Bad time, better time

The past couple of days have been crazy, and in not at all what we expected to be dealing with at the moment. We were looking forward to our trip to Oregon, which we were to leave for on Monday. However, all that has changed.

On Tuesday Jeff was having severe abdominal pain, which at first he thought was some kind of muscular pain from sleeping poorly, but which got worse throughout the day leading him to think it was something else. At 7 PM he went to the doctor (our doctor's office has excellent extended hours), and then was sent immediately to the emergency room. After many tests, they finally figured out late Wednesday afternoon that he has a pulmonary embolism. This is much more serious than anything I imagined, even as we were in the ER waiting for a diagnosis. It is a mystery how it came to be that he has it, because he has no known risk factors and there was no evidence of him having had a clot in his leg (which is usually where a clot in the lungs comes from).

Jeff on Wednesday afternoon, shortly after getting a diagnosis

He has improved a lot each day since then, and yesterday afternoon he was allowed to go home.

Jeff at home with his "cat nurses" as he calls them. This picture is slightly misleading, as Jeff was only briefly dressed in jeans, and got into pajamas pretty quickly after this.

 Last night's sleep was a little bit difficult at first, but we were both able to sleep reasonably well. Today, Jeff seems just about normal, playing video games and watching movies, though he is not allowed to exert himself. That means I get concerned when he does anything, like grating cheese to help make dinner, but he was told before discharge that he is allowed to do household activities as tolerated. I may be slightly overprotective, but in general my experience with people who have pulmonary embolism is not good (an understatement). When I worked at Harborview in Seattle, pulmonary embolism was pretty synonymous with sudden death, so I think I have a right to be protective and careful. However, other than an inability to cough properly and related phlegmy throat, just looking at Jeff he seems totally fine, which is reassuring.

I will post more of an update in a couple of days, but I just wanted to let everyone know what has been going on, and that things are getting better. Jeff will not be doing any traveling for the holidays, but I will be making a shorter trip, after Christmas, and Jeff's brother will be coming here to stay with Jeff while I am gone. I will be arriving in Eugene late at night on December 28, and will depart from Portland on January 3 in the afternoon as previously planned. For anyone who has tried to make plans with us, maybe send me a new email with your availability if you think it might be possible to get together, though with this shortened trip it may be harder to squeeze in visits.