Well, well, well...

What do we have here?

So, I know I just got impatient and posted a blog in mid-thought. So sue me! Tuesday didn't quite go as expected, but that seems to be the norm these days. I had an 8:00 a.m. meeting to discuss the CF center communications plan I've been crafting. The highlight of that meeting was DUNKIN' DONUTS! No, I didn't have a white powdered donut, but I did have a regular donut with chocolate frosting. As I was leaving the meeting to walk down the street to my office, I decided to have one more donut. So, with a notebook in one hand and a donut in the other, I shamelessly strolled down the sidewalk.

I went to Willy's like usual and, on the way back from lunch, my mom texted me and asked me to call her. I tried and she didn't answer, but she called me shortly after I walked back into my office. She told me that my grandfather died. Now, given that he's the healthiest he's been in several years, I was in absolute shock. I literally started bawling hysterically -- that cry when you're sobbing faster than you can breathe. I had my office door shut, but it only took moments to get a knock asking if everything was okay. I was practically in the midst of a panic attack. I started babbling incoherently and couldn't really get it together. I had a meeting a few minutes later and, for some unknown reason, I decided that the best thing to do was to proceed like normal. I pretty much sat there in a daze for an hour.

After the meeting, I decided to head home to try to gather my thoughts. As I was about to hop on the highway, my mom called and let me know that people were heading from the hospital back to my grandmother's house. I turned my car around and started making my way to her place. When I arrived there, some workers were talking to my grandmother and aunt, telling them some of the last jokes my grandfather made. [For example, a worker passed him and was pushing two carts, and he suggested that the worker better be getting paid double.] I then heard the story of what happened...

My grandparents live at a retirement community with a big lake. My grandfather loves (loved? I never know when to make that transition in tense.) walking around that lake. He went on one of his usual walks and sat down on a bench. Supposedly he had an exchange with a lady and she continued walking, and the next thing she knew, folks were running over to help him, but he was simply gone. The ambulances came and couldn't really get a pulse; they believe he had a heart attack. They took him to the hospital, but couldn't bring him back. I have to say that, of all the ways to go, it sounds so perfect to be doing one of your favorite pastimes, sitting on your favorite bench, enjoying a beautiful Spring day. Although the initial shock was very difficult, I am so thankful that he had such a painless death.

It was ironic, too, because I used to always try to wear purple when I was going to see him. I don't own all that much purple, but I knew he liked it when I wore purple. On Tuesday, I happened to put on a purple shirt and, when my mom informed me of his death, my purple shirt was one of the first things to cross my mind. I'm going to be speaking at the funeral, and I'm still thinking of what all I'm going to say. It's all been a little difficult to digest, but I'm feeling very at-peace with the whole thing.

I'm at my parents' house right now; it feels good to be home. I will leave you with a sight that made me laugh uncontrollably. One might think it seems insensitive, but my grandfather was quite the comedian, so I think he'd appreciate this photograph of a nutritious meal...




P.S. I saw another car accident yesterday. I was on foot and it was 15 feet away (at most). Shudder.

Fooooooooooood

Today has been lengthy. It's good to finally be home.

Well, I left just after 7:00 a.m. for my early meeting. The meeting was nice and productive, so that's redeeming. I would not have been a happy camper if it wasn't. My goal was to go to Starbucks on the way to the meeting, but I didn't want to risk being late. Perhaps tomorrow!

What else? I just got home from improv rehearsal. AWESOME!

My neck is bothering me. It's kind of strange, so I won't get into detail.

I have been eating so much lately. I don't know if my body's still on cruise time or what, but it is insane! Maybe it's a result of stress or something, but I have been eating almost every 30 minutes.

I guess it's bedtime. NIGHT.

Surgerification

Hello all.

I have been surgerized. I am feeling surprisingly well! I remember feeling much, much worse when I got the surgery back in 2007. I have no idea what could be causing the difference, but I'll take it! Hooray for being well-navigated on the road to recovery.

Today was kind of a blur, as one might imagine. I got picked up from my hospital room at about 9:45 a.m. to head the building for surgery. The wheelchair ride was pretty fun. It's interesting to watch people look at you as they try to figure out what's wrong. I got to the surgery clinic, signed some paperwork, and headed into the OR (on foot, which I found amusing). They gave me some sedatives, but I honestly have no idea when they actually even started with the anesthesia.

When I woke up from surgery, I had no idea what time it was, I felt surprisingly good, and I was chatting with a nice nurse named Anna. I didn't stay down in recovery for very long because I was doing so well already. My transporter came to get me again and took me on a stretcher back to my room. I vaguely remember announcing "kill or be killed" throughout the gurney journey (you like that?).

