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I had so many plans for my Hamvention 2023 visit on Friday and Saturday, May 19-20, 2023.  For example, I planned on many interviews including one with N3ZN, maker of great Morse code keys.  I also needed to visit the Card Checker Service of the ARRL DXCC program.  I had a handful of DX cards I was submitting toward DXCC credits.

NW7US, in ICU at the hospital, instead of attending Hamvention 2023.

But, I collapsed about 40 minutes after I got to the Hamvention, on Friday morning! I had just finished getting my DX QSL cards checked at the ARRL booth, then I collapsed. After only being at my first Hamvention for a brief 40-some minutes, I was taken by ambulance to an ER of a Xenia-area hospital.  My blood pressure was difficult to measure at the initial moments of being at the emergency room — it was about 60 over 40, and I had NO radial pulse.

After a CT scan of heart and neck, and blood lab work, I was transported again by ambulance to a hospital near Dayton. There, I was admitted to that hospital’s Intensive Care Unit (ICU) around 5:30 PM on Friday.

I’m writing this on Saturday, from my hospital bed, as I’m still in ICU in Dayton. I hope to be discharged tomorrow (Sunday, 21 May 2023).

The working diagnosis is Acute Kidney Injury (AKI), caused by a combination of issues starting with my parathyroidectomy surgery, a few months back. I had three of my four parathyroid glands removed because they were completely tumorous.  I wrote about that in my previous entry on this website.

Turns out my calcium levels were lower than they should be, causing problems throughout my body, but especially in my heart. Additionally, I was severally dehydrated due to two medications I had been taking because the VA doctors thought I should be on them.  But, these meds were working against me. One of those I don’t even need, but the VA had me taking. That one is FUROSEMIDE. The other is LISINOPRIL.  I don’t have high blood pressure, nor water retention.

At the ICU, I have stopped taking those meds.  I’m on an IV, getting hydrated, and getting calcium supplements.

My kidney function is improving but I’m going to spend another night in ICU until they feel confident I’ve made full recovery.  I hope to be discharged on Sunday, 21 May, 2023.

I hope all of you that were at this year’s Hamvention have enjoyed the fellowship of radio enthusiasts. Maybe I’ll meet many of you, next year!  I will make videos of Hamvention 2024, if all goes well in a year’s time.

If you were at Hamvention 2023, share some highlights in the comments!

UPDATE:  On Sunday, I was released from the ICU, and I am now home recuperating.  Monday is a bit rough, so am not at work, yet.  BP is normal, and I am on new medication for my heart so that I do not get dehydrated by the furosemide and lisinopril.  Here’s hoping for next year’s Hamvention, which I hope to attend.

73 de NW7US
https://nw7us.us
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