Last night was rough. I tried to go to sleep at 11:30. There was good news; for the first time in days I could lie on my side without pain or labored breathing. After about 20 minutes I started drifting off to sleep. Then there were voices in the hall. Doors opening and shutting. My room is across the hall from the staff lounge. The staff was having its holiday party. At midnight. In a hospital. Are you fucking kidding me!!??
They weren’t all that loud but I could not get to sleep with the on and off voices and door opening and closing. After 20 minutes I was going to get up and walk the half mile home. Then a nurse came and closed my door. I was asleep in another 20 minutes.
Long story short, I want out of here. Now!
My new nurse this morning asserted without my asking that I’d be on blood thinners for the rest of my life. What happens with the rest of my life is none of your goddamn business, bucko.
The doctors think I may have a genetic mutation that caused this episode. Here’s why: when I checked in they asked about family history of clots. I said I don’t have any. Then they asked me if I had been on any long flights recently. Nope.
The next day they told me that my May 2016 visit to the ER was probably caused not by a respiratory infection but by another pulmonary embolism. The pain cleared up in a week and I flew to Scandinavia. Derp.
So their treatment plan is based on the assumption that both PE episodes were “unprovoked.”
They never asked me if I had taken a long flight before the May 2016 lung troubles. In fact in September 2015 I flew around the world, 60 hours of flying in 19 days. This included flights of 9, 14, and 16 hours. As the Dixie Chicks say, there’s your trouble.
I need to talk to the doctors today and clue them in. I think I’ve had a clot in my leg for over 2 years.
In any case there is no reason for me to stay in the hospital at this point. It’s just pissing me off.
Just give me the drug you want me to take. I already have the spirometer (a gizmo to help me bring my lung capacity back to normal).
We can deal with the issue of taking me off blood thinners in 3 to 6 months in 3 to 6 months.
I want out of here.
A Few Spokes Shy of a Wheel 
Please be patient you want to be sure nothing else happens so you can enjoy a nice long retirement.
No worries. It would be nice if the doctors got their diagnoses right for a change.
Hang in there brother.
In a perfect world, a hospital would really be a quiet enough place for good sleeping! Hope you get home SOON!
I’m home. I look forward to sleeping like a log tonight.