After I got back to my room, I wanted to eat. SHOCK! My mom went and got me some chocolate frozen yogurt, so that was nice; my throat was a little irritated from the tube they had down it during surgery. I closed my eyes and rested some, but I don't think I ever actually fell asleep. I had a baked potato and a little bit of chicken for dinner, followed up with some cherry-flavored Italian ice. Yum! I've been snacking all night - I'm not sure what's causing this crazy appetite. Cabin fever, perhaps?

Word on the street is that I'm headed home on IVs tomorrow. I'm excited about that because I've been wanting to write, but the hospital has been quite distracting. For example, someone is waxing the floors right now and it's 12:23 a.m. Speaking of, I wonder where the nurse is with my midnight IV...

Thank you to everyone for sending me well wishes for my surgery. They seem to have worked because this is unbelievably easy (knock on wood)!

Waiting is the hardest part

Oh, kidney stone, how I hate thee.

So, this kidney stone thing is getting a little awkward. I get a text/email/call every couple hours asking me if it has passed. As people know, I'm not very shy about much, but it's just kind of a strange topic since it involves human waste and what not. Anyway, as far as my body and my strainer indicate, it is still hanging out inside of my body.

Since I've been fortunate enough to have never experienced this before, I really don't know what to expect. I mean, theoretically, it could be out in a few minutes and everything would be back to normal (excluding the fact that there's another one in my kidney that could choose to jump out whenever it wants). I'm hopeful that it will be gone today, but in my "big picture" mind, I'm already trying to strategize about tomorrow. I feel most secure at home since people aren't here to witness everything, but it's also hard not to leave the house when I'm feeling pretty good. Who knows how much of that has to do with the painkillers, though...

Today I'm supposed to go to my grandmother's for a little birthday celebration for my mom and uncle. The trickiest parts about that are: 1) I'd have to get a ride, 2) packing the strainer is awkward, and 3) I keep dozing off at a moment's notice. I haven't yet decided whether or not I'll try to truck it over there.

I didn't make it to the theatre last night. I was confident that I could be pain-free while I was there, but I'd HAVE to use the bathroom in the time I was there, which would involve bringing the strainer. AND, given that the camera person is literally in the audience, I'd need to guarantee I wasn't going to fall asleep. Thankfully the theatre folks were very understanding and encouraged me to stay home and get better. All I'm waiting on is the "get better" part.

Well, this is going to sound nutty, but I might go try to exercise. I read that activity can help it pass, so perhaps that's what I'll do. The thought of it makes me anxious.

It feels like it's time to take another narcotic, though, because I feel the dull pain returning in my lower right back. The doctor told me to take medicine at the first sign of pain because the oral painkillers only work up until a certain point before IV painkillers are needed. Maybe the exercise thing needs to be moved to the back burner for now. Sigh.

Thank you to all for being so supportive!

FIGHT

Well, I ended up staying home from work today because the sleeping thing didn't work out too well last night. I was also short-of-breath, so I thought it would be best to work from home today. I was feeling decent the first few hours after waking, but my health started to gradually decline over the afternoon, and now I'm feeling probably the worst I've felt all day. I just took my second dose of the antibiotic, though, so I think it's too early to make a judgment on whether or not that's working.

One of the doctors checked in today and would like me to get admitted Friday if I'm not feeling any better. I am confident that I'll start feeling better, but I must say that my body has surprised me a bit over these last few days. Usually I feel kind of in control even when I'm out of control, but not so much in recent days. I am scheduled to be in the improv show on Thursday, so my goal is to at least hang in there for that. I know it sounds like a lot of work, but surprisingly I tend to check my health problems at the door when I walk in there. Sooo, I'm not concerned.

Today I made my squares for this CF quilt that is being auctioned off. They look kinda decent, but they also look a little child-like. The fabric markers I got this weekend were bleeding a bit on the fabric, but I think they turned out okay. I had one for Love, Peace, Beauty and Smile. I know those words don't necessarily go together, but I had to keep it to basics when I realized how the markers were working out on the fabric. Oh well... it's for charity. The paper said I could write the person's name and age and I almost put something like 'Mary, 4' to save a little face, but whatever! I don't imagine any of the other participants having much luck with the type of material we had.

I got a few donations today, so those made me smile. I think I'll have some luck in the coming days since it's almost a new month... The best thing that could come out of being hospitalized is more awareness. That'd be the light at the end of that tunnel. I really, really think I can shake this without IVs. I might try walking on the treadmill tomorrow if it seems at all feasible.

