Well ... a LOT has happened since then. That same day I wrote the last post, I got a call that night (when I was staying with my grandparent's in Williamston - b/c I had to work down that way) from Jonathan at work, saying that he had had an attack while out training and they were at the urgent care. Well ... urgent care couldn't do anything, so they took him to the emergency room in Cary. When I got this call, I IMMEDIATELY got on the road and thankfully made it to Cary as quick (and safely) as possible. Since I was about an hour and a half away, Ms. Debbie and my mom went ahead and met him up there. I am SOOO thankful for his "family" (captain and other firemen) at the firestation b/c they stayed right with him and kept me posted until I got there.
To make a long story short, they did a chest x ray first and it was clear. Because they didn't have an ENT (Ear, Nose, and Throat Dr.) at that hospital, they came back in and said they were sending us home ........... ummm, excuse me, "WHAT"?? No ... we were determined to leave there with answers!! ... Luckily, they contacted the ENT at the wakemed in Raleigh and they told them not to let him go home ... that they would need him transported there to do some tests. Soo ... in the meantime, they did a CT scan of his neck (all was clear - praise Jesus!) We then waited until about 4:00 AM for the transport unit to come get him and take him to wake med in Raleigh. As soon as we got there, the ENT came right to us. He did a scope down Jonathan's nose and throat and all was clear (THANK YOU JESUS!!) They also did another test (where he swallows some liquids in a bunch of different positions) and they showed a little bit of swelling at the bottom of his esophagus ... and a hernia. We stayed there all day, waiting for a room where they would observe him for 24 hours, but the hospital was so full that he was actually "admitted" and taken to the back of the emergency room. Late that afternoon, the ENT doctor finally came back and talked us through what they thought it was - Vocal chord dysfunction (where his vocal chords actually close when he's trying to cough/breath), hernia, esophageal reflux, and viral pneumonia. Of course Jonathan had not had an attack all day b/c he had not eaten or been to sleep (that's when the attacks normally happened ... during the night or early in the morning). They felt comfortable for him to go home b/c they said that with these episodes ... even though he feels like he's not getting ANY air during the attacks, he is actually getting a little bit ... and if he did pass out, he would "reset" himself and wake back up. Hmmm ............. not what we want to hear, but we were very thankful to rule some things out (tumors, etc.) They gave him a few different medicines (steroids, antibiotics, and acid reflux medicine), put him on a strictly "bland" diet, and gave us their card to schedule a follow up appt with them for the following Tuesday.
Of course, the next morning, he had two attacks. We called the ENT doctor and they sent us some breathing exercises to help him until we got to their office Tuesday morning. Thankfully, the attacks have, for the most part, gotten a little better. He still has them, but they aren't as severe (except for one where he had blood in his mucus). After going to the follow up visit with the ENT, we decided we still needed to go see a pulmonologist just to rule any issues out with the lungs as well. We have that visit scheduled for December 22nd - that was the best they could do.
The last 3 or 4 nights, he has been sleeping in the recliner right beside our bed and hasn't had any attacks - he has had one or two times where he "almost" had one ... but was able to breath and drink water and ween them off. At the fire station, he lifted his bed a few inches at the head and that helped him sleep as well. We are going to do the same thing here.
THANK YOU FOR ANYBODY WHO HAS BEEN PRAYING FOR HIM - GOD IS FAITHFUL!
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