Physical Setback

I woke up this morning at 6am with a bad cough and could not sleep. I felt heavy in my chest and I knew what I was up against as I have felt this way in the past... Bronchitis. As I laid there in bed, I contemplated what I should do next. I could just bear the cough and deal with it Monday, or we could trudge to the ER at Walter Reed and get treated. I decided that in the best interest of getting healthy as quickly as possible, we should go to the ER. Bear in mind, we had only had four hours of sleep at this point, so this was a heck of a challenge getting up and going (more on the four hours of sleep in a bit). We made the long winding confusing drive through DC to Walter Reed and got there at about 7am. I had an exam, chest X-Ray to rule out pneumonia, another visit from a different doctor and a visit to the Pharmacy to get some meds. We made it out of there at 10am. I'm glad we went, but what an ordeal. It really wasn't all that bad - the worst part was, of course, the waiting. Heck, what do you expect at 7am on a Sunday morning at the ER? They were very nice and I got an antibiotic, decongestant, cough suppressant and inhaler to help me breathe a bit easier until my lungs clear up. I'm not sure how this is going to affect what's going on this week, I'll have to call the doctor tomorrow and see what they think.

About tomorrow - it's going to be a good day - I hope. I'm planning to call the Tricare office early to get a referral authorization number to give to Johns Hopkins. I'm also waiting for a phone call from Johns Hopkins to schedule an appointment for a visit with a surgeon there. It will be either Monday or Tuesday afternoon. If I don't hear from them by 11am Monday, I am supposed to call them. I also need to call my doctor at Bethesda to let him know about the Bronchitis. I have no idea what the outcome of that will be - but since I essentially have a virus in my lungs, I am skeptical that the surgery will take place this week. I want to be as absolutely healthy as possible so that I can recover quickly. I'll let you know what happens right here when I find out.

The rest of the day was fun. We came home right after the ER to freshen up and then we skidaddled right off to church. I don't think we would have made it, but we were having a volunteer fair and I was the only person there to recruit for the video team, so I really wanted to be there. I had quite a few people interested in the team, but I had a whole lot more ask me questions about what's going on. I wish they had read the blog like you are! It would save me a lot of breath. But I appreciate everyone's sincere support and care. It really means a lot to me.

After church we went to lunch and then came home for a nap. We needed a nap and it was quite pleasant. We wouldn't have gotten up, but I wanted to stop by my First Sergeant's apartment to bring dinner to him. Larry recently returned from Iraq and had a procedure done on Friday and has been holed up since then. We brought him some delicious chicken from El Pollo Rico (which is the greatest rotisserie chicken I have ever had in my life! check them out if you're ever in Arlington) and we talked about his tour over there and he shared some pictures with us. It was nice to provide him some company and to get to hang out with him again - he's a very nice guy. He'll be heading back home to Texas in a few weeks.

Last night was a blast too... we had dinner with some great friends at a New Zealand restaurant called Cassatt's, also here in Arlington. A good friend of ours, Rex, performs there with his friend about once a month. We had a great time with about fourteen friends and enjoyed some fabulous food. Pictures from Cassatt's can be found here. After that, we hung out with our friends John and Tamra. It was a loooong day, but a heck of a lot of fun.

Just a reminder... if you want to be updated of updates to this blog, you can scroll down to the bottom of this page a sign up. You'll just have to type in your email address and it will send you a confirmation email that will ask you to click a link to confirm - but it is free. We will also be testing out a feature that will allow us to post a short voice audio message that you'll be able to click and listen to. This might come in handy on the day of the surgery to update you on the progress. You can keep the page open and hit refresh to see if there's an update, and then click to listen to it. It will be an easy way for us to get news out quick. Well, the meds I took are starting to work and I'm getting sleepy. I hope to have good news for you tomorrow!