As some of you already know, we had a serious scare this week. Kurt spent a night in the hospital with severe carbon monoxide poisoning (which he was exposed to at work). He was finishing a floor in a sealed basement with one other guy -- he called around 9:30pm on Wednesday complaining that he was feeling really sick so I went to pick him up from the job site. His symptoms (severe headache, chest pain, vomiting, drowsiness) were scaring me so I called my dad (who is an EMT) and asked for some advice... after that we were off to the ER! Rather be safe than sorry, right? Turned out to be a good decision.
It didn't take long before they had him on 100% oxygen to speed up the de-tox process. They did blood work and found that his CO level was at 24 (normally it would be 2.5 or less). They also administered an EKG and found some abnormalities in his heart including a strained enzyme. They kept a close eye on him until the CO in his bloostream was finally down to a safe level (after 6 hours on pure oxygen) and consulted with a cardiologist before they let me take him home at 5:30am. It was a long night for both of us!
We had a follow-up appointment the next morning and the workman's comp doctor said he could return to work already (hmmm a little odd if you ask me). He's working with his boss to make sure this type of thing doesn't happen again, to anyone! And we know one thing... he won't be finishing any floors this winter! Plain and simple... risking your well-being is not worth the extra hours. :)
On a very different note...
We kicked off this last week by heading to Chicago! I was being sent to the windy city for some meetings at the Alzheimer's Association national office and Kurt decided to tag along because (get this...) he's never been to Chicago! (GASP, I know it's hard to believe.) Anyways we had a nice 5 hour drive on Sunday morning and then, of course, got lost and frustrated when our Garmen went bonkers downtown Chicago. After some U-turns, honking and a little bit of screaming we successfully found the hotel, gave the valet our keys and didn't even think about driving until it was time to leave. Ha! :)
Since I had a jam-packed schedule on Monday/Tuesday we tried to cram most of the fun stuff into Sunday afternoon --- we grabbed lunch with some old classmates, hit the Sears Tower, wandered down Michigan Ave (right as all the stores closed...just our luck), and had some over-priced cocktails at the hotel bar. It was a good time! While I brainstormed ways to expand rural reach Kurt got to relax and roam around the city... he visited the Navy Pier and the Field Museum! Plus, my cousin Christy and her fiance Wayne brought us to a delicious Chicago-style pizza joint -- yum!!
By the time we hit the road for Iowa we were pretty much "over" the city. It's fun to visit... but we were anxious to be back home!
Lets hope next week isn't such a roller coaster ride...
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