[stevem53]

Hi everyone, A warm welcome to out new members!

Ive heard horror stories about hospital visits from other people with Parkinsons, but I got a taste of it on Tuesday night..Ive been getting and anxious tightening in my chest for over a month, usualy at night..I figured, just another new symptom, what else is new?..I was at my APDA board meeting Tuesday night, and a nurse who is a board member told me that from what I described, sounded like the symptoms of a heart attack..So I went home after the meeting, and the tightening in my chest had been nasty all day, so I thought Id better go to the ER and see whats going on

When I got there they took me right in, and did an EKG, and determined that I wasnt having a heart attack..That was a relief!..So they told me to go out in the waiting room and wait for the Dr to call me in..That took an hour, to get called in that is, and another half hour before the Dr showed up..Meanwhile the hooked me up to the heart monitor, put a blood pressure cuff on me, drew some blood, and hooked up an IV, and they left me alone for about an hour..I was lying down almost flat, and got extrememly uncomfortable real quick, especially with all the wires, and the IV tube hooked up to me..I got so uncomfortable that I was freiking out..I had to wait an hour for the blood work to come back, and when it did they told me that something got screwed up with the bloodwork, and they had to draw some more blood..Then a half hour later they wanted a urine sample..Piece of cake right?..Wrong!!..The nurse gave me a jug, and said she would be back in a few minutes..I said whoa!!..Wait a minute!!..You gotta unhook all the wires!..Sorry sir..I cant do that, and she split!..What a moron!..Here I am, laying down, with wires hooked up to my chest..a wire hooked up to my finger..a BP cuff on my arm..and an IV tube in my other arm, when I have one leg that can hardly move..weakness, and restricted movement in my mid section because of Parkinsons..a very weak arm on my right side, a johnny that wasnt tied up, and I had to get out of that bed in a standing position to pee in a jug..All the wires were just long enough without an inch to spare, to get up out of the bed..I managed to get out of the bed in one piece, and now I have to pee in the jug without falling down and pulling the heart monitor down with me, pulling the IV out of my arm, and peeing on myself, with the johnny falling down..Then when I was done I had to get back in the bed, which I couldnt do with all that crap hooked up to me, so I had to sit on the edge of the bed in an uncomfortable position, and wait, cuz I couldnt reach the call button, for about a half hour..Finally the nurse shows up and helps me get back in the bed, and the urine sample sat there, on the table for 2 1/2 hours, and was still there at 3:00 AM in the morning when I left..Then the nurse shows up with some Morphine, and says shes gonna give me some Morphine for pain..So I said, "Im not in any pain, and I dont want any Morphine!"..I couldnt believe it!!..Number one, I wasnt in any pain, and I knew if I let them inject me with that stuff, they wouldnt let me drive home untill it wore off..Around 2:00 AM they gave me another EKG, and it too was normal..At this point I was sure that the tightening in my stomach was Parkinsons related dystonia, but they took me for a chest x-ray, and it was also normal..Finally when 3:00 AM rolled around, I hit the call button, and told the nurse to unhook me cuz I was going home..She said she would talk to the Dr and would be back..So when she came back, she unhooked everything and they came to the conclusion that I was right..I had Parkinsons related dystonia..It is really sad, and scarey how many people in the medical field dont know Jack about Parkinsons

On Wednesday, I got my boat back from the shop, put it in the water, and the motor wouldnt start, so I had to pull it back out, and bring it back to the shop..They got on it right away, and I did get it back in the water that day..So on Thursday I started putting my traps back in the water, and got the last load in today..Tomorrow Im going to haul them all and see what I caught..I set them all close to the dock this summer..Gas is expensive, and I dont feel up to traveling this season..I do feel better now that I finally am doing some physical labor, and took an extra Sinemet today, and it picked me right up, and from that experience, I realized that its probably time for a med increase

How was your week?