Friday, December 24, 2010

A Little Drama in The Deen House


A frosted leaf at Doorus.

Our Little Drama

The best laid plans of mice and men..... Jim's not been feeling too well for about a week. He suffers from heart arrhythmia and high blood pressure, both of which he takes medication for. We went shopping to Limerick on Wednesday and in Tesco he said he'd had enough and needed to go home. Once there he fell asleep.

He woke at about 11pm and felt awful. His heart felt as though it was swollen and he could feel that his blood pressure was high. He looked ashen when he came to me and said he thought we ought to visit the hospital. His BP was 177/something too high! So off we went in the car to Limerick where we knew they had 24 hour Accident and Emergency facilities. It was white with frost and thick fog drifted across the roads. We arrived about midnight and Jim was taken almost immediately into 'cubicles'.

Sticky leads on the chest, hooked up to the heart and BP monitor, his BP reading 180 now. I could watch on the monitor every time his heart missed a beat. They took a trace and showed it to a doctor. They asked the usual questions. Any pain? Any tingling or pins and needles in the arm? Their fear was clearly heart attack, as was ours.

To cut a long story short, after an all nighter in A & E, Jim's BP was down and they took several blood tests. Apparently if the heart is damaged, it gives of an enzyme which is unique to the heart and so far the blood tests didn't show any of this particular enzyme. At about 6am, they said they were going to keep him in and do further blood tests. I drove home at this point, having left the dog and cats on their own and unable to do much else. Jim was looking happier too and I knew he was in the right place.

Both lots of blood the next day were clear of the heart enzyme so at least we knew his heart was undamaged. The end result was that a very few people with arrhythmia are very sensitive to anything else going wrong with the body and that can set off a particularly severe bout of it. It's possible Jim had an infection of some sort without really being aware of it. So - thankfully no heart attack and 'keep taking the tablets' for his BP with maybe the addition of some aspirin each day.

I had tried to catch a bit of sleep in the morning but phone calls and texts mostly prevented it. Visiting was 3pm onwards so I got ready to go back and hopefully collect Jim. There he was sitting in a little 4 man ward awaiting the final result of his latest blood test. All was well and home we went - no alcohol and take it easy was the order of the day. His heartbeat was still a bit erratic but certainly much better than it had been the night before and his BP was down to its usual level. It was all a bit frightening but at least we weren't having to spend Christmas in hospital and no lasting damage had been caused.

We had been hoping to travel by car to the UK on 27th December to visit our family from Yorkshire to the South Coast, but all logic told us that wouldn't be wise in the circumstances. The weather has also been dreadful both in Ireland and even more so in the UK, so we sadly had to cancel our trip. I have all the presents here all wrapped ready to go and it'll be sad not to be able to watch everyone open them - but it can't be helped. Hopefully we'll be able to go over some time later in January and have a 2nd 'Christmas' with our families.

Jim is now quite relaxed and feeling much happier. We will enjoy our Christmas at home and just chill out for a few days, which will also be lovely.


A happy Jim back home with his hospital 'bracelets' still on.

Weather

We have had a bit of snow but lots of frost. Limerick was just amazing. The whole world seemed to turn white there - it had clearly been much colder than at Doorus. It was stunningly beautiful to drive through. The trees were all white and the fields too, just like a Christmas Card. As I drove home from the hospital, the car lights shone on all the frost, lighting it up like diamonds - absolutely breathtaking.

Naturally I did manage to take a few photos here and there!


Frosty pole and Lough Graney in the distance.

Lough Graney is partly frozen and during last night (our sleep patterns are a bit topsy turvy) Jim and I could hear really strange 'booming' noises coming from the lake. Today we spoke to a local and he had heard it too. We think it's from the ice but it was very strange.


This is all frost, not snow. Jim took this photo this morning before he went to bed!


A world of white - Limerick, on the way to the hospital.

A weeping willow straight out of Narnia.


Isn't that beautiful?


Has such a mundane fence ever looked so pretty?


Bus Shelter Cobwebs


A tree in the hospital grounds.

I do hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas and a Happy and healthy New Year. See you all after Christmas.

20 comments:

Anonymous said...

I have been worried about you two because you have been absent. I am thankful that Jim is better and it is nice to see him smiling. Sorry you two had such a scare. The photos are just beautiful!
John and I would like to send our love and wishes for you two to have a quiet and Merry Christmas. I know you are sad about your trip being postponed but this way the fun will just be extended! Hope your adorable pets have a jolly Christmas too.
(no parcel yet but I will email when I receive it)

Bella Sinclair said...

