So, While I was Sleeping....(Or, They Killed The Clot Before It Killed Me.)
You know, I just don't find updating this blog as interesting as I used to. I can be found at http://www.tinytunesdjs.blogspot.com/ with some tips for weddings and parties, for my business, Tiny Tunes Mobile Music. Not getting up at 4am has messed with my muse, I think. I still have thoughts, and opinions, but I just don't feel like commiting them to bits and bytes....
Either that, or it's the medications I'm on. Let me recap, for those without a scorecard....
Mid November, I spent a weekend with what I thought was bad gas. After not being able to sleep on Saturday, and sleeping away the morning on a Sunday, I decided to go to RediMed. They checked my blood and my urine (and noted that the two fluids were intermingling) and sent me across the street to Lutheran Hospital, where they promptly admitted me. Turns out that the gas pains I had been experiencing....was actually appendicitis. My appendix was ready to burst. But that wasn't the only news......
My blood sugar was at 507. To give you some indication of what exactly that means, keep in mind that the NORMAL range is 80-120, and anything above 350 should send you to the doctor immediately, and could cause you to slip into a coma.
Nine days (and tens of thousands of dollars) later, I left the hospital, a confirmed diabetic, with all the corresponding medications coursing through my bloodstream.....AND with my appendix intact. My sugar levels were so high, they didn't want to operate....and by the time they got the diabetes under control, my appendix attack had subsided. Dodged the bullet (well, actually, the scalpel) on that one.
Fast forward to the first weekend in February. Had some pain in my left leg. Felt like a charley horse. Now although I've been watching what I eat, and when I eat it (as per the diabetic regimen) anyone that knows me will tell you I have a tendency to push myself too hard sometimes. Besides, the charley horse came and went. No reason to be concerned, or to disappoint people that I had made commitments to, right? So I downed some Gatorade (potassium, and electrolytes--good for a charley horse, right?) went to the Northrop Show Choir invitational, and MCed all day. THEN I went to the Down the Line show at the Embassy. THEN on Sunday, I made an appearance at the FW Boat Show and Sale. THEN, with the leg still hurting, I decided, once again to visit my friends at RediMed. (Note to self: don't GO to RediMed on Sunday.) Once again, they sent me across the street, this time to access imaging equipment that they didn't have.
The upshoot of that trip? A blood clot from below my left knee to my groin. Could have killed me...not to get all dramatic, but that's what they told me. They caught it, and stuck a wire in my leg to break up the clot....them put me on heparin....ten days later, I left the hospital (tens of thousands of dollars later again) with a screen inplanted in the vein in my leg, and MORE medications to take on an ongoing basis. Can't drink....can't eat most greens....so there's some good, and some bad. (smiles)
So here I am, still limping slightly when the leg gets tired (after being immobile, it got a little weak) and plotting the future. Coumadin is my friend. I feel lucky to be alive, when I have friends that haven't been so lucky with both the diabetes, and blood clots. It's given me a slightly different outlook on life, and what you should do with it.
To all my friends, thank you for the support, and well wishes. If you are my friend, and are just learning of my recent journey, know that I didn't slight you--it was a combination of Vicodin, and morphine, and those late night pokings and proddings, that prevented me from contacting you. But I appreciate all of you.
I hope to see you on the radio soon!
--TINY
Either that, or it's the medications I'm on. Let me recap, for those without a scorecard....
Mid November, I spent a weekend with what I thought was bad gas. After not being able to sleep on Saturday, and sleeping away the morning on a Sunday, I decided to go to RediMed. They checked my blood and my urine (and noted that the two fluids were intermingling) and sent me across the street to Lutheran Hospital, where they promptly admitted me. Turns out that the gas pains I had been experiencing....was actually appendicitis. My appendix was ready to burst. But that wasn't the only news......
My blood sugar was at 507. To give you some indication of what exactly that means, keep in mind that the NORMAL range is 80-120, and anything above 350 should send you to the doctor immediately, and could cause you to slip into a coma.
Nine days (and tens of thousands of dollars) later, I left the hospital, a confirmed diabetic, with all the corresponding medications coursing through my bloodstream.....AND with my appendix intact. My sugar levels were so high, they didn't want to operate....and by the time they got the diabetes under control, my appendix attack had subsided. Dodged the bullet (well, actually, the scalpel) on that one.
Fast forward to the first weekend in February. Had some pain in my left leg. Felt like a charley horse. Now although I've been watching what I eat, and when I eat it (as per the diabetic regimen) anyone that knows me will tell you I have a tendency to push myself too hard sometimes. Besides, the charley horse came and went. No reason to be concerned, or to disappoint people that I had made commitments to, right? So I downed some Gatorade (potassium, and electrolytes--good for a charley horse, right?) went to the Northrop Show Choir invitational, and MCed all day. THEN I went to the Down the Line show at the Embassy. THEN on Sunday, I made an appearance at the FW Boat Show and Sale. THEN, with the leg still hurting, I decided, once again to visit my friends at RediMed. (Note to self: don't GO to RediMed on Sunday.) Once again, they sent me across the street, this time to access imaging equipment that they didn't have.
The upshoot of that trip? A blood clot from below my left knee to my groin. Could have killed me...not to get all dramatic, but that's what they told me. They caught it, and stuck a wire in my leg to break up the clot....them put me on heparin....ten days later, I left the hospital (tens of thousands of dollars later again) with a screen inplanted in the vein in my leg, and MORE medications to take on an ongoing basis. Can't drink....can't eat most greens....so there's some good, and some bad. (smiles)
So here I am, still limping slightly when the leg gets tired (after being immobile, it got a little weak) and plotting the future. Coumadin is my friend. I feel lucky to be alive, when I have friends that haven't been so lucky with both the diabetes, and blood clots. It's given me a slightly different outlook on life, and what you should do with it.
To all my friends, thank you for the support, and well wishes. If you are my friend, and are just learning of my recent journey, know that I didn't slight you--it was a combination of Vicodin, and morphine, and those late night pokings and proddings, that prevented me from contacting you. But I appreciate all of you.
I hope to see you on the radio soon!
--TINY
posted by Steve "Tiny" Michaels at 6:36 PM
1 Comments:
"Late night poking and prodding"... and it wasn't even innuendo. You're slipping. I still heart you though. But, touching still cost extra.
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