I DON'T KNOW EVERYTHING

I DON’T KNOW EVERYTHING

but I know enough!

The first thing I want to say is that I do not know everything! I don’t want to know everything! I have more fun researching what I don’t know.

The second thing I want to say is that what I do know is never flaunted in front of people. I have no idea who knows what and really don’t care. I’d much rather have a pleasant conversation than try to outwit each other with “knowledge” – whether we know and understand what we’re talking about or not.

Yet, there are times when what I do know is absolutely necessary to mention.

Let’s use my husband as an example (because he deserves this kind of attention).

Just let me mention that there are times when he drives me to …. have the necessary urge to scream!

I love my husband, but he can very often be extremely frustrating.

In 2016, he was diagnosed with a thoracic aorta aneurysm. It was a size 3mm. He never told me. Naturally, the doctor didn’t tell me either. The good old HIPPA law! (On file, now in every medical facility in our county and my husband’s wallet, is my husband’s living will giving me full and immediate authority to speak with any doctor and or nurse regarding his condition and treatment.)

Okay, in the defense of my husband and his doctor, there wasn’t anything to be done for this condition except to watch it closely.

To complicate things a bit more, my husband does not possess even the remotest bit of knowledge about anything medical.

I am not a doctor, nor am I a nurse, however, I did work on an ambulance many years ago and much of the knowledge I needed for that position, never left me. (Thank the good Lord for that!) Yet, even having that knowledge, I never flaunt it. Most of my friends have no idea about that part of my life. It was years ago and now it’s over.

Bringing us to 2019, my husband’s cardiologist called and asked why he hadn’t kept his appointments. What appointments? He never told me about them. Just like he never mentioned the aneurysm.

While I had the cardiologist’s office on the phone, I made an appointment for him and made sure he kept this one. The doctor ordered more scans and an MRI to check on the condition of the aneurysm.

It had grown. The tests showed it was now a size 4mm. I had a talk with the doctor, and he said my husband would now need a scan every six months. Should the aneurysm reach 5mm in size, they would definitely operate.

While I knew what an aneurysm was and how serious it could be, I wanted to know why nothing could be done until it reached a 5. He explained that to successfully bind it, they would need to be able to ensure they are able to grasp enough for the binding and a size 4 is just a tad too small. Made sense to me.

I then asked the doctor if he should be under any restrictions and he said, “That’s a tricky question I’d like to say no but it really depends on how active he is. Should he experience chest pain, I should call the EMTs immediately. If he experiences shortness of breath without pain, he should sit down and rest.”

Again, made sense to me.

Approximately one hour later, my husband came home from fishing. He’d been on the water with his friends for about four hours. He was not just tired, he was exhausted – mostly from being on an open console boat, in the wind, and casting constantly.

Before he had the chance to sit and doze, I said, “We need to talk!”

Quizzically, he looked at me and said, “What about?”

Our conversation went something like this:

ME: “Why didn’t you ever tell me you were diagnosed with an aneurysm?”

HIM: “I was? When?”

ME: “Three years ago!”

HIM: “I don’t remember.”

ME: “This is serious. You need to pay more attention when a doctor talks to you.”

ME: “By the way, do you even know what an aneurysm is?” I asked this, realizing his lack of medical knowledge.

HIM: “Not really.”

ME: “The best analogy I can give you is this. Picture a garden hose. The hose, because it’s old, developes a bubble. Are you following me, so far?”

HIM: “Mmm. yeah.”

ME: “What happens if that bubble bursts?”

HIM: “Water shoots out like crazy from the hole.”

ME: “Yeah, it does. You have a bubble in the main artery going to your heart. If that bubble bursts, the blood will stop going to your heart. Instead, it will shoot all over your insides and depending how fast the blood is pumping out determines how long you have to live. You would need immediate surgery, or you’ll die! Does that tell you how serious this is and why you need to keep up with your doctor visits?”

His face became ashen as I hoped it would. He finally understood! He asked many questions which, thankfully, since I’d spoken with the doctor, had most of the answers.

The following day, he saw the cardiologist and several appointments were made:

in order:

heart echo

following (one week later with )

CTA of the chest

Ultrasound (non fasting)

Ultrasound (fasting)

stress test

then the follow-up.

All these further tests will be done within a five-day period.

The doctor said, while the tests will determine what’s happening, he feels after the heart echo, the aneurysm has grown.

My husband might not fully understand exactly what all this means but his doctor does, and he is taking extremely good care of him – and yes, my husband is finally taking this condition seriously enough to sit down if he feels tired.

Today, for instance, he’d gong to lunch with his friends. It’s a weekly thing which the men in his lunch group enjoy and look forward to.

As soon as my husband walked in the door, he said, “I need to sit down. I’m out of breath.” All he did was walk about 50-feet from the door to the couch. But it was enough. I told him to sit and take a nap, which he did – and while he did, I gave him a brief examination and determined that he was fine. All his vital signs were normal. Probably just out of breath from the horrible humidity outside. Yet, he is still on the couch, and now reading. I’m still in my little home office where I can keep an eye on him and watch his breathing.

It's true that we still don’t speak much about my accumulated knowledge, but there have been times, especially lately, when he’ll ask for my advice knowing I can help him.

I still won’t flaunt my knowledge but I am so glad I have it so I can take better care of those I love (and sometimes, even those I don’t even know).