Oh, Gina! Oh my goodness, what a fright. I'm so thankful and relieved that Jim is much better now. Staying cozy and warm and relaxed at home will be a very good thing.

Absolutely stunning, the frost. I love it when all the branches are covered like that. Gorgeous!

And your latest rag dolls are too too adorable!

Wishing you and your loved ones a very Merry Christmas filled with joy and laughter and love. Blessings to you in the new year.

xoxo

Rachel Green said...

So glad he came through it all unscathed. Lovely photos.

BT said...

Thank you so much Mildred and Bella. Have a wonderful Christmas and a healthy New Year. I have emailed you both.

Thank you Rachel - so are we! Lovely card from you arrived today, many thanks. xxx

Arija said...

A nasty little scare for you. My heart has been out of whack for 43 years and so often just a little stress will accentuate the arrhythmia quite dreadfully. Maybe the whole thing was organised by your guardian angel to stop you going on your ling drive and having an accident. Guardian Angels are like thet, they often give you an unpleasant time for a little while to prevent a real disaster from happening.

So glad all went well and maybe a quiet Christmas was exactly what you needed.

That booming in the Loch was just Nessie on his winter vacation.

Happy holidays to you both!

Stampmaiden said...

I'm glad to hear that Jim is doing better and back at home.
How lovely to be living in a winter wonderland on this white Christmas! A very merry Christmas and a healthy new year to both you and Jim.

BT said...

Aw Arija, that is so lovely, what a super thought that Jim's guardian angel was taking care of him after all. Happy Christmas. xxxx

Hi Linda, thank you for your kind thoughts. It is white all over this morning - all frosty and very cold but beautiful indeed. Have a wonderful Christmas and a very Happy New Year. And to Arija too of course.

Heather said...

Good to see Jim smiling and back home again. Glad he is OK. Your frosty pics are magical. Shame about your cancelled trip but some roads are so bad - much safer to let the weather warm up a bit (hopefully) and try later. Enjoy your quiet and peaceful Christmas and have a Happy and Healthy New Year.

Jason said...

Worrying stuff, glad all is ok.

Wow thats some frost!

xx

Lona said...

Now that can be a scary thing. I am glad to hear that all turned out well. A Christmas after Christmas will be something to look forward to.
Your icy pictures are so beautiful. I have been seeing on the news about the cold and snows that have been hitting Ireland and the UK. Stay warm and safe.
Merry Christmas to you both!

Lisa at Greenbow said...

I am so glad that Jim doesn't have any permanent damage. I hope your Christmas was Merry despite not being able to travel to see family. That frost is absolutely beautiful. Take care.

Mim said...

so glad jim is OK. what a blessing!

BT said...

I've emailed everyone. Thanks for your lovely thoughts and comments.

Sam said...

So glad that all was ok with Jim, even if he did give you a bit of a scare. The snowy pictures are just beautiful, the snow makes everything look so pretty doesn't it. Sad that we didn't get to see you, but look forward to seeing you for my birthday! xxx

DK said...

SO glad Jim's ok, love to you both xxx

BT said...

Thanks Heather. Happy New Year to you and all my blogging friends.

Isn't it just Jason? Amazing. Never seen anything like it.

Thank you Hocking Hills Gardener! Luckily all the frost has now gone and it's back to rather gloomy cloudy skies and mist! But it's good to be able to walk in the garden and even do a bit of work without freezing to death!

Thank you Lisa and Mim. xxx

He's still not right Sam. Hopefully it'll settle down soon. The frost looks amazing - all gone now though and back to misty rain. At least we're not using as much heating fuel. I'll see you for your birthday. Hurrah.

Thanks K, though as I said above, all is not back to 'normal' yet.

Yvonne said...

Hope your Jim is still feeling better since he got home. That must have been scarey. I hope your holidays were good and I wish you the very best and good health for the new year.
BTW, I love your winter photos, especially the leaf. Just lovely.

BT said...

Hello Yvonne, thank you for your kind thoughts - Jim is sort of ok but nowhere near 100% yet. He'll get there hopefully. I'm glad you like the Winter photos. The frost has all gone now ans it's rather dreary again but warmer!

Bea said...

I'm so glad he's doing better. I'm so sorry that I was out of touch of what was happening in your life.
I'll be sending him further healing thoughts.
Thank you for the wonderful little doll that now hangs on our Christmas tree.
Thank you for being my friend.
I hope you and yours have a HEALTHY, HAPPY NEW YEAR. :)Bea

Adrian Tritschler said...

Glad to hear it wasn't anything really bad. Been thinking of you guys the past few weeks, seeing all the news about the ice and snow -- it was 40C here on New Years Eve which is way too hot for anything.