My recent hospitalization 1/27/2022


WHAT HAPPENED? 

I created a YouTube video here: https://youtu.be/AiZkSB97ZS4 

On January 26th, 2022 I had sat in my wheelchair feeling some discomfort on the left side of my rib cage area. I didn’t pay too much attention to it because I simply thought it would go away. I didn’t think anything of it..

As the day went on that pain slowly was increasing and I noticed that the more I would inhale breathing in (expanding my lungs) the pain was getting more tense. Okay.. now you have my full attention. I am thinking to myself. Why am I feeling like this?.. I start to pay attention to the pain. Where exactly am I feeling it?.. How much can I inhale before I feel pain where it is concerning me?.. I started asking myself A LOT of questions.

My mother aka my momma bear has been feeling under the weather these past few weeks also. Before I get more into this I have to backtrack a little..

Early January of 2022 I got sick. I started to have chills, fever, cough, congestion, fatigue-ness (worser than usual), and a headache. Probably feeling more, but at the top of my head currently this is what I can confidently remember. Anyhow, I was feeling like that for about a good week and it was on & off for another. I started to take my medication that’s needed for my respiratory and it seemed to be working/help. I never got COVID tested, so I can’t say whether or not I had COVID or not, but I definitely did have a lot of the symptoms. I didn’t get COVID tested simply because 1. I wasn’t going anywhere, I was hibernating at home, and I didn’t think it would’ve been wise if I had put someone else at risk for getting tested when I am just going to stay home. And 2. Because since I wasn’t going anywhere I didn’t feel the need to get tested just to hear “you have COVID” if I did end up having it.

DISCLAIMER:

(For ANYONE reading this if you have symptoms you should contact your medical doctor and or if you are having trouble breathing please call emergency services to receive right & proper medical care/treatment).

Back to the topic..

I had got better and healed. I live with my momma bear currently and she is my caregiver at the moment. Whatever I had I had passed it on to her were now she’s starting to feel under the weather. She was experiencing everything I did, but it hit her worser than I. She had gotten COVID tested and her results had came back “positive.”

On January 27th, 2022 (the next day) I couldn’t sleep at all because the pain was so intense. I tried taking my pain meds and that didn’t seem to help at all either. Now this pain not only has been getting worse with time, but now I couldn’t sleep because of the pain. I told my mom how I was feeling, I had also talked with my doctor and she put in a COVID test for the next morning and also put in for me to have a x-ray of my rib cage. A little more time had gone by and my mom called my aunt who’s in the medical field and explained her status and how I was feeling and my aunt highly recommended I should go into the hospital just to be safe. My mom had called the ambulance because not only was I feeling pain, but now my heartbeat is starting to race because of the pain and also because I was breathing a little shallow because I noticed that the less I would inhale breathing in the less intense my pain would be.

So, when my rib cage started to hurt when I would breathe inhaling in and it was/felt like it was only getting worse. The only thing in my mind was “well if my mom has COVID then I too must have it” which at the time explained the reason why I was feeling what I was feeling and that my lungs were slowly being attacked and destroyed. This was my thought. I have never really been one to show his emotions in front of others, so when I started to pretty much diagnose myself that I too have COVID I started to pray and within my prayer I just wanted to let out all of my emotions/ just let it all out and cry because I truly did believe that my lungs were slowly being destroyed and it was only a matter of time till it works it way up to my heart then brain. I kept repeating to myself “I am not going to die from this. I am not going to die from this. I am not going to die from this” and “everything will be okay god’s got you. Everything will be okay god’s got you. Everything will be okay god’s got you.” Several times within my prayer to myself.

Was I scared, yes and no.

What do I mean by this?..

Yes, because there is still so much I want to do/accomplish within this lifetime that I still have not yet done.

And no, because well I can’t really fear dying simply because eventually it is going to happen/the time will eventually come. No one lives forever and I think it is in not living forever that is what drives us into who we choose to become.

The reason why we called the ambulance was because no one can go into the hospital with you (when you’re an adult). So we called the ambulance, so they can transfer me from my bed, onto their gurney, and onto the hospital bed. Rather driving to the ER and me being in my wheelchair, would not only be harder, but I also would’ve had a lot more movement and I was already in quite intense pain. The first responders showed up both paramedics and firefighters. We explained how I was feeling, transferred me from my bed to their gurney, and went to the hospital.

I arrive at the hospital. Gets transferred onto a ER gurney and the doctor asks me a couple of questions, orders some tests to be taken, and I get lucky having a one poke stick to get a good IV. (This was a HUGE blessing because my average is roughly 3-5 pokes to starting a IV and my record is 14 pokes, so was I happy… YUP!)

I wait awhile, I read a little to pass time while waiting, and I get good news.

  1. My COVID test came back negative (it probably came back negative because a week had already gone by before my mom received her results that she was positive, and also she was feeling a lot better by then too)
  2. My X-rays didn’t look abnormal
  3. My heart test looked good (because the pain was near my heart they had to weigh out all of other possible possibilities)
  4. My lab work looked great

Now that EVERYTHING looked good and nothing seemed to be abnormal I now knew why I was feeling like this. There’s a couple of reasons that I had to think about.. 1. The other day (before the 26th) I woke up feeling more fatigued than usual, so I had drove myself a little closer to my bathroom sink to brush my teeth to help support my arm. 2. In December I had done some wheelchair adjustments to help me sit straighter and I think overtime that possibly I have been putting too much pressure on the left side of my rib cage. Or potentially because of both reasons.

I am thankfully feeling a lot better now! It still hurts, but it isn’t as bad as it was. It sounds worser than it actually is really. It’ll heal within time. As for my momma bear how is she feeling? She is definitely doing so much better! Thank you to everyone who genuinely reached out to me to check up on how we were. The love and prayers from all of you means more than you’ll ever know, thank you. 

Also, shoutout to the first responders and to all of the healthcare workers who are working tirelessly behind the scenes. I wish you all good health, healing, and much love during these challenging and difficult times.

I always say I am very fortunate because I am. As soon as my mom hung up the phone my family was already checking up on mom and one of cousins even came just to make sure we were both okay. One day I will write a book about my life story and who knows maybe one day that book will turn into a movie. Only the divine knows what’s in store for me within this lifetime. My job is to find it.

To all of you reading this.. keep thriving, keep your faith, and most importantly remember that “Everything will be okay.” Maybe not today, maybe not even tomorrow, but know that you’re always one day away from tomorrow.

Much love,

~Victor