Hello World Addendum

This is a very informational link for ICU delirium: http://www.icudelirium.org/patients.html

I was basically a perfect storm waiting to happen.

Severe Pain? Check.
Severe Illness? Check.
A crapload of medicines? Check.
Infections? Check.


What lie, lurking, unbeknownst to us was that my recent fall at Byerly's caused a concussion and a brain bleed on top of the head. The Emergency Department had done a CT Scan of my facial bones to make sure there were no fractures; however, a slight bleed on the top of my head was slowly causing pressure increases and a traumatic brain injury.

When I checked in for treatment of pneumonia, there was also a drop in my sodium in my blood: I've been warned that low sodium causes hallucinations; Yes. It most certainly does.

The hallucinations that ensued went something like this: First. I was the victim of a super organized murder for $$$$. I knew that having me in the mix made this plot wildly complicated and guaranteed to succeed. So, after about 7 hours in, I knew it was a success and I "knew" I must be dead. It was a logical conclusion.

However, I couldn't die! I tried and tried and everytime I stopped breathing, my body struggled to start breathing again. My conclusion: They taught us how to live, but no one ever taught us how to die! Makes perfect sense to me.

So I spent 5 days "knowing I was dead" but unable to die.

I was suspicious of everyone and nothing was as it was supposed to be. They never scanned my bracelet; in fact, I didn't have a hospital bracelet. I never got any meds. I never got any food or liquid. I must be dead!

Finally, day 6 of delirium, the fog started to clear. Joe spoke with me and I slowly came around; slowly started figuring out what was going on.

It took about 2 days of clearing the fog and figuring things out, but it started happening.

Now, I am about 95% of my mental capacity and I need to work on physical strength. To that end, I do OT/PT through out the day. I am waiting to do another bone marrow biopsy. They wanted to do it on Friday, but I convinced them that it might be wise, given my recent experiences, to wait, that will get rescheduled for next week. Hopefully, I'll be released from ICU this weekend.

Please enjoy the video link below. One of the best ballads ever. Love Willie Nelson. Love Patsy Cline.