End of an Adventure

The fourth day of our West Virginia adventure started unlike the rest of them. This time we got a phone call that informed us that Little Brother had had some sort of fainting episode in the night which left him with a gash on his forehead and in the hospital hooked up to a bunch of machines. They said he seemed to be okay though and we asked for updates and headed out on the road for another ride along the twists and turns of country roads. Routes 60, 13, 90, 62, 87 - we did some winding on this one.

Of course all that winding road looked a lot like the rest of it.

We stopped in Ripley at a flea market and a Farm Supply store. Unfortunately we found more treasures at the store than the flea market.

As we got done shopping we got a call that informed us of Little Brother's new situation, which included a trip to Charleston for a stress test and possibly surgery to insert a stent. Seems they thought he had a heart attack and the situation had gotten a lot worse.

So we ended our trip at that point and drove down to the hospital. We were a lot closer to it than they were at this point but it was a wild wet drive.

We have been waiting for rain for a few weeks, it finally started and it got wet fast on the interstate.

We met the other family members at the hospital and began waiting. LB was in the emergency room for a long time and then they decided to keep him over night so we got him settled in a room and then left until the next day so he could get some rest.

On our way out of Charleston with Mrs LB we wandered past the capitol building and got a nice picture of the Stonewall Jackson and capitol dome.

Well it would be if I could get the raindrops out of it anyway.

We dropped Mrs LB off at home and headed home.

Of all the WV roads that we drove on this trip, this particular one was the worst. It is partial gravel, dirt, roots, and rock.

It is what we call the shortcut to LB's house, but we will be going the long way for a while until the county gets it fixed up again. Besides, if you look real close on the right hand side there seem to be some red glowing eyes looking at us. The previous picture shows them at a different angle, like something had turned it's head. But that can't be right. What has eyes that glow red in headlights? Mothman has a cousin? Possum Man?

Anyway, the end of the story of LB is that he came home the next night - we were there until 7pm again. His stress test showed that he is extremely fit. His heart rate never got to 150 under their testing. The doctors kept asking about pains, he had never had any. In the end it was determined that he had what they call vasovagol syncope or Vagus Nerve Stimulation. The vagus nerve slows down the heart when pain, fear, or other distress cause it to react. The doctor said it happens all the time. If someone at the first hospital had listened to his symptoms (nausea, clammy skin, sweating, and some other things that the text book identify) he wouldn't have been sent to the second. Instead they created their own symptoms and caused a lot of stress. He did get 11 stitches from the crack on his head though, and a week of vacation that wasn't expected. AND lots of jokes about keeping a football helmet in the bathroom have followed him around ever since.

That is the end of our West Virginia adventure.

Next year - Seattle? Maine? Germany? Maybe.