Mmm, I am looking forward to a much better day tomorrow. I think I just realized I haven't even laughed today, which is so not like me. There's a chance I laughed during a quick phone call earlier, but I remember wondering if I sounded as out-of-breath as I felt. Oh, Drewdle. Get it together.

Send any extra positive energy my way. NO! HOSPITAL! FOR! DREW!

Rain, rain, go away

As if the cold weather isn't enough to force me into hibernation mode, it is raining and gross outside. I'm pretty bummed because I planned to run outside today. Not only will that not happen, but I will also probably talk myself out of even walking over to the fitness center since the rain is gross. I know I am totally looking for excuses here, but nothing will bring me out of this house today. NOTHING!

I always become more of a homebody during the winter. I dislike cold weather with a passion. I'm one of those people who wants it to be summertime year-round. I would be happy if it was steadily 80 degrees. Seriously. I looked at the 10-day weather forecast and it's going to be pretty chilly in the coming days. BLAH. I wish I was at the beach!

I got my new glasses on Friday, and I must say I make them look pretty good. They are super-cute and I definitely feel like I can see better with these than with any of my other pairs. I don't notice that they are correcting my astigmatism, but I have noticed that my eyes have been watering a bit when I wear them, so my eyes are probably adjusting to the change.

Yesterday I watched a CF friend compete in an Irish dancing competition. It was a lot of fun and very interesting. It's always incredible to learn about something new and see that there is a whole different world out there to which you were unaware. I was oblivious to the Irish dancing 'circuit' until I met my friend. Then, last night, I was eating dinner at Outback and saw a girl who had clearly come from the competition because she was wearing a curly wig. Had I not been to the competition yesterday, I would have just thought the girl had a ton of hair and would have wondered how long it took her to get it that curly. Anyway, I had a good time and have deep respect for Irish dancers.

I'm super-excited to head home for the holidays. I am heading to my parents' house immediately after work on Tuesday and hanging out until the weekend. It will be nice to be at home, enjoying a break from it all. I also look forward to eating some PANCAKES. On Wednesday night, we are playing Bunco at Gran's house and we're celebrating Thanksgiving at Gran's on Thursday afternoon. I am beyond eager for this mini-vacation.

Well, perhaps I'll go start enjoying my lazy Sunday - The Falcons play at 1:00 p.m., so I'll probably watch the game and lay around like a worthless one. I bet it will be everything I dreamt it will be!

Day 3: I drink a lot of chocolate milk

Welcome to Day 3 - another painful day with the PICC line. I woke up in severe pain and it really didn't subside any throughout the day. I was doped up, though, so I was able to sleep through most of it.

Some work friends visited today and brought STEAK NACHOS from Willy's! Even though I was hovering over the toilet about to vomit an hour before they got here, I worked up an appetite in no time. They had to gown- and glove-up for infection control, so it was funny to watch them all eat in those goofy outfits. I, on the other hand, got to eat in pajamas. We had a good time!

One of the doctors worked a ridiculously long shift... like 24 hours at least. I asked him how he stayed up so late and he said he drinks a lot of chocolate milk. From that point on, I gave him a hard time about how rowdy he gets drinking chocolate milk.

I also got the largest gift bag ever today. It's literally probably two feet wide and almost as tall. I laugh when I see it because it's so gigantic. It was filled with all kinds of goodies... gummy bears, a lint roller, a neck pillow, a blanket, a farting keychain, a sticky hand, etc. Gosh, that bag is hilariously large.

Rumor has it that I'll probably go home on Monday. I'm pretty glad about that, but it means I'll administer the IVs myself for two weeks instead of having it as someone else's responsibility. It's a double-edged sword.

There was a thunderstorm tonight, so that was fun to watch.

Subcommittee of the committee of the...

Well, I got a library card on Sunday and checked out five books. I've only decided one of them is worthless so far. If I had actually looked at its cover, I would have judged it and wouldn't have gotten it. That just shows you to always judge a book by its cover. I started on a different one, but haven't gotten into that one yet. It may be time to move on...

I am telecommuting today. I have a doctor's appointment on the other side of creation this afternoon, so my employer was kind enough to let me work from home. I'd rather be at work than the doctor, but at least I'm making the most of the opportunity!

I really want to go running for some reason. I know it would be absolutely stupid to do considering the SC joint, but it sounds so freeing. For now, though, I will stick with lower-impact exercise to preserve the fact that I have two arms. On a side note, my arm/shoulder/chest is feeling good.

I just woke up and am already tired.