I'm home!

In article %dlPa.744$u51.628@fed1read05, Circe
writes
Just a quick note to let everyone know that I got home from the hospital
about 90 minutes ago and have been reading all your posts and well-wishes.
Hugely glad to know you're not only out of the woods, but by a nice cosy
fire at home
--
Jenn
UK

"Circe" wrote in message
news:%dlPa.744$u51.628@fed1read05...
Just a quick note to let everyone know that I got home from the hospital
about 90 minutes ago and have been reading all your posts and well-wishes.


{{{{{{{Barbara}}}}}} so glad that you are home safe and well, don't ever go
scaring us like that again! I hope we all can treat this as a wake up call
and take care of our own health along with the health of our loved ones.
Please thank your mum for keeping us updated, I don't think I could have
coped had I not known that you were on the mend as soon as she could tell
us.
Take care

--
Marie
Mum to DD5, DS3 and due #3 July '03

Tina wrote:
I am so happy to hear you're home and recovering!

Thanks, Tina (and everyone else--I don't have the energy to answer
*everyone's* posts just yet, I'm afraid!).

I've been very
worried, and thinking about how you really helped me about 5 years ago
when I was pregnant with Sage, and worried about Terbutaline, and
Albuterol, and everything! Thanks again!

I'm really glad I helped you back then, Tina. It makes me happy to know that
I made a difference.

A few months ago, my younger daughter and I were diagnosed with a
bleeding disorder. She's also Failure to Thrive and has a lot of
allergy issues. So while I've been taking her to all of her
appointments and even attending workshops about kids with this
disorder, etc...., I have yet to get a referral to a hematologist for
myself, or even have the blood drawn for a categorized diagnosis. The
more I read about the disorder, the more I realize how it explains *so
many * problems I have -- but still, I just keep an eye on the kids,
the house, and all that. Well, I had a suspicious bleeding episode
this evening, but was again writing it off as not so important.

Needless to say, I'm calling my Doctor tomorrow.

Good job. Do it. Don't wait. Your daughters need you.

And to everyone else who mentioned having "mild" asthma--a brief plea: take
it seriously. I would have characterized my asthma before this event as
moderate rather than mild, but I never thought of it as particularly
dangerous or life-threatening. I know better now. It's just not something to
be taken lightly. The right trigger and you can be locked up solid like I
was, not able to take a breath for love or money. It's just something you
should have checked and be sure that your medications are really keeping you
under proper control. Don't mess with it!
--
Be well, Barbara
(Julian [7/22/97], Aurora [7/19/99], and Vernon's [3/2/02] mom)
See us at http://photos.yahoo.com/guavaln

This week's special at the English Language Butcher Shop:
"Loose weight, feel great!" -- fair booth sign

What does it all mean? I have *no* idea. But it's my life and I like it.

I'm am so glad to hear that you are home and okay. I was worried about you.
--
Sue
mom to three girls

Circe wrote in message
news:%dlPa.744$u51.628@fed1read05...
Just a quick note to let everyone know that I got home from the hospital
about 90 minutes ago and have been reading all your posts and well-wishes.

First, let me say that I'm utterly humbled and *very* grateful to you all.
It is amazing to have such an incredible network of people you've never
even
met who are caring about you and pulling for you. I really just
feel...humbled, maybe even a little embarrassed.

I know there've been some questions as to how I got myself into this mess
in
the first place, and the truth is, it was a bit of complacency on my part
and some really bad luck. I've been treating my asthma symptomatically for
years, and I knew what I was doing was not THE BEST treatment, but three
kids and a full-time job and the thousand other medical events we've had
'round here (big baby heads, broken arms, etc. ad infinitum) just kept
pushing that visit with my doctor off. And since I was not symptomatic
often--I could go literally days without problems--and since the albuterol
and serevent seemed to work well when I WAS having trouble, it didn't seem
like a pressing matter. Things obviously changed Monday morning.

Honestly, we don't really know what triggered this event, but I went from
a
very mild asthma attack to feeling like someone had literally shut the
door
between my upper airways and my lungs in under 10 minutes. It was
LIGHTNING
fast. I had my albuterol and my nebulizer, but because I couldn't get ANY
air into my lungs at all, they weren't helping.

The plan at this point is to get me on Advair as a 2x daily preventive,
with
plenty of albuterol as needed if I'm having trouble. I'm also scaling down
on oral steroids and taking an antibiotic prophylactically for a few more
days. In addition, the pulmonologist who saved my life (bless him) gave me
a
prescription for an epi-pen. If I had had one of those on hand when this
event started, I might have been in a bit better shape when I got to the
hospital, since it might have opened my airways enough to allow the
albuterol to get in and do some good. As it was, the only way to get air
into me was to intubate me and force it in there--and believe you me, my
lungs *know* they were forced to breathe against their will!

