Lose My Breath

 Dom had a transurethral resection of the prostate or TURP for short surgery on August 29th.  It's a surgical procedure that involves cutting away a section of the prostate.   It's done to relieve the blockage that has caused him to not be able to urinate.    

The surgery itself went well.   They kept him overnight and during that time they irrigated his bladder for several hours to make sure his urine came out clear which it did.   One of the other purposes of the irrigation was to help prevent any blood clots from forming in the bladder.  He was feeling pretty good and was released from the hospital Wednesday afternoon.

He still had Fido (his nickname for the catheter he still had attached to his urethra) to contend with but the good news is that he would be able to finally get it removed on Tuesday the 5th.

That was the plan.   But you know how plans go...LOL.  

Friday night when heading up to bed, Dom felt dizzy and lightheaded.   He could barely move a few feet before feeling out of breath.   It took him several minutes before he could finally get into bed and initially he was so exhausted he had to lay flat across the bed for a few minutes more before he was able to adjust himself on the bed.   He then was breathing heavily for a few more minutes before he was able to finally catch his breath. 

He had the same experience Saturday morning heading back downstairs.   At that point we both wondered if he should go to the E.R.   But Dom wanted to wait to see if it continued plus he anticipated that the weekend would be crazy at the E.R. and we would be waiting a long time.

So the same symptoms occurred Saturday night and Sunday morning.   They even occurred when he moved around the house during the day.   Dom immediately suspected it could've been a pulmonary embolism.   I also was wondering if it was due to low blood sugar, low blood pressure, emphysema (even though that affects smokers which Dom and I aren't), lack of insulin, or B-12 deficiency.   But we would not know until we got a proper diagnosis.

So Sunday I go to mass and then make plans to visit my favorite casino that I haven't been to in a little over a month.   Prior to the casino I have to stop at Walmart to pick up a stupid item I bought just to use up all my gift card.   I had to get the Walmart app to set an appointment for pick up.   Fun...LOL.

I get to the casino which is about 45 minutes from home and after about 30 minutes I get a call from Dom.   He's experiencing the same symptoms and was not able to make it to the kitchen to fix a snack.   He was thinking of calling the ambulance to take him to St. Mary's.   I was at first thinking I should get home and take him but he made the point that he wasn't sure he'd be able to make it to the car.   He was telling me I should enjoy myself at the casino and he'll reach out once he's at the hospital.   Of course I couldn't enjoy myself knowing he was in agony so after talking to him, I headed home.

From our door bell camera, I was able to see the scene unfold at home as the EMS workers were coming to the house.   Dom himself was sitting on the steps and they slowly were trying to get him into the gurney bed.   Of course the flashing lights of the ambulance were streaming.  I wasn't able to see the fire truck that sometimes tags along for emergencies.   But it was our turn to give the neighbors a show no doubt.   They lingered for a bit in the driveway, no doubt trying to ascertain Dom's symptoms and treat him if possible.    Eventually they left and I got home about 30 minutes after they left.  

I called 911 to find out where they took Dom and the stupid operator said they couldn't give me that information and I would have to call all the local hospitals myself to figure out where they took him.   I did know that Dom was adamant about wanting to go to St. Mary's so I was hopeful they would take him there so that was the first place I called.   Thankfully I was able to confirm that he was there.

I get to the E.R. two hours later after calling myself trying to do some laundry to get some clean clothes for Dom.    When I get there I find out that they confirmed that Dom did indeed have a pulmonary embolism.   Basically he had multiple clots in his lungs that were causing the symptoms.   They started a heparin drip to help with breaking up the blood clots.   He was able to get a room where he's currently residing as of this post.

The plan today is that a cardiologist will meet with him to see if he would qualify for an angioplasty to try and break up the clots as well.   As a bonus if he winds up staying until Tuesday, they may be able to remove the catheter from the hospital instead of him going to another location to take it out.   We shall see what happens next.