this has been the most unbelievable week i can imagine. i have been going to the mountains twice a year for the last thirty years. i normally reside at sea level actually +1 foot our woman's retreat was at the 6000 foot level. i have been to my special place a number of times since the first embolism with no breathing problems other than what you would expect at the 6000 foot level. i have been very sick this year with many problems. my breathing and o2 sats have been fine for months no cause to worry about going to the retreat. even my dr gave me clearance by orders of the other 7 woman i was going with. they would not let me in the car with out his clearance.
when we got to the top of the mountain i did many stupid things first was not letting anyone know i was scared to death. i had gone to the cabin feeling really confused and dizzy pulled out my monitor and it said 73 so i said BROKE. warmed my hands tried again still said 73 i still said BROKE someone else came in the room i checked her it said 98 i said oh shit i am in trouble. well i wasn't about to tell 7 other woman we had to leave after driving all day to get their and the only other way off the mountain was helicopter. so i kept my mouth shut and slept for the whole weekend with sats between 73-88. i tried to read my notes from the first session of our meeting and it was scribble and i could not make out any of the words. that was when i just said i had the flu and laid down. now ya all are gonna chew me out. i do really stupid things in the heat of the moment thinking if it got to bad i would speak up.
we came off the mountain after three days sat's returned to normal thought good no damage no harm no foul. next morning i drove 250 miles for a VA medical appointment oh how dumb can one be . my sats's were fine when i left but the damage was their. i got to my appointment when the nurse checked my sats it read 78 next thing i see is a doctor coming to talk to me then she left the room i could hear another doctor who i knew was the head of the department behind the door saying let me be the bad guy. so they both come in the room to tell me i wasn't going home the ambulance was on he way and i had no say so. so hear i am 250 miles from home with a purse and a phone and nothing else had to leave my car all alone in the middle of los angeles. my baby left to get vandalized which it didn't. i ended up 5 days in the hospital and no answers. my sats have not been below 90's in months. this was not on my radar. nothing to prepare me for it. i have been up to the mountains many times since the first clots and even since the lung hemorrhage last year. it was never my enemy.
the only thing the doctors are guessing is additional scar tissue and the burden on the cumulative burden was to much.
they want me to get tested something called an altitude test in a hypoberic chamber. because my kids live in the mountains i gotta know that i can go see them and not got hypoxic on them and me. we will see if anyone figures out when where and who the test is done and if medicare will cover it.
and to make all of this the worst week i could imagine i have had an adopted grandma for thirty years whom i have loved with my whole heart and i got word while i was in the hospital she didn't have long. i was driving the 250 miles home and was almost their to be with her when i got word she had passed away. i was only one hour away. i got their in time to see her before the mortuary came and help them in the wrapping of her body and carrying her out for the last time. most people can't handle that to me it is a gift one last time to do the things you think you could never do but for a loved one anything. actually scared me even more knowing full well that could have been me in my foolishness and not letting someone know when i am in deep do do.......