All the excitement really started Wednesday. While we were already pre-approved for a loan, we went into a second bank to talk options just to see if there were any deals out there we were unaware of. Boy, are we ever glad we did that! Our credit score is high, and it turns out we were eligible for a program which allows us to get into a loan for about 4%. There is a possibility that the rate will go up to 4.25% in September, but I can live with that! Because the rate is so low, it allows us to put more into the house. We are planning out the house not only with thoughts of our preferences, but with resale value also. If something comes up that causes to have to sell the house, we will easily be able to price it at a good chunk higher than we are purchasing it for. I think I’m possibly the most excited about this letting us put landscaping into the back yard so we don’t have to deal too much with the extremely rocky soil this region is so well known for.
While we were up at the showroom looking at all our options, we noticed Hubby’s arm swelling up. This was rather alarming as he had done nothing to cause it injury. Thinking we may be looking at something potentially serious, we decided we should have a doc look at it. We received a call from #1 while we were on our way home stating that he had hurt his foot playing basketball, and he thought he should probably go to the ER to have it looked at, so we swung by the house to pick him up on our way there. At the time we picked up #1, Hubby’s right arm appeared to be almost double the size of his left arm.
We arrived in the ER between 5:30 and 6, and settled in for a wait. We discovered then that pain gets more attention than no pain. Hubby was in no pain, and when asked to gauge on a scale from 1 to 10 his pain level was at a 1 or 2. #1 on the other hand placed his pain at 8. While all the triage technicians scratched their heads over Hubby’s arm that now resembled a gigantic sausage, #1 was sent over to X-Ray to rule out a break. By 8:00, #1 had been seen, diagnosed with a sprained foot, and was wrapped and ready to go. Hubby had not been seen yet. Thinking it would be any moment that Hubby would be seen, #1 and I stayed there with him… for 6 more hours. None of the doctors could determine a cause for the alarming swelling of Hubby’s arm. An Ultrasound gave no hints to the cause, but a blood test created more puzzled looks and head scratching from all professional people we came across. A vascular surgeon was called in to take a look, and he suggested the possibility of a DVT, but there was no evidence of it. A referral was given for Hubby to report to the Vascular Surgery clinic at 9:30 the next morning (which at that point was only a few hours away) and at 2:30 am Hubby was finally released to go home.
I told Hubby that any time we went to the ER in the future, no matter what it was for, we needed to claim a pain level above 7. I probably would not have been so disgusted and frustrated if the ER had been packed, but for 4 of the almost 9 hours we sat in there we were the only ones there. I don’t know what the staff was doing as there wereNO patients waiting to be seen, and a few different walks up and down the halls of the ER revealed all the rooms to be empty, and several nurses and other technicians to be sitting around snacking and drinking coffee. I was not happy.
Yesterday and today Hubby and I spent a majority of the days sitting around in different waiting rooms as Hubby played a game of Musical Doctors while everyone tried to determine what the bloody hell was going on with his arm. The final diagnosis you ask? Tentatively it is a hematoma that goes roughly from his armpit to his forearm, that he would have gotten a week and a half before his arm started swelling up. I’m not necessarily confident with this diagnosis, but without any other evidence of the cause, that is what the doctors are going with at this time.
The thing that makes the past couple days suck the most? This was the first time since last Christmas Hubby has taken vacation. The time we were anticipating spending together with family before Hubby has to leave for a month was spent sitting around in waiting rooms. Not much fun, let me tell you!