Thursday, May 7, 2015

Just by chance

Baker Lake from Noisy Creek campground, taken last year
Today eighteen Senior Trailblazers met at the Senior Center to head 75 miles south to hike on the Noisy Creek trail at Baker Lake, ten miles round trip. We had to figure out carpooling, and Al decided, just by chance, not to drive today. He rode with Steve, with Carol and me in the back seat. Just as we left the interstate on Cook Road, heading to Highway 20, Al had an episode of some sort. I thought he had dropped something and was trying to pick it up in the front seat, but instead he had fallen forward and Steve stopped Al's head from hitting the dashboard with his free hand. Al has no memory of what happened, but it was obvious that something had occurred out of the ordinary.

Although it only lasted a few seconds, no more than ten or so, and he came out of it without any obvious after effects, Carol said we needed to get him to a hospital and get it checked out. Just by chance, there was a Peacehealth hospital a few minutes away in Sedro Woolley, so off we went. Al was admitted and several tests were performed. The really nice woman at the desk was very helpful, and we were the only people there at the time. We chatted about what had happened and she mentioned that she is a writer. I gave her my card and I learned that she, Ruthie, is a published author. She writes books about, as she put it, "paranormal romance."
Ruthie and her most recent published novel
Well, it turns out that term refers to vampire love stories, and she's working on a sequel to this one. When I came out from visiting Al (we took turns), she was busy reading my blog. She's definitely a writer and was very interested in my writing. I think I have a new fan.

While Al was wired from head to toe and was waiting for the tests to be done, I was able to contact Diane in one of the other cars to tell them to continue on while the three of us would stay at the hospital with Al. We knew that they would soon be out of cellphone range, so once it was all squared away, we were sure they would have a good day anyway. Carol called Al's daughter Lisa, and in a very short while we learned that she and Al's wife Wanda were on their way.

As most of you know, Al drives most of the time, and it was just by chance that he didn't drive today. It was just by chance that Carol had noticed the hospital sign on another one of our outings, and that it was very close by. And not only that, when we got there, we learned that it is a Peacehealth hospital, just like the one we have in Bellingham where Al is registered. We were all really a little amazed at all the things that had to happen for this situation to turn out for the best.

After all the tests were done, nothing could be ascertained as having caused the episode, so he will follow up with his own doctor here in Bellingham. Although I don't know how the other fourteen people fared on the hike, the weather could not have been better, and several of the hikers are experienced enough to help get the group to the Noisy Creek campground and back.
Mt. Baker reflected in Baker Lake, last May 15
While we're all anxious to know that Al is all right, I know that the rest of the group saw the first and last pictures on the hike, because the weather was almost exactly the same last year as it was today. I'm sorry I didn't get to visit with the group, but there is always next year. Now you know why this post is called "Just by chance."
:-)

19 comments:

  1. wow. angels were certainly guiding your carload today! so glad al is okay, but that is worrisome, for sure! you were good friends to forego the hike for him (but i have no doubt he'd do the same for you.)

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  2. Hope Al continues to be OK. Something like that is a bit worrying. But luckily you were all there to assist. The picture of Baker Lake from last year is beautiful... and god willing, it will still be there next year for you to visit.

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  3. Yes, we all have guardian angels...and Al's was on his A game today. Hope he's okay.

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  4. Wow. So much luck. I am so glad.
    I hope Al is ok - and of course you found a new fan. To know you is to love you.

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  5. Wow - good thing Al wasn't driving. Hope all is well with him. Al's lucky to have such good friends.

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  6. What a scare...
    I'm happy to read Al didn't have anything requiring hospitalization, and thankfully he was a passenger not a driver.
    Sending speedy recovery wishes to Al, and I have to admit, that lake view is pretty spectacular !
    ~Jo

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  7. Yes, good fortune with with you today. It's rather amazing that everything worked out so well and all of you are safe and sound and Al won't be facing out-of-network charges.

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  8. That's a pretty scary event. The same thing happened to me. I had all the tests and nothing was found until the next time when they did one other test. It was found that I have epilepsy.

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  9. So THIS is the story, with details. Glad Al - and the rest of you - are okay!

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  10. Wow! This is so scary, but thank goodness it all worked out in the end. Art went through a time when he was getting vertigo. He even vomited once because of it. They did a whole bunch of tests and concluded that it was a head scratcher. We still don't know why it happened.

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  11. Proper thing you all reacted to the best solution for Al. It could have been low blood to goodness knows what.....or just the sheer excitement of travelling with such a nice group of friends. ha,ha Seriously though, give him our best and hope he fares well. Now, DJan, you can add "rescuer" to your resume and how about meeting the writer. That is a most interesting day. Fill us in on Al, eh. Take care and have a lovely day.

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  12. Fate played all the right cards for you today. I was surprised by the distance you were travelling for your walk but assume the scenery would have made it worthwhile. Al must thank his lucky stars that he was travelling with such a good group of friends. Hope he is back to his usual self soon.

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  13. I am so glad that things fell into place and that Al is on the mend. You couldn't ask for a better scenario, especially the fact that Al was not driving.

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  14. Best wishes to Al, I hope they find out what the cause was. I hope his wife drives for him for awhile. Al is lucky to have friends like you to take good care of him. You missed a good hike but helped save a friend and it sounds like you made an new one too! :)

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  15. The angels have been busy. ;)

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  16. As I'm always saying, God takes very good care of us. So glad it all worked out so well for all of you yesterday, even if you had to miss the hike. Better to have taken care of the problem while on the highway than on a trailhead.

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  17. Woo hoo. That last comment was fairly easy to post. I only had to make about 6 clicks and only had to type my wordpress name. I did have to check the box saying I'm not a robot, but there was no hamburger, sushi, or cake pictures to match. Nor did I have to type some numbers. (Never mind, wrote too soon. This comment made me match ice cream pictures. I give up.)

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  18. What a frightening yet fortuitous day. Someone is really watching over you all. This happened to a friend of mind. It never to happen again and all tests were negative. Pray Al is doing just fine now. How lucky he was able to get quick medical care. Hopefully they can find a cause and he doesn't have to live with the uncertainty.

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  19. Thank you so much for your comment about the photo on the post about the historical buildings.

    I wrote that post on my phone b/c that's where the pictures reside. Wordpress has done an update to the app and it did not work very well when I was making the post. Due to being so busy, I never got around to checking it out on my computer until I got your comment at which time I just took the whole thing down because I knew there were other problems with it also.

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