So Friday morning we had some chores to get to, and these commenced after breakfast.

We started out at Lowe's, finally buying a new toilet seat. The old one lost one of its bolts, and, even before that, had the disconcerting habit of sliding sideways when you sat on it, so with the bolt gone, the sideways effect was even worse. I also picked out a new shower head for the hall bath. We have a hand-held one there that is too high for anyone using the tub to get out of the holder, and it was in what was once a fashionable curve, but didn't work very well, according to at least one person who has used it. I also have to climb up on the side of the tub if I want to get it down to wash Tucker. So I picked out another magnetic one like we have in the master bath. Much cheaper than Bed, Bath & Beyond!

We'd no sooner walked out of the store that I noticed the cover of the box we had picked up. I'd chosen this specific toilet seat because it was nice thick wood, with a nice substantial lid. It also—and it wasn't included on the display copy that I so liked—had a built-in potty seat! So we had to go right back in and return it, then go down to plumbing again and find the correct one (like the one we have in the master bath).

From there we hopped over to Hobby Lobby, where I reveled in the autumn aisles, and I also found a very pretty birthday gift for Juanita, whose party we were going to on Saturday.

And finally we stopped at Batteries+Bulbs to get two new bulbs for the floodlights outside our neighborhood complex.

I had a "free stir fry bowl" for Tin Drum, so we picked up late lunch/early supper there: I ordered a regular teriyaki bowl, substituting steak, and James had the same, but I asked them to "spice it up." He said they did quite well.

Finished the evening with more Perry Mason, not staying up as late as last night because I was thinking if we just happened to wake up around eight we could go to the Farmer's Market.

Alas, it wasn't to be. I'd taken my shower and was in the bedroom while James had his. I heard him call, "Um, Linda..."

He had been finishing rinsing off and started having chest pains between his shoulders (moderately painful, no jaw, arm pain, no chest pressure, no shortness of breath), in front. So he stayed sitting on the toilet and I got him a nitroglycerin tablet and set the timer for five minutes as we had been instructed. When the five minutes was over I gave him another—and then started to get ready to leave: threw some computer gadgets in a bag and a charge cord and the phones, then got snacks and started pulling on clothes. By then five minutes was up and he was still hurting. I was already dressed, he pulled on a shirt and pants and shoes, and we went off to the emergency room at Cobb General. He took a third nitro on the way there. No help.

Of course they took an EKG immediately, and then moved us into the back. Not much to tell after that: they hooked him up to a blood pressure monitor, and started taking blood tests. Eventually the pain went away and we kind of chilled out. At one point we were so bored—bored was good, but it was 3 a.m. and we were exhausted—I put an episode of Perry Mason on my tablet. The first blood test was slightly elevated, but the doctor told us that he had seen James' chart and knew he had kidney problems, and sometimes this enzyme is elevated in kidney-problem people. He also said James' EKG looked okay. In between I tried to doze, but the chair was so uncomfortable. I think they do this on purpose to drum up business for orthopedics!

After Perry Mason and flopping back down, they did a second blood test and this came out completely normal, so they discharged James with instructions to contact his cardiologist, and we made it home about 7 a.m., witnessing a really gorgeous sunrise. I walked the dog, then stripped off my clothes, found a blanket, and staggered to bed. James had had a couple of naps while he was lying on the hospital bed, and he tried to sleep, but finally got back up. He was up most of the day, only dozing off a couple of times, which amazed me, as I was pretty much nonfunctional all day: I got up around eleven, ate breakfast, sat back down on the sofa,  and fell asleep again. I woke up with my back hurting, so retired to the futon. I figured I would hear James' furosimide alarm go off, but keep forgetting it only rings during the workweek. So he woke me up at 4:30 to go to Juanita's birthday dinner at 5:30, and I had to scramble because I still hadn't wrapped her gift or found a card in our collection. I managed to do this in ten minutes and then another ten to get dressed.

Well, we got there on time, and had a great dinner. Lots of folks came and we talked and hugged each other, and watched Juanita open her gifts and cards.

We weren't up very long after we got home. James "ran out of gas" about 9:30 and we went off to bed not soon after. No recurrence of the pain. Tomorrow James will telework and send an e-mail to his doctor. I want him to telework until we hear from the doctor and find out if he wants to see James, or have him take further tests. I think it will be safest.

Labels: errands, food, friends, health, illness, shopping

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. . . . . noted and logged by Linda at 10:32:00 PM

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