Sunday, August 27, 2023

Hot Week, Outside and Inside

I'm not sure if it's age, or just part of being a long-term quadriplegic, but this summer has seemed to be full of health challenges. My trach button has been an ongoing issue since early July. It's doing okay, but I think I will be revisiting further options. However, that's not the area I'm watching.

July 13 was the day I returned to a trach button, but the morning started with an ultrasound of my kidneys and bladder. This isn't an unusual check, but one I haven't had since 2019. It's usually fine, but this time showed bladder stones as well as possible swelling of one kidney and a nick (or something) on the other.

One test therefore leads to another test for better pictures. Unfortunately, paperwork confusion and insurance approvals delayed testing until this coming Thursday, August 31. After that, it will be a procedure, more tests, or both! While I wait on testing, my body gets annoyed. Stones are a good source of infection as well as irritation.

I took in a test last Monday, to the hospital's confusion, and finally got results Friday and started an antibiotic that night. All week I have felt like I'm a small furnace as well as being tired and having no appetite. In addition, I had a rash start under one leg that spread to the top and continued up my back.

The skin problem was familiar to a previous time, so I used medicine I had on hand and it has nearly cleared up. My night nurse noticed the antibiotic is related to one I'm allergic to, but hope it will work. A few hours after my second dose Saturday morning, I noticed I was having trouble concentrating or forming sentences. That was a side effect and big problem with a med marked as an allergy, so I hope it passes.

Thankfully, I could stay home most of this past week. A few days had temps over 100 with heat indexes even higher. It was an interesting week in the quad life and I hope for calmness ahead.

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