Friday, July 4, 2008

Well, apparently I almost died again.

Man this surgery was brutal. The replacement went fine then the kidneys went to hell and almost killed me. Potassium levels went through the roof and my creatinine (sp) went to 4.5. Which is BAD. I've gone to a kidney doctor for 2.0 level for years, so this was horrible. Basically poison. Down in the 3.0+ now thanks to all the fluids they pumped through me, kind of like the thing they do with cats. Narrowly avoided dialysis. Horrible tasting drinks that made me puke all over my mom/nurse and room, enemas, and other fluids got the bad out.

Coming through it, but I'm so fucking depressed and in pain. Plus they're making me stay in the hospital basically through next week because of all the stuff that has gone wrong. Just had a complete and utter meltdown with my nurse. She's super nice and seems to really care. She told me I need to let go and JUST REST. Stop worrying about doing anything important. Just sit back, watch TV, movies, read and chill. She asked me if I wanted to pray with her. And if this tells you anything about where I'm at right now, I almost took her up on the offer. Seriously, that's huge for me since I turned my back on God 18 years ago when I watched my grandfather die of cancer after having beaten Leukemia 15 years before.

I finally got them to yank the Folley catheter tonight and that alone was a major relief. I couldn't believe the tube i my schwang was that thick. So things should get better, but right now it's rough...really rough.

I suck at typing on this new laptop. Good thing here is I turned my laptop on and BINGO connected to the wi-fi here instantly. So at least U feel somewhat connected to the world again. So for those who have called and left messages or sent text messages, I'll get back to you as soon as I can. Hopefully with the above description You can see why I haven't been answering. I even had my mom tell people not to come around because on Tuesday Stefan, Krista and Lynn were all here and I completely lost my shit then suddenly couldn't breathe. So had to ask them to leave because I was freaking out. So getting back to people should be more consistent.

5 comments:

Shocklines said...

Whew...thanks for posting and letting us know you're okay. Hang in there man -- you'll get through this. It sounds like you had a brutal time. Just glad you're okay. Anything I can do, drop me a line.

matt schwartz

Anonymous said...

Dave!

One thing I truly believe in is: learn to love hospital time. You learn to love it, life -- as we all get older -- will be a breeze. Love the antiseptic smells, the bland food, the feeling of the needles as they go in, and yep, even that catheter.

Embrace the meds.

Okay, just kidding.

Sorry to hear you're stuck there right now, but sounds like you're pulling out of the worst of it - and any time a catheter comes out, it's time for a celebration.

Watch a lot of TV, do some crossword puzzles if you can, send emails to people if your laptop's right there, and map out elaborate, Rube-Goldberg-style vengeances against those who have slighted you...

Doug
DClegg@DouglasClegg.com

Brian Keene said...

Hang in there, brother. Cassi and I send love. (Well, Cassi sends love. I send whiskey).

PS: The ARC for the first Tales of the Fallen kicked ass. Will shoot you an email when you're back home.

L. L. Soares said...

Hey Dave, read about your ordeal on Shocklines and thought I'd check your blog. Sounds pretty horrible. But it's got to get better. I hope the worst is over.

Hang in there, bro.

Lauran (LL) Soares

Anonymous said...

Dave, that's so scary. I hope you're out of the hospital soon. Good thoughts going your way.