The Hospital

I don't know how coherent this is going to be, I haven't gotten very much sleep in the last few days, and I'm kind of medicated right now - more heavily than normal, but you'll note more or less proper spelling and grammar - and that is what you get when you combine narcotic pain killers with someone who is actually in pain. God know I should be asleep, I had a hell of a day yesterday.

I guess you could say it started Wed sometime, thats when I began to feel pretty hammered, couldn't get much sleep, couldn't move around all that much. That persisted through Thursday night. Then Friday morning came along and I was doing a little better, which worked because a friend needed a ride to work at 7:30am - which I provided, that is after all what friends are for, and he had no one else he could call. Then I picked him up from work at 4:30pm, and while doing so discovered some serious changes in the school I once knew (he's a teacher at my old high school). I also got to see a couple of guys I've known these last 3 years, and got to see his sister in law, who was picking up his nephew who just started as a freshman, I sort of think of him as the little brother I never had - so that was nice.

That also drained me pretty good, it used up my replenished reserves as it were. So Friday night sucked. I decided to go to bed around 2am, but the pain was up and I couldn't sleep. The pain spiked to a 10 at about 3am, temporarily knocking me out for a while (I pass out at a 10). The pain oddly was focusing more on the left side of my body than anywhere else. So I came back round about 4am, but couldn't move much, and couldn't get to my cell phone to wake anyone up. So I rode it out till 4:45ish and then got myself up and dressed.

I went across the hall to mom's room and woke her up telling her we had to go to the hospital. This was about 5am Saturday morning. Mom in true style got right up, dressed, and was collecting the last couple things she needed to go when the pain spiked again, this time (as it had already happened once earlier) I had absolutely nothing left, as it was I had barely been mobile, so I crumpled right there in the hallway. Told mom to call an ambulance. She handled it quite well, this stuff always flips her out a bit. I lay there curled up in a ball on my left side, face down on the floor waiting for the ambulance.

Fire department showed up first, they tried to prop me up but I ended up collapsing to my right, but they put down some pillows to wedge me up and gave me oxogen which was a new experience for me. Thats when the paramedics arrived, and they had to use a rolling chair to get me out of the house, so I got hauled into that, couldn't support myself, and they strapped me into this chair. Now mind you I am normally very adversed to being touched, lifted, or strapped down. But at this point I was in too much pain to care. The ride down the stairs in this chair scared the shit out of me.

But they got me out of the house, onto a gurney and into the ambulance. I happily live basically a straight shot to Memorial which is where they took me. I got a shot of some relief on the ride to Memorial, but even with it, the pain overrode the drug for a while and I was sobbing pretty good even when they had me in the room at the ER. But eventually the drug took full effect and I went all tingly and it dropped the pain down to about a 7 on my left and a 6 on my right. I promptly IV in arm turned over and passed out for a couple hours.

Around noon or a little after Brent showed up and kept mom and I company. Just prior to his showing up the pain killer they'd given me wore off and they had to inject me with something else, I have no idea what it was, but it sure as hell took the edge off (its getting hard to type). After maybe an hour or so they ran some more tests, and then discharged me with two scripts for pills, one an anti-inflamatory drug, and the other a narcotic pain killer. Brent went his way (after a handshake) and mom led me back to our car.

It was a 9 hour day at the ER and then another hour to get home including picking up the meds at Walgreens. Promptly went up to bed, and have been here more or less ever since.

OK the pain killer is kicking in, and no matter how much I like the song Shelter from the STorm by Dylan I am about to pass out. Peace fellas, really hard to type now.