Update on My Second Stroke and Hospitalization…

This is an update on my first post about falling and needing help several weeks ago.

NOTE:

The following is long, personal, and contains entirely too much TMI.

If you don’t like such diaries, you have been warned.

I am still in rehab after the crisis that required me to post here for help.

Turns out the collapse that put me in the hospital and into physical rehab was the result of a conclave of multiple medical issues: pneumonia, sepsis, low blood pressure due to overmedication, massive weight loss too quickly, monjaro weight loss injectable side effects, lack of water and food, lack of sleep, etc. It all came together to knock me out and then I fawl down and go BOOM!

I am now, several weeks later, walking again but I am still unsafe to go home, especially as I live alone. I do not have enough control over my swollen right leg to drive yet. I watch my critters on video cameras placed throughout the house and yards. Thoth and Apophis are out on the front porch regularly looking for me and are missing me. Fortunately, my neighbor, who is a former middle and high school student of mine, is taking care of feeding them. More on her later.

To set the scene that started all this, I had been in bed sleeping with my living blankets aka my furbabies. I got out of bed about 4 am to use the restroom after several hours of fitful semi-sleep. On the way back to bed I passed out in my bedroom from what was proably a transient ischemic attack (TIA), often called a “mini-stroke”.

All I remember is being in the bathroom, and the next thing I remember, I was on the floor of the bedroom. I remember trying to get up but passing out again for minutes to hours, I have no sense of time passing.

When I regained consciousness, I tried to reach my phone but it was out of reach. I thought I might be able to crawl into a chair I had in the dining room, and under normal conditions, I might have been able to do so, but due to my injuries, and the increasing harm floor dwelling was doing to my corpus, I was rapidly becoming less able to function.

The next step was to crawl to the living room to try to get into my lift chair. But alas, that too was a futile effort. So I reached up to the laptop I keep by my recliner and I posted the call for help to Daily Kos.

After posting, I hoped it would not be a post nobody would see for hours or ever. I collapsed then as that was the end of my efforts and without rescue, I might still be lying there now in an advanced state of decay.

Fortunately, sooner than I expected, I heard someone on the porch. I imagined multiple calls to Salinas 911 coming in all at once from all over the world, which caused them to take the call more urgently than they might have done otherwise.

The Paramedics found the key and came in. The doggos went nutzos. I was very worried they would get out or nip the paramedica, but fortunately the paramedics were careful.

Three paramedics came into my home and found me on the floor in the living room. The three of them could not get my 300 pound self up into my recliner, and I was so sore and exhausted that I could not help even a little as they kept asking me to try to get up on my own. They brought in a couple more paramedics, put a tarp under me, and lifted me to the recliner.

After an exam, they decided I was too injured to be left alone, so they took me out on a stretcher and inserted me into an ambulance.

At this point, my aforementioned neighbor saw the excitement across the street and asked the paramedics what was happening. This neighbor is a former middle and high school student of mine, now a two years graduated adult. This will be important later.

I was taken to the emergency room right away, no waiting. They just rushed me past the usual questioning at the front desk. There was lots of poking and prodding and photography of my many bruises and scrapes. I spent several hours in a freezing ER room lying uncomfortably on a table and painfully awaiting my fate.

I had multiple xrays of my legs and arms and head as well as a CATscan of my head.

After a couple of hours I was taken to the stroke unit, My room was two doors away from the room where I was a few months ago after my first TIA stroke. Apparenty this was likely another TIA stroke. I was also a few doors away from the room in which Dad died in 2015.

Many of the stroke unit staff remembered me fondly from before. They don’t get a lot of patients who can discuss their symptoms like they are talking with a doctor. “Not a lot of fully cognizant patients” one nurse said.

They said I had both pneumonia and sepsis, both of which likely contributed to the perfect storm that caused me to pass out.

Briefly, Sepsis is a life-threatening medical emergency that happens when one’s own body’s immune system overreacts to an infection, causing one’s immune system to attack and damage one’s own tissues and organs instead of fighting off the bacteria. It can be very damaging or even fatal, so it may have been in a weird way a good thing I passed out then rather than going days or weeks with the sepsis eating away at my organs.

I was 300.4 pounds the morning before the collapse, which sounds like a lot, and it is, but I had been losing weight, and not eating enough, not drinking enough as was severely dehydrated, and was overmedicated on blood pressure meds.

