Catching up

You don't get much of a view for the money...

A week ago, I was in the hospital.  This was a first for me.  I have had two surgeries, the latest last January, but both were out-patient.  This all changed surprisingly last Monday when I woke at 3 AM, thinking I was coming down with the flu.  I was sweating and freezing while my body ached, classic flu symptoms.  I moved to a recliner at 6 AM, having drenched my bed-sheets.  I sent a few emails out, redoing my schedule as there was no way I was able to make meetings scheduled for the morning.  As I was getting ready to take Ibuprofen, a little before nine in the morning, I decided to take my temperature.  It was 104 degrees.  I called my doctor and he said go straight to the emergency room.  30 minutes later, I had IVs dangling above me as they pumped fluids and antibiotics into my body.  My heart was racing (up to 125 a minute), my white blood count was around 18000, and I felt like crap.  They began treating me for sepsis.

Six days earlier I had a simple procedure.   The doctors didn’t think it was going to be anything to worry about but since my PSA levels (which is released by the prostate) had been rising, they thought it advisable to have a biopsy.  It was a mildly uncomfortable procedure, with the doctor shooting something through the wall of my anus into the prostate.  When it was over, I felt like someone pushed a shotgun up my butt and fired a round of birdshot.  But by the next day, I felt fine. I was back at the gym, on Friday I took a decent bicycle ride.   Even as late as Sunday night, when I was at a reception which I was to give a short talk, I was feeling well.  But that changed on Monday morning.  The urologist had warned me to get back to him if I had a temperature over 100 degrees F in the 48 hours following the procedure, but I was well beyond that window.  I stayed two nights in the hospital, eating crappy food and watching an even crappier Presidential debates (heaven help us if this is the best we can do).  On Wednesday, they sent me home with lots of antibiotics, which I’ll be on for another week or so.  I go back the middle of next week to see the urologist.

    

I am trying to take this week as vacation.  I was going to be in the middle of the Okefenokee Swamp for several days, but being that far from care if something arises (along with the unpleasant side effects of the drugs), I cancelled that as well as a bike trip.  Then I planned a road trip to Warm Springs and Plains, GA, places I haven’t been, but now I’m waiting to see if Matthew is going to visit.  

The good news.  As I was getting out of the hospital, my urologist stopped by and said the biopsy had come back clear.  At least I won't have to worry about that!  More later