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[Tad Eareckson]

And mine's a cane.

Somewhere around the beginning of last week I started experiencing mild fever and muscle ache. Went downhill a bit such that the ache concentrated in both anterior thigh areas and ramped up to pain. Then all the right thigh pain migrated to the left and started getting seriously unpleasant. I was thinking bacterial infection and expecting/hoping it would run its course.

But... Somewhere before my 2019/03/01 20:56:16 UTC post things started majorly deteriorating. Left thigh pain level off the scale, swollen, couldn't bend the leg, major effort to get upright and briefly mobile. Was still hoping that this would run its course or that I'd be able to get away with a visit to my Kaiser Permanente doc and a prescription of antibiotics. (The right leg had gotten better all by itself after all, right?) Scheduled a late Monday morning slot - gave my doc a rundown of what had been going on and notified her that I'd be needing a wheelchair.

Majorly taxed my physical resources to prep for the run and had to start mid Sunday. Was really worried about getting to and into the car - back seat, sideways, back against the rear left side door, legs across the seat - at the top of the driveway. But that turned out to be surprisingly easy.

HM drove me in, helped get me extracted and upright, dumped me as near to the door as possible, parked. (Same building, floor, as the 2018/06/28 Capital Gazette mass shooting, by the way.) Got myself in and to the first - unmanned - desk, people in the waiting room took one look at me and were tripping all over each other to get me connected to a wheelchair. Then had to figure out the procedure for getting myself down into that equipment.

Nah, wasn't gonna be able to go back home with a bottle of a week's worth of pills. Oh well, I'd tried.

Under a mile down the road to the Anne Arundel Medical Center ER. They got me started on without too much of a nightmare delay and I got connected with a doc I like. When they were taking blood I insisted they check my INR (clotting speed) 'cause I was worried about what was going on with anticoagulant dosage. Infection remained the prime suspect until MRI results came in. I'd been bleeding into the muscle tissue. And my INR was 6.0. (Target range is 2-3.)

So they started getting issues dealt with that evening and by the next (Tuesday) morning the pain was out of the equation. Was supposed to have gotten outta here yesterday morning but we're going with Apixaban (Eliquis) instead of Warfarin subsequent to this disaster and that translated to several more hoops so I'm still stuck here plugged into a pump. Almost certainly later today though.

Leg improves a bit each day but it'll probably take a couple weeks before I'm walking normally again.

A bit pissed off about all this though 'cause I'd gone in for an INR check on 2019/02/08 almost immediately after being notified to. They didn't say anything to me, sat me down, sucked out a vial's worth. Logged in to check the INR that evening. They'd done a couple dozen other tests nobody had told me anything about but not the INR. And I was steamed and didn't feel like making the duplicate effort real soon. This might not have happened if they hadn't fucked up their job. But on the other hand a lot can happen with this chemistry over the course of a couple weeks.

[Steve Davy]

I hope that you are feeling better now and get much better real soon. Best wishes from me to you, Tad.

Please post updates when you can manage.

[Tad Eareckson]

Thanks. Got sprung late morning yesterday and was home early afternoon. Got some much needed rest, sleep, peace but woke up this morning with a paralyzing headache - no doubt a consequence of screwed up food issues. Got that dialed down pretty well now. (Wouldn’t be composing this one if I hadn't.)

Leg is still stiff and doesn't like being bent but things steadily improve. At this point I think I could get myself into the driver's seat and to my 10:50 appointment - as long as the transmission stays automatic. Dealing with a clutch... not so sure.

Stay tuned.

[<BS>]

I'm also hoping for a full and speedy recovery.

[Tad Eareckson]

Thanks. And in this case it's virtually certain that there WILL be a full and reasonably speedy recovery. Compare/Contrast all those nauseating well-wishes after all those horrific glider crashes after which there obviously won't EVER be full recoveries - let alone anything in the speedy department.

Had to go out to Kaiser twice today - once for the scheduled appointment, the other 'cause the pharmacist had a take on how I'm gonna transition to a new anticoagulant drug that differed from and overrode what the doc had told me. Had to pick up an additional three days worth of the injection stuff before the weekend started making things problematic.

And, no, I'm pretty sure I won't be able to bend the leg enough to drive myself anywhere for a while yet. Still hafta travel laid out sideways across the back seat.

Guess if I've gotta be thankful for something it would be that this shit didn't hit the fan two months ago at the Selva Bananito Lodge.

[Tad Eareckson]

Today...

Early morning insomnia, another less severe but still nasty headache that went away after breakfast and another Aleve, not a lot of improvement with the leg, dreary weather, depression...

Do NPR during the wee hours and day, switch to PBS after dinner, play with the laptop, work on the ukulele.

Glad to be free of the hospital. During that incarceration I looked forward to seeing my doc - Ethiopian, a hospitalist. (Didn't know that term before.)

On the last day and a half I was in a regular hospital room on the fourth floor which had a nice view to the north of a south facing slope with a fair covering of trees and I got to do a little birding - maybe a Redtail, Turkey and Black Vultures, crows, Ring-Billed Gull, unidentified passerines.

It's hard to get tired of watching vultures working light thermal lift and I was treated to a really spectacular view of a Turkey - too close in for the glasses I didn't have and starting from below my level. Radius looked under five yards and he'd gain a couple feet per revolution. Really takes you out of your situation while it lasts.

And I don't think it's any big secret that patients with windows looking out on stuff in the green department fare a lot better than those with nothing but wall and brick in view.

[Steve Davy]

Guess if I've gotta be thankful for something it would be that this shit didn't hit the fan two months ago at the Selva Bananito Lodge.

I was thinking the same thing. What a nightmare that would have been in addition to screwing up your adventures.

[Tad Eareckson]

Would've trashed the trip for two people. And I'd have felt substantially crappier about that (- DESPITE...).

Adventures... I'll have a hard time ever remembering that as a pleasant trip. Exhaustion, stress, frustration seem to be the first elements which flash up whenever I do. Feel more like I survived an ordeal laced with amazing encounters and experiences. Not to say that I wouldn't get on the plane again if the time machine were to be dialed back.

Status update... Headache started kicking in again during the wee hours but I seem to have nipped it in the bud with a wee hours mini meal (with liquid) and another Aleve. (I'm hoping that'll be my last pill but the previous headaches were so bad that I didn't wanna fuck around this time.) Leg doesn't feel much better but may be bending a little more. May see if I can get myself into (and, hopefully, back out of) the driver's seat later today.

[miguel]

Wishing you a speedy recovery!

[Tad Eareckson]

Thanks Miguel, was in the process of updating my previous when I noticed your note.

The update...

Just passed my driver's test. Was able to get to the car easily enough. Got in sideways / butt first, lit things up, motored the seat all the way back to get the problem leg in, seat forward, fired up the engine, backed down the driveway, backed up the driveway, reversed procedure to extract myself. Had meant to do a clutch simulation but forgot. But simulating in the chair I think I'd be able to handle it. Got back up the walk and steps and my butt parked without sending my heartbeat through the ceiling.

Upon making the chair I needed to do another injection to stay on schedule. Subcutaneous in the belly. That one burned - probably too close to and soon after a previous stick. But that got me to the halfway point on the needles (twice a day for a week).