cherry Point website. For anyone who is curious, you can find out lots about them here: https://www.cherrypoint.usmc.mil/VMR1/VMR1FamilyReadiness.asp
Hope you are feeling better and will be back to posting soon!
Thanks Debbie - I'm working on getting caught up so look for old/backdated blogs (below these newer entries). I was doing pretty well but then had to go to the hospital AGAIN (this time just to Nags Head, and no helicopter, just an ambulance) on Friday, which pretty much shot Friday and most of Saturday (and my plans for big time blog catch-up) all to heck. :( I'll get back to my normal routine eventually, though (at least I certainly hope so!)
Take care, and God bless.
Thanks Woodduck. I'm hanging in there...haven't had another "incident" since Friday which is a good thing.
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