Well kiddos, it's been very long since I've kept proper upkeep of this side of the blogoverse and I apologize to the faithful supporters of what I'm trying to do here for the complete lockdown and blackout over the past few months. There have certainly been many goings on and blog-worthy bits of living going on and I'll try to get everyone up to speed on what's been happening in the world of Mr. Padraig.
For those not in the know (otherwise known as my immediate family and circle of friends) I was a guest of the Lahey Clinic from September 16th to early December. I missed the fall. I missed the first snowfall of the year. I missed meeting Kelley's grandparents and other family members. I missed a lot of goings on with family and friends. Wait. Y'know, what? That doesn't work. I'm not doing that. Wrap your head around this kids: I spent three months straight in a rather nice hospital room under fairly heavy medication and underwent a fairly major surgery. My loss of organ count now stands at half a pancreas, a few feet of intestine and my appendix. The good thing about that is I am no longer a slave to the colostomy bag but I've had the unenviable position of having to rely on tube feeds for my nutrition, especially lately, because I keep vomiting most of what I manage to put down in the course of a day which isn't all that much to begin with. Out of the hospital but not out of the woods, it would seem.
Speaking to that, Kelley and I took a trip to the Wentworth-Douglas ER last night because I've been vomiting daily for weeks now and nothing seems to be helping or working. It was kind of weird being back in there, especially because after awhile I got to know everyone that worked in triage but it was all new faces so I had to re-explain my very long history to a new nurse. It's sad when you go in so often that you know everyone but it's convenient because it saves time explaining everything. Anyhoo, we got a room fairly quickly and they started the whole process: blood work, saline drip, nausea and pain meds. I was blessed with Dr. Lydon which was very helpful because he's very no-nonsense and knows me and my condition(s). He ordered an X-ray to make sure things were where they needed to be and there was a first there because he put contrast dye down my feeding tube so my insides would light up like Christmas morning. After a few hours and getting all of my tests back he couldn't figure out why I was getting so sick but made a point to call Dr. Marcello's office to bump up my next appointment.
Oh, wait, this is now a few weeks later and that whole bumping up the appointment turned into MY FIRST LAHEY VISIT OF THE NEW YEAR. Nearly two weeks to reveal that: I was sick and we couldn't figure out why.
...
I thought 2012 was going to be different and that My Hospital Year was over. Hahaha. Hahahahahahahaha.hahahahHAHHAhahahahhahahahHahhaHAHHhHEHEHEheehEhehehehehTeeeHEHhehehehehhhhahahahahah.
No.
Not quite, Mr. Sickboy.
I just want to break you down so badly in the worst way.
I'm gonna MAKE DAMN SURE that you can't ever leave.
You won't EVER get too far from ME.
This is the soundtrack to my love/hate relationship with hospitals and I'd like to thank the gentlemen, especially Mr. Fred Mascherino, (for certain personal reasons,) in TBS for penning my personal hospital anthem oh so many years ago. As a bit of cosmic jokery (yes, I'm aware that's a bogus word. I do play a shitload of Scrabble, y'know) the universe decided to put me in the very same room I inhabited at Lahey back when I first got the ostomy and with that, some of the very nice and not so nice nurses that took care of me.
That's something that bugs me and not sure if I've addressed it in the blog yet but I have WAY more liking and support of nurses than I do doctors. Yes, doctors, especially surgeons (thanks for the whole life-saving stuff, guys) perform very specific and essential tasks that benefit lots of people. Bravo. However, nurses do 95% of the legwork and get almost none of the credit. Doctors largely perform their work behind closed doors in ORs and offices and the like while nurses are down in the trenches with you, taking care of your every need and want. Well, let's not get carried away, not EVERY need and want. But almost all of the day-to-day care belongs to nurses and my hat is off to the fine ladies and gents that fulfill these duties. My life would have been quite different the past thirteen months without these fine individuals. If I could remember all of them by name I would thank them all individually but unfortunately I cannot so, as a blanket statement: wonderful nurses of Wentworth Douglas Hospital and Lahey Clinic, THANK YOU. Hell, thank anyone who is or ever was involved in the nursing profession.
I'm going to cut things short for the night because, well, I don't much feel like raking the muck of my memory for much longer tonight. I promise to write something further sooner than later.
later.
PS. I apparently started writing this post on December 30th and it took me...about a month to finish. Mazeltov.
