WTF Moments and Reacting to Scary News

Last time I wrote about how dread has silver linings. It was my way of trying to help myself stay positive in the face of the unknown with Wayne’s at-that-time unknown health issues. Well, I —we— faced it and it was filled with a bunch of WTF moments.

But now I’ve had some time to also reflect on my reaction to those moments.

If you read the other post, first off let me assure you Wayne is fine. If you didn’t, I’ll quickly summarize: Wayne was having some issues that required further testing. We weren’t sure if it was heart or maybe even long covid symptoms. Would the testing tell us?

It was the waiting before the tests that filled my heart with dread. I knew something was wrong, but what?

Well, it turned out not to be cardiac after all. Instead, he had both pulmonary embolism (PEs) and a deep vein thrombosis (DVT). And it could be related to covid, or it might be genetic. It could even be a combo of both.

I see the commercials about PEs and DVTs all the time. In fact, after watching one not too long ago I told Wayne, “You could have that. Sounds like so many of your symptoms. You really need to call your doctor.”

But it also seemed like he might have some kind of heart issue.

The cardiologist we saw agreed it sure sounded like something was up, but there were a few things he wanted to check. So he scheduled us for some tests at the hospital.

WTF Moment #1

We arrived at Southern Hills before 7:30 a.m. Wayne’s doppler study was first. He re-joined me in the waiting room after that before being called back for his CT scan.

However, about 5 minutes after he went to get that, the phone at the check-in desk rang.

“Pryor?” the receptionist asked the caller on the other end of the line. At which point my ears perked up. “Yes, he’s still here. Uh huh. Uh huh. Okay. Yes.”

My stomach dropped. Having had experience with similar scenarios, I knew that wasn’t good.

That was the first WTF moment of the day.

WTF was going on? I didn’t have to wait long to find out…

WTF Moment #2

About five minutes after the receptionist hung up without whoever had called about Wayne, here came Wayne out of a different door than he should’ve exited through, accompanied by a tech.

“Hey, babe. I gotta go to ER. My lungs are filled with blood clots.”

There is only one reaction to news like that: WTF!

WTF Moment #3

Once in the ER, Wayne was given an injection of blood thinners. Out of caution, the ER doc felt it would be reasonable to admit Wayne and keep him for observation overnight.

However, Wayne started feeling better almost as soon as he got the blood thinner. On top of not being able to breathe, he’d been struggling with massive headaches. He had one when he woke up that morning, which could’ve been caused by high blood pressure. His was definitely elevated in the ER.

Then again, that was understandable. He had envisioned getting the tests and heading off to work, not winding up in the ER or being admitted to the hospital.

However, when they transferred him upstairs and the hospitalist came to see him, Wayne asked if there was any way he could go home. After seeing his blood pressure had dropped to normal and how “walkie and talkie” Wayne was, the doctor agreed that after Wayne got the second shot of blood thinner, they’d release him that night.

Meanwhile, they called in a prescription for him to take at home. I went to pick it up and here’s how the conversation went.

“Has anyone told you how much it costs?” the pharmacist asked.

“No,” I said, knowing that wasn’t good. They often ask me that when I go to pick up my asthma medicine every three months.

“It seems insurance declined it so it will cost $700.”

WTF?!

They ran it through again and insurance did end up covering it but whoa.

But at first, I was like, “Is there a generic or an alternative? What about GoodRx? Let me check that app…”

The Day After Reaction

When I woke up the next morning and saw Wayne laying beside me, the first feelings I felt were relief and gratitude.

Which I’m sure is to be expected. But it went beyond that. I felt inspired to share goodness and happiness with perfect strangers and dear friends alike.

I went on Nextdoor, which is normally a source of entertainment for me. People post the most hilariously stupid things. And argue about even dumber things. Not sure why I find it all so entertaining, but I do.

Anyway, I decided to post something positive and decided on compliments praising the great service I’d recently gotten at various local shops and restaurants.

Then I looked for ways to be kind to strangers. Could I hold the door open for someone? Leave space for someone to merge or turn into traffic? (Which, btw, I mostly do anyway, but I felt even more inspired to do it.)

I also always smile. It’s the first thing anyone notices about me, but I had bigger ones to share while running errands and while on my walk in the park that next day. As well as compliments, whether it was about an article of clothing I appreciated or how cute someone’s pet or child was.

And I sent texts with either funny gifs or Bitmojis to my friends just to say, “Hey. Thinking about you. Love ya. Hope this makes you giggle.” Because sharing is caring and laughter really is the best medicine.

Most of them had no idea what Wayne and I had just been through. And I didn’t tell them. One day I might.

But most of all I realized I get so caught up in all the negativity, in my own life and what’s reported in the world around me, it felt good just to focus on the good. I’ve been doing more of that ever since.

Maybe that’s a natural reaction following an event of this nature. Maybe it will fade. So far it hasn’t.

Most of all I’m happy that we figured out what was wrong with Wayne and it was relatively easy to treat. I’m well aware we won’t always get that lucky. But we were this time and that’s to be celebrated. The way I chose to do that was by sharing as much goodness as possible —and to keep sharing it.