So, after the broken toe, things went downhill. I stopped running and focused on getting my toe to be whole again. Then, on August 4th, I started feeling bad. My chest hurt and I was having trouble breathing deeply. This was possibly related to my Atrial Fibrillation, but it may also be from my chest hitting the pole when I broke my toe.
After trying to muscle through it for awhile, we decided that I should go to the Urgent Care. They did an EKG on me and said I should go to the emergency room. My wife knows many doctors so she called a heart specialist she knew and we went to his hospital, instead of the closest one. I was able to get in quickly because of my wife’s connections.
However, the next part was a bit disappointing. They gave me some blood thinner and then a whole battery of tests. The result was that they could find nothing wrong with me, other than the Afib. All of my muscles and blood vessels were the picture of health. I was eventually discharged, and I effectively slept it off.
But still, my wife’s family was there for me. On August 8th we went to a doctor friend of their family and got some more tests and plans to start addressing my Afib. This was in Corpus Cristi which was a three hour drive away. I got another X-ray for my foot and which point they determined that I had actually broken two toes. But they were healing well.
The doctor suspected that I might have sleep apnea that was causing the Afib. So that night I was part of a sleep study. I was wired up with a bunch of wires and monitored as I slept.
“Slept”
I had a lot of trouble sleeping and never really felt like I was unconscious. However, the person in the next room had trouble staying asleep. So at about two in the morning they turned on their TV. Did I mention that they were hard of hearing? It was not a quiet TV. I complained and the issue was addressed. I’m just surprised that it got as far as it did; why did they let him even turn the television on? It was after that that I did actually fall asleep enough that I was dreaming.
The results of the study was that I had a bit of sleep apnea. I think I was at 14.7. 0 being none, and 30 being significant. They actually showed me on charts that I was asleep more than I thought I was, but not a good sleep.
I also saw a recommended specialist foot doctor who said I could start running short distances in a week.
So I came back the next night for another round of sleep study, this time with a CPAP machine stuck to my face. I was more prepared this time and took some pills to make me sleepy. And I was probably still tired from the poor sleep the previous night.
The results of that study showed that I was sleeping better and that I should start using the CPAP machine. Luckily my insurance covered it, and I had new one that day. We then went home on August 10th.
The next day though, Catalina started feeling ill. We assumed it was a cold. On the 13th I was feeling a bit of a tickle in my throat that got worse the next day. But on Sunday, August 14th Catalina tested positive for Covid. It took awhile for me to test positive as well, but I was feeling bad on Monday.
I don’t feel we deserve this Covid. We were both careful and wearing masks everywhere. The only time we didn’t was when we were with her family. Now that I think about it, I have no idea how careful her family has been about the disease.
Luckily on Wednesday I was feeling better and started doing work. By Saturday I decided to start running. I was still testing positive for a week, but I was feeling fine for most of it. So I’m just continuing to isolate.