Dear editor, Sometimes the word “thanks” doesn’t sound sufficient.
The events of the last week have left me many people to thank.
First and foremost is to Jacquelyne, a total stranger, who selflessly aided me from a potential tragedy.
She helped me avoid drowning, caused by the sudden onset of muscle fatigue, by pulling me into the shallows.
Following this, I would like to thank Airdrie’s Emergency Response Paramedics for ensuring I was OK and then the doctors and staff at the Airdrie Urgent Care Centre who checked me out and sent me on my way.
I had to return to Airdrie Urgent Care with some other symptoms and a special thanks to Dr. Tammy Paulgaard McKnight for her refusal to accept “unexplained weakness,” as the reason for my issues in the water earlier that day.
With a couple additional tests she recognized I was experiencing acute renal failure that prompt treatment. She quickly got in touch with the Peter Lougheed Centre in Calgary and I found myself transported there thanks to Patient Transfer Services.
Many more thanks goes to the team of doctors and nurses that attended me once I had arrived at the hospital.
The first 72 hours were a bit touch-and-go but with both the Internal Medicine Team and the nephrologists embracing my “interesting case” they came up with a diagnosis of myolysis.
The muscles were damaged at a cellular level due to a rare side-effect from my cholesterol medication and being under duress in the water.
They essentially burst, causing the sudden weakness.
Following this was the buildup of cellular material in my bloodstream, which started and starting the kidney failure.
Now my kidneys are back on-line and functioning properly and the slow recovery to regain my strength begins.
Last, but not least, my thanks go to friends, family, and co-workers for their support of myself and my family given both this event and the tragedy to my family not even a month before the onset of my situation.
Winston YW Lee, Airdrie