As we've been discussing this whole event, it has occurred to us that my
father's asthma worsened significantly when he was my age. He thought it
was
due to having his nasal passages "roto-rootered", but given that he was
39-40 and I'm 39, it seems entirely possible that our asthma triggers are
just designed to get worse at around this age. I am much more fortunate
than
he in that there are much better medications available these days to treat
asthma preventively, though!

All things considered, I'm amazed. Monday, I was at death's door and today
I'm home with my family. I am so incredibly blessed. And grateful to have
a
second opportunity to be a better wife, mother, daughter, and friend.
Thank
you so much for caring.
--
Be well, Barbara
(Julian [7/22/97], Aurora [7/19/99], and Vernon's [3/2/02] mom)
See us at http://photos.yahoo.com/guavaln

This week's special at the English Language Butcher Shop:
"Loose weight, feel great!" -- fair booth sign

What does it all mean? I have *no* idea. But it's my life and I like it.

"Circe" wrote in message
news:%dlPa.744$u51.628@fed1read05...
Just a quick note to let everyone know that I got home from the hospital
about 90 minutes ago and have been reading all your posts and well-wishes.

First, let me say that I'm utterly humbled and *very* grateful to you all.
It is amazing to have such an incredible network of people you've never
even
met who are caring about you and pulling for you. I really just
feel...humbled, maybe even a little embarrassed.

I know there've been some questions as to how I got myself into this mess
in
the first place, and the truth is, it was a bit of complacency on my part
and some really bad luck. I've been treating my asthma symptomatically for
years, and I knew what I was doing was not THE BEST treatment, but three
kids and a full-time job and the thousand other medical events we've had
'round here (big baby heads, broken arms, etc. ad infinitum) just kept
pushing that visit with my doctor off. And since I was not symptomatic
often--I could go literally days without problems--and since the albuterol
and serevent seemed to work well when I WAS having trouble, it didn't seem
like a pressing matter. Things obviously changed Monday morning.


sigh
If it helps, since I found out about your attack I've been VERY good about
taking my meds. I have mild-to-moderate asthma which is EXTRAORDINARILY well
controlled with 250/50 advair, singulair and zyrtec. It is okay with just
the zyrtec and advair or just the advair and singulair, and I can often
fudge and take the medicines less often if necessary, which is tempting,
because they cost $100 per month in copays.

But I haven't been fudging since I heard about your attack The fact of the
matter is that with a cat around, and pollen, and the ubiquitous molds and
dust that surround me, I flat out MUST take my medication. Funny thing,
too--since I've been taking it regularly, I actually feel better. When I
take it consistently, I don't get that sort of sticky feeling in my chest at
the end of the day.


Honestly, we don't really know what triggered this event, but I went from
a
very mild asthma attack to feeling like someone had literally shut the
door
between my upper airways and my lungs in under 10 minutes. It was
LIGHTNING
fast. I had my albuterol and my nebulizer, but because I couldn't get ANY
air into my lungs at all, they weren't helping.

Icky. I had a pulmonary embolism once, and that "can't breathe" feeling is
about the scariest I can imagine. Even a minor asthma attack (which is all I
usually get) is scary, and even with the embolism, the air would get into my
lungs, my lungs just wouldn't *do* anything with it once it was there.

The plan at this point is to get me on Advair as a 2x daily preventive,
with
plenty of albuterol as needed if I'm having trouble. I'm also scaling down
on oral steroids and taking an antibiotic prophylactically for a few more
days. In addition, the pulmonologist who saved my life (bless him) gave me
a
prescription for an epi-pen. If I had had one of those on hand when this
event started, I might have been in a bit better shape when I got to the
hospital, since it might have opened my airways enough to allow the
albuterol to get in and do some good. As it was, the only way to get air
into me was to intubate me and force it in there--and believe you me, my
lungs *know* they were forced to breathe against their will!

As we've been discussing this whole event, it has occurred to us that my
father's asthma worsened significantly when he was my age. He thought it
was
due to having his nasal passages "roto-rootered", but given that he was
39-40 and I'm 39, it seems entirely possible that our asthma triggers are
just designed to get worse at around this age. I am much more fortunate
than
he in that there are much better medications available these days to treat
asthma preventively, though!

Age does seem to be a factor--one of my aunts got worse right around the age
I did, 30 in our case. And the meds are SO much better now--I used to be
sick all the time. I mean, I'd get a cold every 3 weeks. From babyhood
through the time I was about 28. Then I went on Zyrtec, which helps
immensely. When I hit age 30 and everything went to hell in a handbasket,
singulair and advair just picked up and solved the rest of it. I haven't had
a sinus infection (flonase whenever I feel stuffy) in close to a year, and
aside from a brief almost-bronchitis which went away when my advair dose was
upped, I've felt remarkably well for quite a while. I used to only be able
to work about 70-80 hours per month, because I'd get sick so often--once I
had to miss 3 weeks of work straight--very hard for a single mother! Now I
consistently work 30 hours per week by choice, and have had maybe one or two
sick days in the past year.

