Unexpected Events

Today is Friday, September 11th. We haven’t been elk hunting since I shot my bull last Saturday (6 days ago). I had another “episode” on Monday morning and ended up back in the ER. They did a rapid flu test which came back negative, but weren’t able to offer any explanations for why I was having troubles breathing and a very rapid heart rate. Not feeling comfortable being hours from any services, and not being able to hike more than 10 steps without triggering a reaction, I decided to throw in the towel and head home until I was feeling better. Dave was planning on heading home and working this week anyway, and Donnie volunteered to give up the week of hunting to make sure I was going to be alright. Talk about good hunting partners…and great friends.

 Monday night I had another attack and ended up in the ER in Boise. They did chest X-rays, blood work, hooked me up to an EKG, etc…still no answers. My white blood cell count was within range, but the Neutrophil and Lymphocyte levels were messed up, my blood sugar was moderately high, potassium low, and Ck levels high. They reiterated it could just be a virus, but hooked me up to a Holter monitor for 48 hours (portable EKG). They also scheduled an appointment with a cardiologist for Wednesday. With the Holter monitor on, I was determined to make it happen again, so I went for a 1 mile walk around our neighborhood on Tuesday. It raised my heart rate, but not like before. So, I went for a 5 mile bike ride and pushed it pretty hard. My pulse got up to 120, but quickly came back down. I was still feeling lethargic, but again, nothing like before. Very frustrating…

 The trip to the cardiologist garnered another EKG which was normal, as well as an echo cardiogram (ultrasound of the heart). I got the results back today and everything appears normal. I also had a thyroid test and it came back normal. It seems that something is definitely causing a shortness of breath, which is causing a rapid heart rate, and the lack of Oxygen isn’t allowing my heart rate to come back down like normal. To top it all off, I have now missed out on 5 consecutive days of elk hunting and still have no answer as to what is wrong! It’s incredibly frustrating.

 Mentally, it’s starting to take its toll. Physically, I can’t seem to do anything. But I’m starting to go crazy just sitting here not knowing what’s going on, or what I can do to get over it…I’m going to head back up tonight with Donnie and Dave and try to find some bulls somewhat close to the road for them. I’m not sure if I’ll be able to do much, if any, hiking, but sitting here is driving me crazy. If I’m not able to go hard by Monday, I’ll drop out and let them go rather than continuing to slow them up. We’ve wasted enough time….elk season comes just once a year. We’ve trained hard all year for this very purpose and now I’m sitting at home. It’s time to get back after them! Sorry for the lame report…tomorrow is sure to be much better!