[~PurityLake~]

He was coughing and having difficulty breathing around 4 pm yesterday while at work. When he came home, he was really tired and coughing and having a hard time breathing. He thought it was just a cold he picked up from our daughters, or his son. All night he didn't sleep well and was up coughing and was coughing so hard he threw up a few times during the night. We don't have health insurance, so as soon as the 'same day appointment line' was open (7:30 am), I called the Anchorage Neighborhood health center and had an appointment scheduled for 11 am today. We went in and they thought he might have pneumonia again (he had that in October 2007 and was hospitalized for it) so they took a chest x-ray but it was clear. So they referred him to our local hospital.

We went to the hospital and he was admitted by noon. They gave him nebulizer/steriod breathing treatments (3 times a few hours apart) and monitored his heart rate, breathing rate and blood oxygen levels. They took blood to run a panel. He also has some pain in his lower left ribs he thinks is due to all the coughing he was doing. It is worse when they elevate his upper body in his bed. One doctor thought he might have developed asthma that may have been triggered by the small amount of ash fall our city has had from Mt Redoubt's eruptions. However, I have asthma and I am not having any issues. I think that was just a guess on their part. Nothing they have done for him has improved his symptoms.

They decided around 3 pm, after I left with our girls to get lunch, that they were going to admit him overnight. They moved him into another emergency room and I have no idea why they did this. He was finally given a hospital room at 7:15 pm. I stayed for another hour or so to make sure he was settled in and they still had no diagnosis for his problem. They were taking more blood to run cultures. So now I'm home with our tired girls and hoping they find out the cause of my husband's health problems and will be able to fix those problems. He is only 31 years old and has no chronic health problems.

 

[mamefati28]

Hope it is something very minor and that he is home and feeling better soon!

 

[angelcollector1]

I am sorry your husband has been so ill. I am not located near you, I'm in FL but I do know that I have had the same problems the past 6 weeks. I however do have asthma. It will take a while for the meds to start working, they sometimes can take a few treatments to start kicking in because he's having such a hard time. It sounds like he has pneumonia without the signs showing up on the x-ray. That's what I have as well and the ash could be a big part of it. Although he may not have ever been or be an asthmatic, he may need those type of meds to get him better. He's obviously in distress if the hospital admitted him. If he's coughing up anything, that's important as well, because if it's any color it's most likely- 99% that he's got an infection and he'll need antibiotics to kick it. Either way, I wanted to let you know I'm sorry for his illness and hope they get him feeling well and home quickly.

 

[mountainsun]

Hang in there

I hope you figure out what is going on. Take care, mama.

 

[organicpapayamama]

I had something like this that turned out to just be a new strain of the flu. it was pretty vicious. I had it for 3 weeks and it returned 3 times within the next 2 months. The coughing you described is what I had. I hope its nothing more than the flu. btw Im 25 with no health problems either.

 

[~PurityLake~]

I called this morning to check on him. He sounds better, since now he's able to talk without it setting off a coughing fit. The doctors ran another set of chest x-rays this morning and he's waiting for the results. They also ran more blood tests and he's waiting on those results, as well. While on oxygen, his blood oxygen saturation levels are still hanging around 89-93%. The doctors explained yesterday that they would want to see it around 95% without the oxygen on. So he's confined to his room since he's labeled as 'under observation'. The lack of movement is driving him insane. All he can do is walk around inside his room. He is still on the antibiotics.

My daughters and I are all still sick with the illness their brother brought over to us last weekend. He had a sinus infection brought about by some kind of upper respiratory infection, I'm guessing it was just a cold.

If just a cold can cause my husband to get pneumonia, I think there must be something more going on. As far as I know, a cold turning into pneumonia is not something that happens all the time. It has happened to my husband three times in 5 years. I can't believe there isn't some other cause for this. it also came on quite suddenly, unlike the other two times.

My husband told me that once a person has pneumonia, it's easier for a cold to turn into pneumonia the next time. I don't know if that's true, but it doesn't sound likely to me. It's my understanding that once you're exposed to a virus/bacteria, your body builds up an immunity to it while fighting it off. So I would think you'd have a lower risk of getting it again.

 

[Pinoikoi]

Oh my gosh Purity! Let me know if there's anything I can help with.

 

[angelcollector1]

I know that you have no health coverage and that's a problem, but with the hospital bills, they may have a potential for you to qualify for medical assistance because of the costs. You should check with the financial dept. at the hospital. Also, once he gets discharged, he needs to see a lung specialist to do some testing or keep him in the hospital long enough for them to do some lung testing- eliminating the bills from after the hospitalization- not that it will make them cheaper, but you know they'll get done and you don't have to worry about paying for them upfront (we just did this with my son in February). They need to do some serious testing to check his lungs just to be sure, and if it's asthma, start treating it now.
Good luck and if you have any lung/asthma questions, don't hesitate to ask me, I've dealt with them for 20 years after never having a problem but it starting when I had a cold that turned into pneumonia when I was pregnant with my son.

 

[roadfamily6now]

oh dear. I hope things turn around and get better soon!!!

Take care hun.

 

[A&A]

Quote:

Originally Posted by ~Purity♥Lake~ I called this morning to check on him. He sounds better, since now he's able to talk without it setting off a coughing fit. The doctors ran another set of chest x-rays this morning and he's waiting for the results. They also ran more blood tests and he's waiting on those results, as well. While on oxygen, his blood oxygen saturation levels are still hanging around 89-93%. The doctors explained yesterday that they would want to see it around 95% without the oxygen on. So he's confined to his room since he's labeled as 'under observation'. The lack of movement is driving him insane. All he can do is walk around inside his room. He is still on the antibiotics. My daughters and I are all still sick with the illness their brother brought over to us last weekend. He had a sinus infection brought about by some kind of upper respiratory infection, I'm guessing it was just a cold. If just a cold can cause my husband to get pneumonia, I think there must be something more going on. As far as I know, a cold turning into pneumonia is not something that happens all the time. It has happened to my husband three times in 5 years. I can't believe there isn't some other cause for this. it also came on quite suddenly, unlike the other two times. My husband told me that once a person has pneumonia, it's easier for a cold to turn into pneumonia the next time. I don't know if that's true, but it doesn't sound likely to me. It's my understanding that once you're exposed to a virus/bacteria, your body builds up an immunity to it while fighting it off. So I would think you'd have a lower risk of getting it again.

With pneumonia, it's different. Your lungs do become more susceptible. (Plus there are multiple causes of pneumonia.)

I'd ask for a CT scan and/or MRI. Those will give you a much better picture of his lungs than merely an X-Ray.

 

[~PurityLake~]

My husband was released today from the hospital.

 

[unfrozncavegrl]

glad to hear that!