I had my meds reduced after my last TIA stroke, but it was not enough considering I had lost so much weight, and had cardiac valve replacement and cardiac ablation surgery and a staghorn kidney stone removal surgery with both pneumonia and sepsis as well. In the months before the collapse, my blood pressure was routinely about 90/55, which may be good for. 25 year old healthy person, but not for a 66 year old overweight heart patient who already had one TIA stroke.

My doctors seemed, in retrospect, absurdly unconcerned with my low blood pressure, perhaps because big people like me generally have the opposite issue with high blood pressure.

I was and still am covered in bruises, my left leg is still swollen greatly. My right kneecap was swollen to about 3 times normal size, and it and my right leg is still swollen. I have a giant bruise on my left neck. I must have bounced on somethings on the way down.

Look at the position of the neck bruise in the image below. A few inches over might have crushed my windpipe or broken my neck.

I am fortunate to be alive.

TRIGGER WARNING AHEAD: DRAMATIC WOUND PHOTOS

neck bruise — Neck Bruises from hitting something on the way down.#jtg

Bruises from fall — Bashed and swollen kneecap#jtg

Although my blood pressure meds had been reduced, they had not been reduced enough after losing about 100 pounds, a cow valve implantation, a kidney stone removal, a cardiac ablation, and a TIA Stroke.

I spent three days in the stroke center getting acquainted with the medical personnel there. I remained mostly bedridden, but after a couple of days I went for a very slow cautious walk around the stroke unit and did one full lap,

On day two, I was taken to have a procedure called thoracentesis where they would poke a big needle through my abdominal wall and into my chest and lung cavity to drain the fluid they had seen there on xrays. They said they would drain up to 1.5 litres, and if that was not enough, they would draw more fluid after a break of a couple days. Before they did the procedure, they did another xray and saw that the amount of fluid still inside me was too small to proceed safety. I am not clear on whether the initial catscan showing fluid was accurate or I had reabsorbed the fluid. The reason they needed more fluid to do the procedure is that the big needle needs to be shoved through my abdomal wall into the sack around my lungs, but not so far it goes into my lung, which would be very bad. The small amount of fluid did not give them the safety margin needed.

On day three, I was transfered out of the stroke unit to an acute care facility. It is the same facility I spent about a month at following the surgical removal of the blood clot in my elbow about 18 months ago. Again, many of the staff remember me here fondly.

I could barely move when I got here. The physical therapy is slow. They are taking it very slow, and I think if they had their way, I’d still be in a walker or even a wheelchair, But I have already exceed their expectations. I don’t wait or them, I just got up and started walking with a walker and then a cane.

It’s not just my mobility, it is also the pnumonia and sepsis, both of which I am taking antibiotics for, and my blood pressure meds need to be addressed for real this time, because next time might be my last. Not to mention what other surprises may await me in the coming days and weeks.

One thing I hve noticed about this place is that they do not seem to want to let someone go once they are here. I have been asking about discharge planning now every day for a week and every day I’m told someone will talk to me soon but nobody comes. It seems to me that I’m a warm body filling a bed with medicare paying, so they do not want to let me go. I actually had one person in the office ask in surprise “why do you want to leave?” Could it be the constant pain from uncomfortable beds and chairs, terrible food, constant fecal stink, screaming at all hours of day and night, being told “i’ll be right with you” and hours pass, and so on?

Soon after I arrived in the stroke unit, my neighbor and her boyfriend showed up at the hospital, Turned out we had been feeding some of the same stray cats, for example, she calls Osiris “Mister Patches”.

Osiris Maukat — Osiris/PatchesUploaded to DailyKos by jtg

She agreed to take care of my dogs and cats while I hospitalized. This turned out to be vital as Thoth needs about $4000 of dental surgery as he has a massive mouth infection with big ulcers from his stray days, and can’t eat kibble any more. Without wet food he might starve or go away and starve while I’m hospitalized. I was preparing a medical report and a post to raise money for his surgery. Eventually the infection will spread until he can’t eat and will starve in great pain.

Thoth Maukat — Thoth, the Magic Kitty.#jtg

And like Thoth, I was recently told that I need about $7000 in dental work or I will lose teeth soon, and there is an infection that has spread to my jawbone. This jawbone bacterial infection may have been a cause of the septis that nearly took me out, and will likely return if not surgically addressed.

I was going to make a funding request for the jaw surgery to dig out the infection. I need an extreme cleaning, and at least six caps replaced. I also have a bacterial infection in my jawbone. In fact I was told that this jawbone infection is likely to be the origin of my sepsis infection.

