Hubby has been tended to and is still sleeping soundly this morning.  Poor dear is so sick.  He caught what I had last weekend.  Although I suspect he will be fine this afternoon.  I do hope!!! 

Where was I?  Oh the Morphine and the ER Doc, Yes.  I ended up getting Dilaudid my entire hospital stay.  Which took care of the costochondritis pain for sure but left me pretty stoned out.  I didn't like it really.  Couldn't think for myself.  Doing pretty bizarre things.  Like feeling no pain and getting chairs for my roomates guests, stuff like that.  During one of my bizarre episodes my primary care doc happened to walk in and decided I was fine and stopped the med.  Then boom I was in excrutiating pain once again.  Crying out in agony.  It was a horror.  My INR levels were supposed to be being monitored but the hospital staff had no idea what my therapeutic levels were because my hematologist was never consulted.  My coumadin was stopped all together from the moment I was admitted.  Gary brought in my self test maching (Pro Time Machine) and checked me.  My levels were too low. He got the nurse and expressed his concern.  No no avail.  So there I was at square one again.  In horrific pain, except now with an INR level that is too low which put me at risk of stroke again.  How lovely.  The next thing I know I am being discharged.  Which Gary and I think is the best thing.  I wait until 9:15 PM for my doctor to come to discharge me.  Remember I am on no pain medication.  I haven't had my PM meds either.  No seizure meds, etc.  In excrutiating pain still.  He discharges me on 60mgs of prednisione, 15mgs morphine sulfate and 7.5 coumadin.  Tells me my INR levels are fine.  To contact my rheumi to get my pain management under control.  OH, they give me my PM meds, the coumadin and the morphine because by this time its almost 10:30 PM.  I find out in the morning after calling my nurse practitioner at the coumadin center that my INR was 1.4 which was way too low.  I should not have been discharged.  I should have been put on heparin or at least given a shot of lovenox and a script for the same.  Remind me to stay away from the ER next time.

Fast forward to now...... I'm wearing an Event Monitor to yup, monitor my heart because my cardiologist isn't happy with the shortness of breath I had when he saw me at the hospital.  I see my rheumi today to go over my pulmonary function test and get the referral to a pulmonologist.  What else?  I have a SPECT Scan scheduled for Monday.  Finally, after all the insurance back and forth.  Tonight I go for the 4th neuro psych test.  I'm holding up.  Tired, in pain, can't manage to do one chore without losing my breath and getting short of breath and chest pain.  But, hey it could be worse.  Even showering is an undertaking.  So it's either a clean LuAnne or a clean house.  And, I vote for a clean LuAnne.  What do you think?