Tag Archives: RSV

Matters of the Heart-and Lungs, Part 34

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Yes, I thought I needed to change the title a bit, since RSV is mostly a lung problem, even though it affected Ben’s heart somewhat as well.

Actually I could’ve added other areas being affected as well.

After being released from the hospital after the bout with RSV, and as happy as we were to have him home, it still didn’t mean he was well. It just meant he didn’t need to be in the hospital anymore. There’s a difference.

Although in his mind he was able to go back to work on Monday, his body was nowhere near ready. He was still exhausted, and just not feeling at all like himself. So he made the decision to take the week off to get his strength back.

Which was a good decision.

And because of the insulin shots they had to give him in the hospital because of the steroids he was being given, we also decided to get a glucose monitor for him due to his still being on the steroids making his blood sugar shoot up way in excess of 400, which is certainly not good.

But we had quite a bit of trouble getting the machine to operate properly. Neither of us had ever used one, and the directions were really difficult to understand. The help line actually was a huge help, but he still had trouble getting enough blood to register on the strip. And he was still not starting to feel much better.

Monday he also found himself having “brain fog” which we were told was common with RSV. He couldn’t concentrate, or remember things I’d told him, which was really starting to scare us both. Fortunately it only lasted a day.

We saw his pulmonologist on Tuesday and he prescribed a rescue inhaler for him, which was fortunate. But the doctor was pleased overall about how he was coming along so far, and reminded Ben it takes awhile to get over this virus. That’s for sure!

But Ben still wasn’t able to figure out the glucose monitor until Thursday. And he was still exhausted every day by the afternoon and still coughing quite a bit, even with heavy duty cough syrup.

Finally on Thursday he was able to get the glucose monitor to work. Only to get a blood sugar reading of 435. Not good. He tried again and got 421. Definitely not good. He called his doctor and the after-hours nurse told him to go to the hospital.

Here we go again.

The ER was busy of course. They took vitals, bloodwork, and then we waited. And worried. When we were finally called back to a room, his blood sugar was still high, so the doctor ordered fluids to try to get it down, explaining the steroids in combination with water pills for the fluid around the heart drove the sugar up, but the fluids should help get it down. Well, that would be better than another insulin shot!

And after five hours in the ER we were finally sent home, after the fluids lowered the blood sugar to a safer level.

Friday he was feeling a bit better and found out his doctor had called in a new prescription for blood sugar medication. Things were looking up.

Until the pharmacy called Saturday to tell us the Rx was written for 2.5 mg and the medication only comes in 5 and 10 mg, and the doctor’s office wasn’t open until Monday. We got that problem solved by cutting the pills in half.

Then we found out the inhaler he uses, which of course had only enough puffs left for two days, was out of stock in every pharmacy in the area because the manufacturer was limiting quantities. And his insurance wasn’t allowing our pharmacy to fill it as a generic until the doctor rewrote the prescription. Mind you, this is for the man who just got out of the hospital with lung issues!

Good thing he has the rescue inhaler!

So today will be a test. And hopefully he’ll pass and be well on his way to recovery.

More to come when his pacemaker needs to be replaced, which hopefully will be several months down the road.

Until then, we’re believing he’s going to stay well for a long time!

Matters of the Heart, Part 33

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As I said previously, I’m sure you’ve all seen the ads about RSV. And a lot of us ignored it, even though we’re in the age category that RSV can really be dangerous. We’d talked about getting the vaccine, but hadn’t gotten around to it. We had time. Until we didn’t. 

But when he started having severe breathing problems to the point of him having to be transported to the hospital, we knew it was serious.

By the time medical help arrived to transport him, his lips were turning blue and so were his fingers. Fortunately we’re very close to the hospital and got there quickly, although to me it didn’t seem like it. He was put on oxygen and started slowly to get some of his color back but still having breathing problems.

The bottom line is, evidently the RSV triggered his asthma and other breathing issues. There was fluid in his lungs and around his heart most likely aggravated by the RSV as well. He was put on IV antibiotics, and steroids, given a breathing treatment and admitted to the hospital. 

The first two nights he slept maybe a total of four hours, between being constantly monitored by the nurses, taking his vital signs every 4 hours, and giving him breathing treatments as well as IV antibiotics, along with blood draws several times a day. The first day he said they took 16 vials. Now I find that hard to believe, but as sick as he was… There wasn’t much chance for him to sleep. Plus his almost constant coughing didn’t help, nor did the fluid in his lungs and around his heart.

He was continually on oxygen up until the next to last day he was in the hospital. 

They had to give him several insulin shots because the amount of steroids he was on to help calm down his lungs raised his sugar level too high.  

I’d like to share the post he made on his Facebook the first day he was in the hospital.  It really says it all:

“This respiratory infection is fairly new [actually it’s been around a long time but this new strain is different] and highly contagious, too. Deborah and I discussed several weeks ago that based on our age and my complicated health issues we needed to get our vaccination shots.

