Bump in the Road #1

I had been told that the worst pulmonologist at Columbia Presbyterian was better than the best one at Beth Israel (see post #25). That's why I never quite figured out how what happened next could happen. Gradually my temperature began rising (had nothing to do with the room's thermostat) and my sats began falling. One would think that those are two definite red flags, right? Only Dr. Preger missed 'em. Relapses during the treatment of C.O.P. are not uncommon; indeed, they're almost expected. I was having my first and it almost went unnoticed. Thank goodness for Dr. Jonny Kim. Dr. Kim, a young P.I.T. (pulmonologist-in-training) was the one who made the decision to send me back to the ICU. Not that I was thrilled to go, mind you. It had taken me a few weeks to get out of there, and in my mind going back was tantamount to conceding defeat. But they didn't really give me a choice. In retrospect, it was, of course, the right thing to do. But at the time the somewhat unrealistic elation I had been feeling since leaving the ICU came crashing down around my head, and my depression returned with a vengeance; was I ever going home?