It Still Ain't Over

First things first.  My friend Steve has had some complications from his tongue surgery and was still in the hospital a few days ago.  Please send him some Good Vibes--this trip into the Vortex is going to be a lot longer and harder than he bargained for.

After being off to a good start with my healing after march 1, things went south in a hurry last week.  I started to feel bad on Thursday--chills and a fever around 102.  The fever spiked at 104.5 on Friday, so we went to an urgent care facility.  The doctor there said he wasn't sure, but thought it was pneumonia--without taking a chest X-ray, by the way.  He gave me some antibiotics.  We went home and he went to his St. Paddy's Day party.

No change the next two days, so off we went on Sunday to the Emory ER.  After 10 very long hours there, I was admitted to Club Emory and stayed there for two more days.  After a bunch of tests and a shitload of IV antibiotics, I felt better on Tuesday, so they discharged me, with an official diagnosis of "Dunno."  They do know it's an infection, probably from the surgery--but beyond that, they are stumped.

My temp has stabilized and my very heavy night sweats are almost entirely gone.  I have some chest congestion and a little cough, so now it presents as a cold--like a lot of people around me have these days.   So, go to Club Emory with an infection, come out with a cold--sounds about right.

While we were waiting in the line of cars at the Emory ER, Terry prognosticated that this was an "anomaly"--they would find nothing, or it would be something weird.  So far she is right.  I call it another case of SFL.

So, more tests coming up to see if they can isolate whatever is doing this.  And, another week+ of my life spent recovering from cancer 8 years ago.

This shit never ends.

mike

This Could Be The Last Time

I am at home resting after this morning's procedure at Emory Midtown Hospital.  They had my favorite OR table reserved and ready for me, right on schedule.  But before they rolled me to my table, they put the latest in "OR Party Hat" fashion on me:

Some places require a coat and tie to be seated, mine requires this.

The procedure lasted about two hours and included the removal of the re-grown hair in my mouth "Just take a little off the bottom gum line, please," and a skin graft to patch the small incision they made to give my lower lip more mobility and function.

I can already see and feel the change (for the better) in my lip functioning, with more to come as the swelling goes down over the next week or so.

While that area heals I'll be on a diet of total diet of soft and liquid foods.  I go back in 10-12 days for the removal of the splint they inserted to keep the area stable.

If all goes well, this will be the end of my surgical history for all of the side effects that started in 2009.  But, as the Atlanta Falcons learned so painfully in the Super Bowl, it  ain't over until it's over, so, the song goes:

This could be the last time,
This could be the last time,
Maybe be the last time,
...I don't know


Mike