We start this tale with the loss of the sole inspiration for the last blog. Laughter and distain for all things political, all things restaurant related and even old age and driving, shared with my best friend. Ted up and dies and with him goes the course for this last blog. "Bright shiny pennies"...how can I describe this next chapter in my sexagenarian life. The intention is to challenge myself to provide, positive, life affirming observations. I really don't know if that's possible and frankly the name might change to "dark, slimy underbelly" quite quickly.
Those that know me know that this year has not been a great year for me. I was sick at Christmas and that malaise hung around well into the new year and resulted in a seemingly endless barrage of tests, that found nothing. By late March I had lost 50 pounds( a diet I do not fully endorse) and checked myself into the hospital on April 10th...I awoke on May 2nd. What transpired in those three weeks ain't bright or shiny. Words like respiratory, renal and cardiac failure were tossed about... I learned that a code is very bad and multiple heart attacks tend to lead to strokes, which I had. When I opened my eyes I had a zipper in my chest a new mitral valve and a repaired aortic valve, I think it could be the other way around. I couldn't speak because I was traqed or move, I had lost 70% muscle mass loss lying in bed, or even hold anything in my hands due to critical neuropathy. The problem turned out to be a cracked tooth that lead to the deadly sepsis and a really big word, endocarditis( a bacteria that grows around the valves of the heart and keep them from closing)...a really bad thing! Phew, just writing it down is scary.
But, and this is where shiny comes in, I discovered the most wonderful, dedicated people that choose medicine as a calling. My Teams, yes when you fuck up like I did, There are teams of people taking care of you. I was in Cardiac I.C.U. for almost three weeks. My cardiac surgeon and his team saved my life twice...My pulmonary team got my lungs back to full function in days and my renal team, pushed , pulled and egged my poor kidneys back to life. Let me tell ya folks dialysis is HORRIBLE so I really loved those people. I had almost fifty nurses take care of me during my stay. I can honestly tell you that only a few were "Nurse Rachety", so almost all were caring and attentive. When I left the brightly lit, constant attention of ICU, I began the monumental test of Rehab. These girls, almost all my nurses were women as well as my rehab staff. were young, incredibly educated(most were working on masters or doctorates in their respective fields) and genuinely passionate about every patient and their journey back to life on the "outside" My stay at Tampa general was about 55 days. Almost as long as that last sentence. I was in rehab for 29 days. In that time I got out of bed, learned to stand, use my hands, speak, think and understand what this death experience had done to me. All with the help and guidance of some of the most incredible people I have ever met...75 days after I checked my self in, I walked out of the hospital. I walked fucking out. There was a time where the thought of being wheel chair bound was a reality far to close to home. I owe my life, and the quality of it, to these incredible people, who tonight, are helping other people that I don't know to find their respective healing. My repaired but very different heart is full of love and respect for my nurses, doctors, clinicians and technicians. May you never go through what I went through but if you do I can only hope that you have the grace and good fortune that I was blessed with at Tampa General. Now that's a bright shiny fuckin penny!
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