Taknemmelig for livet.....Thankful for life

Vi ankom til Colorado i fredags eftermiddag.... Og ankom til 7000 feet høj. Min søster og sin familie hentede os fra lufthavn og kørte os til deres hus.... Anden 2300 feet op bjerget så i fredags aften var vi på 9300 feet. Jeg fik en lille hovedpine efter vi var i Crested Butte et par timer men jeg syntes, at det var normal. En lang historie kort, kl 1 i lørdags morgen blev min hovedpine værrst og værrst og jeg begyndte at kaste op. Smerten var den værrste at jeg har nogensiden oplevet i mit lit og omkring kl 4, var det mere end jeg kunne tage. Jeg havde mange andre symptoms som kom hurtigt så min søster bestemmede at det var tid at ringe en ambulance. Så kl 6, var vi på vejen til hospitalet i anden by (og lavere elevation).

We arrived in Colorado Friday afternoon to an elevation of about 7000 feet. My sister and her family were at the airport to pick us up and drive us to their home in Crested Butte....about another 2300 feet up. So by Friday evening we were at 9300 feet. I had a small headache that evening, but I assumed that was normal at this elevation. However it got worse and worse until by 1am, I was throwing up as well. The pain became substantially worse until about 4am when it was the worse pain I had ever experienced, plus my symptoms were increasing as well. My sister decided it was time to call the ambulance so by six am we were on our way to the hospital in another town at a lower elevation.

Diagnosis: HACE....High Altitude Cerebral Edema.... Swelling of the brain.

Lægen sagde at High Altitude Pulmonary sygdom er meget normal på 9300 feet men han ser kun 1 person hvert år med sygdom i hjerne. Jeg gætter at jeg var hans "1" for 2009. Min hjerne blev større og større men mit hoved havde ikke mere rum for det... så smerten blev værrst og værrst......

The doctor said that High Altitude Pulmonary disease is very normal at 9300 feee, but he only sees about one person a year with the disease in the brain. I guess I was his "1" for 2009. My brain was swelling more and more, but my skull had not more room for it to expand...so the pain became worse and worse....

Jeg blev i skadestuen i mange timer ...til de var sikker på, at jeg var ok for at gå tilbage til 9300 feet. Lægen gav mig medicin for "anti-swelling" af hjerne så det var ok for mig at returnere til mit søsters hus....men det var nødvendig at jeg slappe af resten af dagen og gå LANGSOMT alle dage som jeg var i Crested Butte.

I stayed in the ER for many hours...until they were certain that I was ok to go back to 9300 feet. The doctor prescribed special meds for cerebral anti-swelling so that I would be safe to return to my sister's house, but I had strict instructions to rest the remainder of the day and go SLOW for all of the rest of the days that I was in Crested Butte.

Du kan sige at jeg har ikke forventede at blive i skadestuen på min første nat i Colorado... men i dag føler jeg næsten ligesom Kelli igen. Crested Butte er UTROLIG SMUK og jeg er meget glad at blive med min søster og min familie for jul... så jeg vælger at fokuse på hvor taknemmelig jeg er for livet i stedet for mit "eventyr" i fredags nat. God Jul til alle!

You can that I certainly did not expect to be in the ER on my first night in Colorado...but today I almost feel like Kelli again. Crested Butte is INCREDIBLY BEAUTIFUL and I am so glad that I am able to be here with my sister and my family for Christmas....so I will choose to focus on how thankful I am for life instead of my "adventure" on Friday night... Merry Christmas to all!