This comes after my cardiac ablation surgery several months ago, which happily seems to be the best news recently as my afib is gone for now, although I remain weak.

While I can walk, I do not yet have enough control over my right leg to drive, so I will be limited to Lyft for at least a few weeks or longer.

All this has come together to bring me to a physical and financial crisis. Since it is summer there are few substitute teaching jobs available now. I could have worked in summer school several times except for the inconvience of me not being ale to walk and being medically housed. I hope I will be able to return to classes this fall, but I fear my limits are being reached.

Daily Kos has been a huge part of my life. Without you, I quite literally would not exist not, and not just for the rescue when I called for help.

During some of the most difficult times of my life following my father’s death, and the multiple health crisis hospitalizations and surgeries, Daily Kossacks have been there in both encouragement and support.

Not only to I share the political opinons of this community, something that is absent in my personal life, but this has been a place to express my life and fears for about two decades.

I would not now be a teacher without you. Sharing the pooties and woozles and other critters has been a big part of my isolation after my father died

Death Card — My Impending Fate
if things do not change soonUploaded to DailyKos by rflctammt

I have been thinking that I may not, and should not, continue to be a full time substitute teacher. It is a very stressful job, even though I love doing it. Most days I just come home and pass out until the next day, and repeat the cycle.

This is not doing me physically any good and is certainly shortening my life.

I am 66 and in increasingly poor health.

Take a look again at my recent medical procedures above and add my permanent colostomy from my colon cancer diagnosis 32 years ago. That I am still walking, let alone working, seems astounding to me. My doctors often surprised I am still working in my condition. “I’ve never had a patient in your condition continue to work” one nurse told me.

I am too young and I have too much yet to give to the world to depart now.

I have a lot more to give back to the world, as I will expound upon below. However, without enough supporters I fear my time remaining extant will be very limited. Maybe that sounds dramatic or manipulative, but I feel it is an accurate assessment of my physical condition.

I can’t just magic up the physical condition or funding or “get a job” that will fill the void without draining my energy and limiting my remaining life. No amount of “positive thinking” will assist me if my current state of employment and finances continue.

So, I’m going to push forward on my long planned effort to make my own job as a creator. Why not? I have been told by many that they like my writings and opinions. I am regularly told how inspirational people think I am. Why shouldn’t people subscribe and otherwise support me. Aren’t I worth as much as many other “influencers” who make more than enough to survive. I am not looking to be rich, just make enough to take care of myself and my critters.

My teaching pension combined with social security will not be enough for several years. I do not want to die on the job. I honestly believe this may be my end time if things do not change.

However I and my critters need to keep living indoors.

My plan to financially continue my existence, in this order:

My default plan is to continue to work as a substitute teacher to make up for what I funding that I can’t get elsewhere. That is my default unless or until I either cannot work anymore due to inability or extinction as I currently have no other choice. I hope that in time my subbing will be entirely at my choice to keep my hand in the profession but not requiring it to survive, especially WHEN my next medical crisis happens, as I expect it is only a matter of time before I have my next crisis.

Contributions from people who simply support me and my critters and can afford to do so. Direct contributions at the links below are welcome, but I do not intend for this to be my only income, just suppliment and emergency for myself or the critters.

Subscriptions from people who support my online activities, writings, youtube channels, etc. This avenue is NOT CHARITY, but a way to support an online creator, aka me. As a result, I hope this to be the majority of my future income. I am targeting what I’ve heard called the “Dedicated 1000” or 1000+. regular low amount subscribers that together add up to financial security.

Among my YouTube channels are Mister Green Explains, Critters of Casa de Verde, and JTG Politics, with maybe more in time. Go subscribe to all of them.

Consulting fees from people who hire me for my brain and opinions for their businesses. I have 13 degrees in a wide range of fields and know how to research knowledge. It is something I can do remotely or on site. I am very good at identifying and setting procedures to fix situations.

Sales of my merchandise, Teeshirts, mugs, stickers, etc. Links below.

I will make art pieces, both digital and physical, both my own self inspired art as well as commissions for personal and businesses. Things like my paintings, prints, sculptures, ceramics, etc.

Books, fiction, nonfiction, children’s, and my autobiography,

These are things I have been working toward all along, this just gave my need to engage this project a big kick.

If you read through all that, thank you.

#jtg

P.S. if you are someone I’ve been talking with here over the years and consider yourself my friend, kosmail me your remail so I can keep in touch with you in case anything happens.