The man who is rarely sick...

Bob has been improving for a few days, but he still was really weak and not feeling well.  We realized that he had been badly dehydrated.  Yesterday, he got up in the morning to try to drive with Aliysa and Jace to Utah for his Nephew Brent's wedding.  But he just didn't have the strength and he felt dizzy and faint.  I'm so glad he decided to stay home.  Aliysa and Jace went on their own.

Last night I went to the store to buy carrots for juicing and a couple more nutritional supplements.  Bob wanted to come with, but just couldn't get out of bed.  When I got home, he did not look well.  He informed me that he was having difficulty breathing.  I wish I would have taken him to the hospital right then (well, I really wish I had a few days ago when he was so sick).  He wanted a priesthood blessing, so I started trying to find someone.  Family members and our home teachers were not home, and everything was taking so long, and I was going much slower than I should have.  Bob was walking in circles in the front yard, because if he sat or laid down, he couldn't breathe.  He was agitated, and kept trying to do things like repair the fence around our garden.  I finally thought to call one of our kind neighbors, and he said he would come over.

Before he got here, Bob poked his head in the front door and told me to pull the van out of the garage.  I realized that he was really having a hard time.  I've never seen him like this.  I told the kids that we were leaving, grabbed my purse, and headed out.  I didn't realize it yet, but Bob was hyperventilating at this point.  Our friend showed up and he and our other friend gave Bob a blessing.  It was short, but filled me with peace as Bob was told that he would be healed.

We drove off and I sped to the hospital.  Bob kept telling me to speed faster.  He called 911 on the way to tell them we were speeding and we didn't want to be pulled over because he couldn't breathe.  They told him that they couldn't give him permission to speed, but they could send an ambulance.  Bob said we weren't going to stop.  Then they transferred his call to the hospital, and Bob again had to try to explain what was going on, all while gasping for breath.  That person didn't know what to do, so they transferred his call again.  The person on the other line didn't know why this call was coming in, so Bob had to try to explain the whole situation again. It was absurd.

I was trying to get him to give me the phone, but he wanted me to focus on driving. No one could understand what he was trying to tell them, and this call ended with them saying they couldn't really help him over the phone, but they would see him when he got to the emergency room, and they hung up on him because he was getting a little worked up.  Poor man, he was worried that he was dying and no one would listen.

Bob's brother in law, Dan, was working as a paramedic that night, and we are SO grateful that he offered to meet us at the hospital, because Bob was (in Dan's words) "done" at that point.  He didn't bother even talking to the check-in person.  He gasped "I'm going in there...because that is where they take care of people" and he headed back into the emergency room.  People were asking him to sit down in a wheelchair, but he was having none of it.  At this point Dan walked up and saw how Bob looked, and he grabbed one of Bob's arms, and another nurse grabbed Bob's other arm, and Bob basically collapsed just as they got him.  It was scary.  I checked in, signed papers, went back out to park the van, and headed in to check on Bob.

He was still gasping, and wouldn't stop talking.  (He says it helped him to breathe, but I just wanted to see him resting and breathing deeply.  I don't think he could breathe deeply at that point though).   They gave him an i.v., oxygen, some medication to calm down, and took a chest x-ray, etc...

The medication took a little while to kick in, so he had time to give the person he had talked to on the phone a hard time.  I don't think Bob was his favorite patient that evening, nor was he Bob's favorite person.  But everyone took good care of him, and after midnight they sent him home with a glass of orange juice, a pill in case he started having breathing problems again, and a diagnosis of dehydration and hyperventilation.

 We stopped at Wal-Mart to get juice for Bob.  He insisted on coming in with me (I don't think this man knows how to rest). He got to ride one of the nifty carts. 

 We got home to find that Courtney had done a wonderful job babysitting (Aliysa and Jace are in Utah).  The house was clean, and all the kids were having a slumber party in the family room.  I picked up Taycie, who was cuddled next to Courtney, put her in her crib, and we collapsed into bed at 2am.  Bob is doing better this morning, it is so nice to see him doing well, and his personality coming back. 

Well, geesh.  We'll see what else we can do for excitement before this year is up.