A little more of "The Story"

We were off to the Doctor’s office. It was a painful ride for Dadzoo, every bump and turn he would silently grimace, as his face became whiter and whiter. He would lay his head back and close his eyes; Sister H and I were constantly asking him “you still there?” “You O.K.” He would say “yes” weakly and I was just praying that we would get to the Doctors with out any delays.

Once we arrived I did something I have never before in my life done, I parked in a handicap spot. Sister H stayed with Dadzoo while I ran in to check us in and get a wheelchair. The office staff was wonderful, they got us right into the examine room, the nurse was so kind and gentle and questioned us thoroughly. The PA gave Dadzoo an excellent examination. He made Dadzoo get up on the examine table, but was so helpful and patient. He poked and prodded the bad knee and moved it all over the place, even in ways it really shouldn’t be able to move.

He determined that Dadzoo had pulled/torn all the ligaments on the inside of his knee joint, he didn’t say much more than that, leaving a better diagnosis up to the orthopedic doctor.

He was watching Dadzoo really closely as he was moving and examining him, Dadzoo was having a hard time again, the examine was really painful and he started doing the light-headed thing again, even though he was lying down.

Then the PA started to ask some really scary questions:

Have you been having chest pains? Well not, really

Have you had tightness in your chest? Yes, I have asthma, it gets tight a lot
Pain in your face or jaw? Yes, I have had a cold and my face has really been hurting

Pain in your left arm? Um, yeah…I guess I have

What about right before you fell, any of those symptoms? No, no more than usual

My heart was sinking, I felt stunned. I knew what the PA was getting at and I felt like it couldn’t be true. A heart attack?! No way, Dadzoo is 38; he isn’t in the greatest health, but, no way! I prayed hard, really hard, please, please no!

The PA took his blood pressure and pulse again, they were normal and he listened to his heart. He then ordered an EKG and told us he would be back in a bit. The nurse came in and did it right there in the room and a few minutes later the PA was back.

Everything was good.

Dadzoo’s heart is healthy.

He determined that the passing out was a reaction to the pain killers he had been taking. Dadzoo passes out easily when he is in pain anyway and this particular pain medication can make a person light headed. So he prescribed him something different and a little more powerful, encouraged us to still see the Orthopedic Doctor and sent us home.Once we were home and he took a dose of his new medicine things really starting looking better. His color came back and his pain was managed a little better, and the next time I took him to the bathroom he didn’t feel faint at all.

He still had to stay off his leg and foot; he has made permanent residence on the couch with ice packs and pillows. He was able to get the last week in December off too, he will be going negative two days into his Paid-Time-Off and if he needs to take more time off, he will have to go on short term disability. We will know more on the 30th.