I was counting down the days to Thanksgiving and looking forward to enjoying the meal my wife puts together. My health had other plans for me.
It started the night before with a dizzy spell I haven't felt since I was a kid playing on those spinning wheels at the park. I sat down moments after it began and watched the room spin in front of me. Heavy sweating, nausea and vommitting came next.
I showered and attempted to sleep it off. I later learned that could have been a big mistake.
Anna asked and I agreed to stop in at urgent care the next morning and get checked out. Anthony had been asking for freeway practice so he got it. Palmdale to Pasadena and he did great. I still had trouble focusing so there was no way I was up to that drive. Anna would get the turkey started and meet us there.
A ct scan was performed and when they compared this test to a 2009 MRI I had done Drs noticed that an aneurism that barely showed up then had tripled in size since.
I really dodged a bullet knowing that this aneurism hadn't bursted and I hadn't suffered a stroke.
Pasadena Kaiser got an ambulance to take me to Kaiser Sunset. Before we took off I reassured Anthony that'd I'd be fine. My mother in law stepped up to let me know how much she and the family loved me and how much my wife and kids needed me around. Things some of us aren't used to saying often enough and we take for granted that our loved ones just know. She just about made me cry.
Room 27 was my temporary address in the emergency room. I was then transferred to room 6327 in the ICU where I stayed for the next couple of days surrounded by family after recovering from the cerebral angiogram and so that Drs could monitor my blood pressure which presented a danger because it had ben so high.
I can't say enough nice things about the medical staff at Kaiser Sunset. Everyone was great. Friendly and super helpful.
Back at home now and the first thing I'm doing is changing my diet. I've known since I was a kid that I've had Polycystic Kidney disease but I didn't know that people with it are more susceptible to aneurisms and that I should be checking on my cysts more often than I have. The cysts on my kidneys have never caused me trouble (that I know of ) so I've taken that for granted.
This whole experience has reminded me not only to be thankful everyday and to take care of myself because my family needs me and my kids depend on me. I love them and owe it to them.
Oh and they brought me in some thanksgiving dinner leftovers the day after.