Turtle Tales: Day 15 - The Best Laid Plans of Mice and Men.....

Today was a beautiful day on Bar Harbor! We slept in a little late since we had a late night last night catching up on our blogs. We walked the dogs, got dressed and at 10:15 AM we headed out to meet our friends Stan and Susie Marshall at the marina. We stopped for gas and when Jim got back into the truck he said he was cold and turned on the heat in the truck. Within a minute or two not only was he cold, but he was shaking uncontrollably! I made him pull off the road and I immediately called 911 as I knew there was something serious going on! The ambulance arrived and transported him to the Frankllin Square Medical Center, just a few blocks from where we had stopped. I hopped in the truck and followed the ambulance to the hospital.

By the time Jim had arrived at the emergency room, the chills and uncontrollable shaking had ceased. Over the course of the next five hours, they ran every test in the book on Jim and finally determined that he had a urinary tract infection. He had no atypical symptoms of a urinary tract infection, but the doctors explained that sometimes an individual will not have those symptoms but still have an infection. He did have a low grade temperature..........

The doctors also determined that the chills and shaking were what is called "systemic inflammatory response system" - a form of body shock. Jim's body telling him that something is wrong with the "system" and you better get it checked! (similiar to your car making noise to let you know there is an issue with the vehicle!) It was very scary to say the least!

The ambulance personnel as well as the hospital staff were all very professional and courteous in their attention to Jim. His ER Doctor (Dr. Angel Chang) was fresh out of medical school and is doing her internship at Franklin Square Medical Center. She will move on to the VA hospital in Richmond, VA next year to do her residency. She is hoping to eventually be assigned to TIRR Memorial Hospital in Houston, TX as head injury trauma is her specialty. The doctor that was mentoring her, Dr. Floyd Howell IV (no he was not on Gilligan's Island!), was very patient, kind and detail oriented in his explainations as to the procedures they would be doing on Jim, and in their findings. It was a breath of fresh air to have such attentive medical professionals!

After being released from the hospital we stopped at a diner and had dinner as Jim had not eaten all day. We don't have diners in Texas, so it was a treat to visit one again, and we were not disappointed! If you have never eaten diner food, you really need to add it to your bucket list of things to do..........

Thanks to everyone for their phone calls and prayers today. We are so blessed to have a wonderful family and friends who care! We ask you to please continue to pray for Jim's healing in the days to come.

We are disappointed we did not get to visit with Stan and Susie today, but perhaps we will have another opportunity down the road.........

Tomorrow we head to Jim's sister's home in NJ for a few days of rest. We will then make the decision as to whether to continue the journey or to head home.

Til next time.........

Scenes from the RV Park