All things considered, I'm amazed. Monday, I was at death's door and today
I'm home with my family. I am so incredibly blessed. And grateful to have
a
second opportunity to be a better wife, mother, daughter, and friend.
Thank
you so much for caring.

We're glad to have you back!

Jenrose

"Circe" wrote in message
news:%dlPa.744$u51.628@fed1read05...

All things considered, I'm amazed. Monday, I was at death's door and today
I'm home with my family. I am so incredibly blessed. And grateful to have
a
second opportunity to be a better wife, mother, daughter, and friend.
Thank
you so much for caring.

I'm glad to see you back and posting again. Thank goodness all turned out
well. You are such a wonderful part of all of these groups and we need you


Rhiannon

Barbara,

so glad to hear that you are home and feeling better. Best wishes for a
speedy recovery, and take it easy around the house!

And don't ever scare us like that again ; )

Christina, lurker and infrequent poster to mk, mkb, mkp
Mom to DS, 20 months

Circe wrote:

Just a quick note to let everyone know that I got home from the hospital
about 90 minutes ago and have been reading all your posts and
well-wishes.



Welcome back! Hope you never have to go through anything remotely
resembling that again!
Lots of well wishes!
Edith

"Circe" wrote in message
news:%dlPa.744$u51.628@fed1read05...
Just a quick note to let everyone know that I got home from the hospital
about 90 minutes ago and have been reading all your posts and well-wishes.

First, let me say that I'm utterly humbled and *very* grateful to you all.
It is amazing to have such an incredible network of people you've never
even
met who are caring about you and pulling for you. I really just
feel...humbled, maybe even a little embarrassed.

I know there've been some questions as to how I got myself into this mess
in
the first place, and the truth is, it was a bit of complacency on my part
and some really bad luck. I've been treating my asthma symptomatically for
years, and I knew what I was doing was not THE BEST treatment, but three
kids and a full-time job and the thousand other medical events we've had
'round here (big baby heads, broken arms, etc. ad infinitum) just kept
pushing that visit with my doctor off. And since I was not symptomatic
often--I could go literally days without problems--and since the albuterol
and serevent seemed to work well when I WAS having trouble, it didn't seem
like a pressing matter. Things obviously changed Monday morning.

Honestly, we don't really know what triggered this event, but I went from
a
very mild asthma attack to feeling like someone had literally shut the
door
between my upper airways and my lungs in under 10 minutes. It was
LIGHTNING
fast. I had my albuterol and my nebulizer, but because I couldn't get ANY
air into my lungs at all, they weren't helping.

The plan at this point is to get me on Advair as a 2x daily preventive,
with
plenty of albuterol as needed if I'm having trouble. I'm also scaling down
on oral steroids and taking an antibiotic prophylactically for a few more
days. In addition, the pulmonologist who saved my life (bless him) gave me
a
prescription for an epi-pen. If I had had one of those on hand when this
event started, I might have been in a bit better shape when I got to the
hospital, since it might have opened my airways enough to allow the
albuterol to get in and do some good. As it was, the only way to get air
into me was to intubate me and force it in there--and believe you me, my
lungs *know* they were forced to breathe against their will!

As we've been discussing this whole event, it has occurred to us that my
father's asthma worsened significantly when he was my age. He thought it
was
due to having his nasal passages "roto-rootered", but given that he was
39-40 and I'm 39, it seems entirely possible that our asthma triggers are
just designed to get worse at around this age. I am much more fortunate
than
he in that there are much better medications available these days to treat
asthma preventively, though!

All things considered, I'm amazed. Monday, I was at death's door and today
I'm home with my family. I am so incredibly blessed. And grateful to have
a
second opportunity to be a better wife, mother, daughter, and friend.
Thank
you so much for caring.


I'm so pleased that you have recovered so quickly and are now at home. What
happened to you is so scary, I cannot begin to imagine what you were going
through. I've had a cough for a few weeks and I woke up the other night
gasping for breath twice before being able to fill my lungs, which was
pretty frightening, but not enough so that I didn't fall back to sleep
straight away.

Amanda
Mum to Adam Stephen 1 Oct 1992
Lost bubs May 1993
Stephanie Rose 10 Feb 1994
Sam Elliot 22 Dec 1998
Ttc#4 ever since.....








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Sara!!!!!! How have you been?!?! I've been thinking about you a lot lately!
I haven't "seen" you around here much these past few months. Busy being a
mom? I'd love to get an update or something! How's Laura doing? Geez she
must be getting so big! It seems like just yesterday I was sitting here
reading your announcement!

(((((hugs))))))

-Kara