Thursday.....February 5th...2009

Is it early or is it late? ......we just got here..home in Oregon..from the airport......

"You ain't gonna believe what happened!"

Linda-lou, now known as the "Drama Queen...scratch that...the "Dynamic Drama Queen" outdid herself today.....

Please understand what was very serious at the time....after all was said and done.....was something we could look back on and laugh a bit.

We got up very early today in Florida for a all day flight back to Oregon by way of Houston. when we got to the airport, Linda persisted in tussling with the luggage...rocked back on her heels.....hit her Butt hard on the cement...fell backwards and hit her back...luckily it stopped there and no head hit the pavement....but she was very sore...aggravating the pleuritic problems she's been having. This affair should have been my first clue.

She then made it into the airport..checked in..went through security..worked on a crossword puzzle..loaded on the airplane...conversed with the gentleman beside her...and..and....end of story?????? NOPE. Linda had something bigger in mind.

Linda had been careful not to turn on the air overhead because of contamination possibilities.....also she wore a mask because of her low immunity.

We taxied out to the runway and started down the runway for takeoff....It was dark inside the aircraft and all of a sudden I had a sense something was wrong with Linda. I asked her if she was ok and she mumbled something and was quite incoherent....and then she went silent and her head dropped...she was unconscious...I wasn't able to get anything out of her..I couldn't see what was going on..so I rang the flight attendant button.....an attendant came scurrying back and I said "she's unconscious".....he said "shall we abort"..ie the take off...mind you we are now about 100 mph hurtling down the runway...I said "WHAT?"...he said he had to get back to his seat.

The good news is Linda came back around and had no memory of the takeoff etc. etc. ...there happened to be a doctor in the seat behind her who came and sat with her, checking her blood pressure, pulse, and all. The flight attendant came back apologizing for having to leave but was required to be in his seat for take off.

Over the two hours to Houston, Linda was given large quantities of water as her blood pressure was low....also lots of orange juice...the nice lady doctor stayed with her and Linda was back to her "old self". It was decided that the fainting spell was cause by a multitude of factors, including the low blood pressure, no air because of the vents turned off....rebreathing CO2 because of the mask and later we were to learn she had low blood sugar ( but I'm getting ahead of myself). Also lack of sleep due to an early flight, cancer, plueritic pain...and who knows what else. They had Linda on a low flow of O2 to assist her...which is quite common practice.

Anyway things are going well as we get to Houston...THEN..as we turn towards the gate, I immediately notice several emergency vehicles...ambulance....fire truck...rescue truck.....lots of flashing red lights....now I'm no rocket scientist but 2 and 2 are 4....I said to Linda "I think those are for you".."no way" she said.....and at that moment an announcement was made in the airplane notifying all passengers to remain in their seats at the gate so EMT's could board and remove the "medical emergency" 2 plus 2 is still 4!

Six burly EMT's crowded onto the airplane to assist Miss Linda....and removed her carefully from the aircraft....they performed their system checks and all and found Linda to be in pretty good shape . Great! we thought as we had a tight connection for our next flight....but then Miss Continental Airlines showed up and informed us that she would have to check with the pilot of our connecting flight to see if he wanted to take us or whether Linda needed to be checked out by a doctor (read hospital and emergency room)....also if there would be the need for Linda to be on O2 all the way to Oregon....

We knew we were in trouble when Miss Continental said in her cell phone..."I don't recommend allowing her to fly"....of course we knew the saga was not over...and of course we were told "no flying without a doctor's ok"....of course, who's to blamb Continental...protecting themselves in this crazy "sue world".

So off to the hospital we went to be diagnosed as having a "fainting spell".....

We did get the permission slip to fly...as well as undoubtedly a big..big bill......but it was assuring to get a doctor to say all was ok...as had the EMT's etc.

One problem..the next flight was 6 hours away...so we had a long long wait in the airport as well as a late late drive home.

This was a serious situation but you would have had to have been there to have heard the flight attendant say "shall we abort" (I mean, how many fields would we have plowed through before we would have come to a stop)....and then all those red flashing lights..for Miss Linda.....priceless. .
Tomorrow Linda's appointment is at 1 pm....we will want to get a full briefing on what is going on with the cancer recurrence...what the chemo program will be..how to deal with the nausea Linda is experiencing....how to stabilize the blood pressure.....which has been a constant problem when the cancer and treatment is involved...as well as several other questions we have...