Well, you guessed it. I was exposed and diagnosed with RSV. I was taken to Sentara Princess Anne Hospital immediately via ambulance and admitted last Sunday, and here I remain trying to clear up this Infection for the past 5 days, and facing more time here till I’m well enough to go home. 

We had no idea that this RSV infection can trigger other existing health issues such as my current lung problems, and particularly certain heart problems. I’m in good hands with all the specialty doctors with all the testing and procedures to clear out this RSV Infection.

Please keep us in your prayers and thank you for all my family and friends for visiting.  Now go get your vaccination so you don’t wind up being hospitalized too.  Love you guys & Merry Christmas!”

After that posting, he had to have restricted visiting hours in the afternoon in order to take a nap to give him more rest. He wasn’t able to walk the halls to try and get his strength back because of the contagion risk, so all the exercise he could get was walking around his room, which wore him out. 

Finally after four days we were told if he could maintain an oxygen level of 90 or above without having continuous oxygen, and if he could walk for 6 minutes without having any,  he could be sent home on Friday.

Fortunately he did make it home Friday afternoon. Although the walking combined with the ten minute drive back home exhausted him, and he immediately fell asleep on the sofa.

He’s trying to rest as much as possible while at the same time trying to get his strength back. It’s a slow process and even just taking a shower wore him out. Going out for a quick fast food lunch (at his request) resulted in his having to take a 3 hour nap when we got back home.

It’s obviously going to take several days, or more, for him to be able to even think about going back to work.

Please, as I’ve said before, whether you have underlying health issues or not, if you’re over 60, get your RSV vaccination, and if you start having any breathing issues get help immediately. Trying to be “brave” and saying you’re ok isn’t the right thing to do in this case. This stuff is nothing to fool around with. And for him, it’s also aggravated his heart issues.

Hopefully with rest and the medication he was sent home with we can soon resume our normal Christmas activities, although they may be a somewhat toned down version this year. We’ll just have to see.

At least he’s out of the hospital and on the road to recovery from this stuff!

Matters of the Heart, Part 32

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I didn’t expect to write a Part 32, but sometimes things happen out of our control. Unexpected things. But then again, we don’t plan on serious diseases to rear their ugly heads in our life. 

They just happen. And usually very quickly.

I’m sure you’ve all seen the ads about RSV. And a lot of us ignored them, even though we’re in the age category that RSV can really be dangerous. We’d talked about getting the vaccine, but hadn’t gotten around to it. We had time. Until we didn’t. Three nights ago night Ben developed almost uncontrollable chills, and shaking and wheezing. I wanted him to go to urgent care, but he said he’d go Sunday morning. He actually did call his primary doctor and spoke to a nurse who told him if the symptoms got worse, he did need to go to the hospital, but since he was going to urgent care the next morning he should be OK unless things got worse. 

So the next morning we went to an urgent care. They tested him for flu, Covid and RSV. The results came back surprisingly not Covid or flu, but he tested positive for RSV. But the PA that we saw said, “Don’t worry about it too much. We’ll give you cough medicine, and just take it easy and rest for a couple of days and you should be fine.” That didn’t sound right to us, but we figured she should know, right? 

By noon he was having a bit of trouble breathing, and was coughing more, and starting to get chilled again. He tried to get comfortable, but by late afternoon he was miserable. He went upstairs and I kept checking on him, and by 5:30 he told me he was having trouble breathing and to call the ambulance to take him to the hospital. And for those of you who know him well, know he doesn’t say that lightly.

Of course I was a wreck, knowing his medical history of heart and lung issues. By the time medical help arrived his lips were turning blue and so were his fingers. They immediately started oxygen on him. Fortunately we’re very close to the hospital and got there quickly, although to me it didn’t seem like it. With the oxygen he started slowly to get some of his color back, but was still having breathing problems.

The bottom line is, evidently the RSV triggered his asthma and other breathing issues. There was fluid in his lungs and around his heart, most likely aggravated by the RSV as well. He was put on IV antibiotics, and steroids, given a breathing treatment and admitted to the hospital where he will most likely be for 3-5 days. His breathing is still labored, but at least he’s where he will be monitored and get better.

He didn’t sleep well that night, because lying down made his lungs fill with more fluid. As I write this he’s still having breathing treatments every four hours. They’ve had to give him three insulin shots because the steroids raised his blood sugar level too high.  They’ve done a number of cardiac tests including an echocardiogram, as well as taken a lot of vials of blood for further testing. As the doctors said, there’s a lot going on with him right now, and they have to figure out where to best start treatment. And I’m sure they will.

Please, whether you have underlying health issues or not, if you’re over 60, get your RSV vaccination, and if you start having any breathing issues get help immediately. If you have questions from a medical provider because you aren’t sure about their diagnosis, ask them! This stuff is nothing to fool around with. And for him, it’s also evidently aggravated his heart issues.

We’ll keep you updated in “Matters of the Heart, Part 33”. And be sure to read some of the other posts, which tell the entire story of his ongoing heart and lung issues for the last almost forty years. It’s hard to believe what we’ve gone through in all these years!