The start to the Thanksgiving holiday was a bumpy one for our family. Mike had an inhalation injury at work, on his birthday no less. Happy frickin' birthday.... While Mike was a work, the neighbor company released a nasty chemical into the air. The chemical is used to pressure treat telephone poles so the bugs don't eat them. It's called pentachloriophneol (I think I spelled it right). It's a long name for a very nasty chemical that actually is known to be a carcinogen. It caused damage to his lungs and we are waiting to see if the damage is permanent. A few days after he was exposed, he spent any evening in the ER to get IV steroids and an evaluation for admission. Thankfully they sent him home and I have been watching him like a hawk ever since. So far, he's on the maximum dose of inhaled steroids and just finished his course of oral steroids. At the current moment even with albuterol several times a day, he's still short of breath while eating. I'm starting to worry that the majority of the damage is permanent. We are still hopeful that things will improve and that Mike will be able to go back to work. He's been out since the day after his birthday. In keeping with the Christmas spirit, the insurance company that is handling Mike's L&I claim (it's not the State) decided that he couldn't prove where he was exposed, so they are denying the claim. NICE. Cheap bastards. Mike didn't ask to get get sick at work. He didn't ask to not be able to do anything without having bad shortness of breath. Mike didn't ask for any of this and they have the nerve to say 'you can't prove where you got exposed'. My arse. And to top it all off, this isn't the first time it's happened either. There is a co-worker of Mike's that is off on permanent disability because he's short of breath all the time. Huh. Sound familiar? So now we are jumping through their hoops trying to get them to approve the claim so we don't end up losing the house. Merry Christmas. Needless to say that we are grateful that Mike is feeling better these days, but still short of breath. Who knows, maybe he WILL get better and the part of my nursing judgement that is pessimistic (actually realistic) will be proven wrong. Anything can happen, right? Mike goes back to the doctor on Dec 7th for a recheck and I think that we will know more by then.
Our Thanksgiving holiday was a great one even though we weren't able to go to Oregon to visit the Taylor family like we usually do. With me working the night before Thanksgiving and Mike being sick, he decided that it would be better if we didn't venture too far from home. (Sorry we missed you guys!) We went to my family's house for dinner and had a great time. Dinner was fabulous thanks to my mom and all her little helpers. Having Aunt Linda and Uncle Tom there was extra fun, and all though I did have to share my green bean casserole with more people than normal, it was worth it. :) Jack had a great time playing with Aunt Linda and Quinlan. He loves to go to Grammy and Papa's house to play and visit. I would have had pictures of the event but alas, I forgot to pack new batteries for the camera. I think that Linda did take a few pics which I will up load later. All in all it was a very good day and when Jack came home, he crashed VERY hard. He probably even fell asleep in the car. A nice ending for a very good day.
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