On the way home Wednesday morning

... that's only 19 hours for me here in China before heading for the airport.

Leaving tree days early due to health concerns. Spent yesterday afternoon in a China ER with dehydration to the point that my blood pressure dropped fro, my normal of 116/68 to 85/60.

They performed an EKG (Suction bulbs to attach leads rather than sticky pads), hung 4 IV's (1 large and 1 small bottle twice), rechecked bp several times, and it finally rose to normal. They performed another EKG and released me. Now get this... 340 RMB was my charges. Care to guess??? that is about $53 in US funds.

Recommendation: You are dehydrated. Don't know why. Go home to be tested by your physician. Take plenty of water with you.

Obviously they have never traveled to the US from any foreign airport. Can't take water onboard even if you bought it in the airport. Going to bump up to business class to get fluids anytime I need them.

 

:? have a safe flight home. Hope you are OK

 

I agree Tom I hope you get to feeling better, take it easy...

 

Drink heavily.....hydrate that is.

 

I assume that you are not talking about alcohol... :wink:

Became ill Tuesday night and made a disaster area out of my hotel bathroom, sorry maids. Had another bout with the BP Wednesday morning and was almost denied entry onto the plane in Xian.

Kept refilling my Brita water bottle on all three flights. My condition improved with every hour that passed. Got home at about 01:30 this morning. Cindy has a theory: I was put on HCTZ, a drug normally thought of to reduce blood pressure, to help control kidney stones. I have lost close to 50 lbs in the last 6 months. She thinks this medication now needs to be reevaluated.

 

I am glad you are home safe I was worried about you but now I know your home W/ Cindy no worries . she will take good care of you.

 

You have that right Di. My manager didn't want me to travel the way I felt. The Xian doctor was of the same opinion. The hotel nurse was close to demanding that I go to the hospital. I was stopped twice, once in the Xian airport and once in the Hong Kong airport at checkpoints where they use an IR scanner to measure your skin temp. I must have looked like death warmed over.

I knew what kind of care I had here and was ready to return.

I found out something I didn't know about my company... If I had expressed concern over the care I received and was refused travel on a commercial airliner, the corporate lear jet would have been sent for me.

I made a decision at the end of 1999... one that I thought about for several weeks... one that Cindy helped me... make that, pushed me into making. That decision was to leave Intel to pursue a career in teaching with Applied Materials. I have been finding reasons ever since that show me this was the best decision over a fork in the road that I have ever made. I can't say it was the best decision period... that one happened in 1982 and was finalized on February 20, 1983.

 

oops.. probably shouldn't have mentioned the corporate jet... Shhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh... Obama's listening. :roll:

 

doesnt bother me.... I would expect no less of your corporation I have a very close friend that is a VP of HSBC Bank they moved him and his family to London 3 years ago his wife (was a friend of Coreys in high school) has had 2 kidney transplants. here at Loma Linda University she has a corporate jet on standby if anything happens and she needs to fly home. She has been here in Ca and has gotten ill she has a low immunity system ... they are flyng her back to London on the "private jet" w. their daughter to keep her safe from germs in the airport and on commercial flights.. I see nothing wrong w. corporate jets at all.... quickest way to get from point A to point B Only Obama has issues and some DEMOCRATs personally I have no issue w. Jets boats or trains . they paid tax;s on them when they were purchased. and they have to hire a staff to maintain them and fly them. but I am glad you made it home

 

Every time. He gets to me with those sweet comments every time. What a guy. :lol: :wink:

 

For anyone not following on facebook, Cindy took me to the ER this morning with a BP of 80/60. This was my last facebook post:

Diagnosis is in: Collapsed Inferior Vena Cava due to severe dehydration. The doc has ordered bag after bag after bag of IV fluids and removal of the Hydrochlorothiazide medication. My reduced body mass can no longer support the affects of that drug. I feel better just knowing that the doctor has a handle on this.

For you medical types, the HCTZ medication was not given to me due to high blood pressure in the past. It was given for protection of my kidneys due to other conditions including multiple kidney stones.

 

Have a very quick recovery Tom.

 

Thanks Dave.

They decided yesterday to keep me until my BP didn't have a significant change between laying down, sitting, and standing. I just now hit that mark.

106 / 63
107 / 64
105 / 60

My normal is 117 / 67 but I'll take those three as a basis to work from without leads and hoses attached to me.

Let me put my condition in terms that an old mechanic could understand since that was what I knew best in the 80's... My 5 qt oil pan was about 3 qts low. That oil pump can't make much oil pressure when it has little oil to pump. 8)

 

Discharge time!!!! 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8) 8)

 

I hope Vol football doesn't give you more BP problems Glad you're out and about.

 

If it does, I assure you, it will be in the opposite direction! 8)

 

A miracle recovery in time for Vol football! Good to see that you're better.