The cruelest fate.
It has finally hit. My cognition is failing rapidly, and is in free-fall. Don’t know when it will drop too far to recover. I may already be there.
Last Saturday my wife asked me to stand and I could not. I looked up at her, and she described my wide-open eyes as “catatonic.” I had tingling in my extremities, mouth, tongue and throat. I knew that my judgment was impaired, and told my wife to make a decision. We went to an ER, and the physician had a diagnosis from the lab results. I was dehydrated. The diagnosis was incomplete.
I had had a seizure. He ruled out the possibility of a heart attack or TIA based on lab results and a chest X-ray. He also used that to rule out a seizure as there was no evidence of one-sided effect. He concluded that my high lactic acid count indicated either an infection or dehydration. I saw the X-ray; he missed a possibility.
High lactic acid readings can also come from overstressed muscles or muscle. The EKG had a clear reading of reduced oxygen to the heart, amount unknown. Last week I had a cardiac stress test, which showed an ejection fraction of 53. Two years earlier it had been 62. That’s a dramatic drop. It doesn’t mean I’m dying, and the cardiologist sees no reason to take action if it’s still over 50. I miss the days of general practitioners who treated the whole patient.
Today I saw my neurologist, who believes I had a seizure. He’s planning an EEG and an MRI of the brain to compare to the first one. Makes sense to me. And to my wife and daughter, both of whom have medical backgrounds.
It would be ironic if, after finding that I have two incurable fatal diseases – Normal Pressure Hydrocephalus and Stage 3 COPD – I were to succumb to a heart malady. As the saying goes, If you want to hear God laugh, tell Him your plans.
I hadn’t heard the line about hearing God laugh—I’m going to use it now.
All I can say is: it has been a pleasure reading your musings and I will continue to do so as long as they continue to arrive.
Feeling any better today?