A lot has happened around here, some of it a bit difficult. Catching up may take a while, but for now I will relate the story of Harry’s health.
The day after the Charity horse show in September, Harry went to his doctor because he was short of breath. Next thing you know, I received a phone call (while in Augusta, Missouri) that the doctor had sent him to the emergency room!. I tried to reach Jane, and she had forgotten her phone, for the first time ever. So, there was a mad drive home to tend to animals, and thence to the ER, where Harry was diagnosed with exacerbated emphysema. Two days in hospital, a hefty course of steroids, and on with life. I was not allowed to blog about it.
Fast forward to October 10, the day of Harry’s retrospective at the art gallery in Webster Groves, McCaughen & Burr. By this time, we had seen two new doctors, and oxygen had been delivered the house, but Harry was not using it.
The art show was an insane success (Harry had a short course of prednisone to help him through giving a talk and greeting many, many friends). There were a couple of hundred people – it was chaos, but fun chaos. Harry’s childhood friend, Gay, flew in from San Francisco and surprised him at the gallery, then stayed a couple of nights.
Louise threw a dinner party for Harry the next night. It was a wonderful, busy time.
Skip forward again, through another full week, during which Harry was stoic, but not very well. Still not using the oxygen…
And then, on Tuesday we went with a friend to the gallery and lunch. Afterwards, Harry began to use oxygen.
On Wednesday, Aunt Pat came from Chicago to see the artwork in the gallery and Harry was not well enough to join us. Now, I was really starting to worry. Also, I had seen the swelling in his legs, which had been going on for much longer than I realized.
On Thursday, we went to see the pulmonologist, Dr. Shah. He stopped at the doorway on his way past, just to say hello and ask about the art show, which he had missed due to a wedding. When he saw Harry’s legs, there was no discussion. Harry was sent immediately to the hospital. This time, I was not surprised at all.
We were put into a really nice, private room, quite a change from the miserable September accommodations. Harry was given diuretics. A lot went awry after that. I won’t belabor the story with details, but on Friday, Harry’s kidneys were insulted, let’s say (because of the drugs). There was talk of moving him to 6, which I understood to be the cardiac floor, and we really wanted to stay in the nice room. They did allow that, and Harry rallied, with all meds paused. Luckily, I did not find out until Saturday that 6 is also the ICU, which is where they were contemplating putting him!
With a “micro dose” of diuretics, kidneys rebounded, and Harry was well enough on Sunday that he was discharged, to the dismay of the pulmonologist (one of the 5 doctors involved with the case).
We revisited Dr. Shah on Monday, and spoke to the cardiologist. The news was not very good. Life is quite altered by the tether to oxygen, but we are adapting.
Then, on Wednesday, Weedy had a small skin tumor removed. Poor Harry missed him terribly for the 5 hours he was away. It was either Wednesday, or wait until December 11, so we added that to this hectic week.
Yesterday, we saw Dr. Stein, Harry’s primary care doctor, and he was less discouraging in his evaluation of Harry than the hospital doctors had been. We have more hope now for improvement, but it is going to be a while. Failure to address health issues is a common problem with horse people, who tend to “tough it out”. Harry stayed tough for too long, and recovery will take even longer. Obviously, emphysema does not offer much recovery, but Harry will be doing pulmonary physical therapy starting next week. Better times will come.
Stay well, or rest and recover. Be grateful. Slava Ukraini! Peace…
Galloping Through 