Our life of adventure has taken a sudden sharp turn into difficult territory. We have had some very devastating news about David’s health. We should know something more definite tomorrow, but what we’ve been told so far is bad enough. More on that later.
I was planning to tell you last week about our recent road trip to Portland, Oregon. But before I could get it done, David was hospitalized for three days. Now that David’s home, we’re trying to rest and soak in the quiet for the moment. Seems a good time to try to write this. It’s the best way to reach many of you who are not on other email lists of ours.
Here’s how the past couple of weeks unfolded.
Day 1: See photo at right: David refused to get a passer-by to take the photo so he could be the moose. Who wouldn’t want to be a moose? Same old David. No problems so far.
Then, the next day, David’s difficulty climbing the stairs up to this view was our first clue that something might be amiss.
Another bit of walking and stair climbing, a couple of days later, to see Mt. Hood’s Timberline Lodge, was also surprisingly tough for him.
I was worried about his heart, but it didn’t seem there were any obviously ER-worthy symptoms, and David insisted he just wanted to take things a bit easy and see a doctor when we got back home.
Day 5: Sunday, we were in Portland and visited the Japanese Gardens.
Beautifully serene, and we all quietly strolled and rested on benches, so no problems here.
Day 6: Monday, we all took it easy, only strolling to the shops around the corner from Doug and Kristl’s, David’s brother and sister-in-law.
Day 7: Tuesday, David was not up for going anywhere, so he stayed back when several of us went wine tasting . . . .
Day 8: Wednesday, another quiet day, only walking a block or two over to some friends’ lovely wine shop . . .
Day 9: Thursday morning, David and I began the long drive home. We took a short break at Multnomah Falls . . . →
. . . then on to Lewiston, Idaho. Early dinner and to bed.
Day 10: Took the scenic Route 12 across northern Idaho and into Montana. David dropped into bed in Butte, Montana, around 5:45, no interest in dinner.
Day 11: Through Yellowstone National Park, lunching at the Old Faithful Inn . . . ↓
Stopped to stretch and take a few shots of the geysers . . . ↓
David again dropped into bed around 5:30 p.m. in Lander, Wyoming (AKA, the middle of nowhere), with still no interest in dinner. I was starting to panic, but he refused to go get checked out, and I had no idea what quality of care to expect in a small town, so allowed myself to be convinced, after locating the nearest hospital (1.5 miles away) and making him promise to tell me if he started to feel worse.
Day 12: Four and a half hours from home, mostly through a VERY EMPTY part of Wyoming, with hardly even any other cars on the road. I drove the whole way, a bit white-knuckled, then right over to Urgent Care, since it was a Sunday and our clinic was not open. The Urgent Care people did a quick EKG, but sent us to the nearby ER to better check his heart: another EKG, lung x-ray, blood tests, etc.
But his heart was fine. So after a few hours to be certain of that, they told us to follow up with our primary care physician Monday morning and sent us home.
Day 13: We got an appointment for Monday afternoon with our family physician, and we both went in, so I could help describe symptoms and we’d have two sets of ears hearing information. Dr. Duran suggested additional blood tests and an appointment with a cardiologist to get a stress test. David didn’t want to go straight to the lab, but said he’d have blood drawn after the 7 a.m. cardiology appointment Tuesday morning.
Day 14: The cardiologist also saw no sign of a heart attack, but scheduled a stress test for Friday. We headed home, only realizing we’d forgotten to go to the lab after we were halfway home. David said he’d go first thing the next morning.
Day 15: Early Wednesday, David went for the requested labs and we went about our day, David dragging a bit and still somewhat uncomfortable when trying to breathe deeply. Around 5 p.m. Dr. Duran called and said get to the Emergency Room RIGHT NOW — DO NOT DELAY. One of David’s lab numbers, from the blood test that morning, indicated that he was at grave risk of a pulmonary embolism, which could potentially kill him. Meanwhile, he’d been having the exact same symptoms for the entire trip and at least low energy and some chest tightness for some time before that. YIKES. Dropped everything and got right over there.
David was immediately admitted into the ER, where yet another EKG was done (fine), and then a CT scan. And here’s where our world was turned upside down.
The ER doctor came right back and told us yes, there were multiple blood clots found in David’s lungs and an IV blood thinner would be started immediately, but there was worse to come. The CT scan had revealed multiple lesions on his liver and an enlarged pancreas, which he suggested may be the source of a metastatic cancer. David was admitted immediately, and a lot happened very quickly, with more the next morning, including a biopsy of one or more lesions in his liver. These are the results we are expecting tomorrow morning.
Our hearts are breaking, even as we are so profoundly grateful for so many things.
- All those days on the road and in Portland, where a blood clot could have killed him at any moment, but didn’t.
- A beautiful road trip together that David very much wanted to take.
- The excellent care David has so far received from the medical professionals.
- The messages we’ve already received of love, hope, faith, courage, and much more from our dear ones, and even from a few we barely know, since I sent this news to the prayer chain and set up the CaringBridge site.
- Of course, we’re so deeply grateful for the 38 amazing years we’ve already had together, including our thirteen-month adventure in France and on the road. We absolutely still hope to extend that into more years and more adventures.
- And especially right now, we are grateful for the comfort and peace of our great God, who seems even more present to us in these recent hard days than in the easy days that have gone before.
I could go on and on (and already have, I know). Not sure when the next post on this site will be, but for updates on David, see the CaringBridge site www.caringbridge.org/visit/davidbridge where I will post regular updates and thoughts on this new hard journey we are just beginning. Your prayers, well wishes, and encouraging comments after journal updates are, and will continue to be, appreciated more than you know.
From Psalm 27:
The Lord is my light and my salvation–whom shall I fear?
Though an army besiege me, my heart will not fear; though war break out against me, even then I will be confident.
One thing I ask from the Lord, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze on the beauty of the Lord and to seek him in his temple. For in the day of trouble he will keep me safe in his dwelling; he will hide me in the shelter of his sacred tent.
I remain confident of this: I will see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living.
Wait for the Lord; be strong and take heart and wait for the Lord.
Thank you for lending us your strength and taking heart with us on our way.
. . . where the sunset light on the lake tends to be breathtaking.
It’s a little like summer camp (only a little), with all the possible activities . . .
. . . (and the spiders), but no “Reveille”, thank God, and the only hard and fast scheduled agenda item is cocktail hour at five o’clock . . .
. . . but other flowers have come into their own. I do love the last bit of spring, when the weather feels almost like summer, but we’re not actually roasting (Um . . . we are now officially roasting). The evenings on the deck are getting to be standard fare, but not quite enough that the mosquitoes anticipate our presence and get there first (I’m afraid they’re starting to catch on). We’re making plans for all the great things we’re going to do during the summer and not yet dreading the crammed fall schedule. Anything seems possible (hence, the now-crammed SUMMER schedule),
And here he is excited to be able, finally, to eat bread after a tough week of no solid food. →
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