Tell Me Where It Hurts

I had an experience last Thursday night that I hope I will never have to repeat again! Michael had been complaining about a pain on the right side of his chest just below his ribs for a few days, and he thought it was a pulled muscle. However, it did not get better, and at night he was having trouble breathing and sleeping because of this pain. On Thursday night, he had finally had enough since he couldn't even lay in the bed without excruciating pain, so I finally convinced him to go to the Emergency Room. He had put off going because he said he'd be humiliated if they checked him and told him it was just gas, laughed at him and sent him home. However, he was now encroaching on MY precious sleep time, so I told him something HAD to be done! So, at a quarter to MIDNIGHT we loaded up and went to the emergency room at Shelby. This was my first time to see the inside of an emergency room that was not on a television screen! We only waited a couple of minutes to be seen, and the people were all very nice, which we were not expecting from stories we've heard from family members who have had to go there. So, they hooked Michael up to do an EKG (they threatened to shave him to make sure the contacts would work properly!) and left us to wait. Thankfully, it all checked out ok! The diagnosis was pleurisy (ploo-ri-see), which is an iritation of the lung tissues that usually occurrs when a person has pneumonia or other bronchial issues. The treatment they gave him was 2 big shots in the booty and three prescriptions including pain medication and a steroid pack. He was so brave!! So, 2 shots and 3 hours later, we were on our way home! We stopped by my school to get stuff out for a sub for me the next day, since we were only going to get a couple of hours of sleep once we got home. The whole way I was convincing Michael that it was ok for him to stay home, since the doctor told him to, but he's such a dedicated worker I was having trouble getting through. In the end, he did take off Friday and Saturday and felt much better going to work this morning. I am also back to "normal", or at least normal for me, since I wasn't able to find a sub and taught my class of 16 4-year-olds all day, then went to Chuck-e-Cheese that night for my father-in-law's birthday. Boy, did I sleep well Friday night and Saturday! Don't worry, Michael is taking his medicine and is feeling much better and should be back to "normal" soon.