YOU ARE NOT GOING TO BELIEVE THIS!

Sometimes, we just have to pay the piper......or something like that.

As I told you earlier, John has been so tired from moving to the new motorhome.  He has not had energy and has been feeling very weak and his left foot and leg has been swelling.

This morning at breakfast we decided that, because he was sooo tired,  I would run the last minute, pre-tomorrow's departure errands and John would putz around the motorhome.  So I left the motorhome around eleven thirty and returned just before four o'clock to find a hubby that was way too tired for just "putzing." He had been working, not putzing.  (What am I going to do with that man?) We decided he would do a breathing treatment and lie down for a bit.

While he was doing his breathing treatment, I called Dr. Lyken's office and talked to Kelvey, his absolutely indispensable secretary/nurse.  All I got was her answering machine.  I explained my observations and asked for advice.

While waiting for Kelvey to return my call, I pushed ahead and called our Internal Medicine physician.  His orders were to take John to the hospital- immediately, if not sooner.  That is exactly what I did.

In addition to his breathing problems, diabetes etc, John has had a history of Atrial Fibrillation for thirteen years.  The A-Fib is what was causing most of his problems tonight.

Atrial Fibrillation, in simple terms,  is an irregular, rapid  heartbeat.  John's heart rate was 148 beats per minute and jumping all over the place.  (72 is normal)  Since his heart was pumping too quickly and not in a steady pace, he was not getting the circulation to reach his extremities, he was feeling tired (gee, I can't imagine why) and feeling weak.

The emergency room physician prescribed a bolus of Cartia (for heartbeat), {a large amount given at one tune} followed by the drug, Cartia in an IV drip.  The goal is bring his heart rate to around 90 beats per minute.

Thus far, all is well.  I felt comfortable enough to come "home" and will return to University (Indiana) first thing in the morning.

It is hard to describe my feelings tonight.  I feel...... peaceful....as if this is just a bump in the road and we will be on our way just two or three days later than expected.  I think the reason for  this is that is just what the physician told us right before I left the hospital.

I ask that you continue to pray for John. And for me.  I need wisdom to spot the warning signs of trouble.  Both of us were willing to ignore them just to get on the road.  THAT is unacceptable.

I cannot begin to tell you how much I love and respect my husband.  I have a story to tell you all, but not right now.  It is a story of God's love and the miracles He preforms.  It is too long for tonight and I must be up and at the hospital at an early hour tomorrow.

OH, by the way!  We discovered today that we have not only a furnace powered by LP gas, but we have a heat pump....powered by Camping World!  Gee, we are truly blessed.

I wonder what else I will learn about our new home.  And our new life of full timing with a man with precarious health conditions.   Whatever it is, I KNOW that God has a plan for our lives, a hope and a future.