It is Monday, 3pm and I am sitting on the side of my hospital bed. Just moments ago, the nurse finished my last dose of IV antibiotics and removed the IV line from my left forearm. This is the first time in 4 weeks that I have not had some sort of artificial "extra hole" in my body for either putting things in or draining stuff out. It feels good being "whole" for a change.
In about an hour I will be discharged and Sara will be taking me home. For the first time in 4 weeks, I will no longer be on round the clock IV antibiotics. I will be taking oral antibiotics for at least the next ten days, but that should be a piece of cake in comparison to the various IV's and PICC line systems I have been dealing with for weeks. In fact, I will only need to take the oral antibiotic twice a day (on the 9s). Imagine, actually sleeping through the night for the first time in nearly a month!
I have taken to growing the hair on my face, mostly out of laziness and the inconvenience of trying to shave in the hospital. The sad part is that at the age of 55, I probably look more like I have a 2 day growth rather than a 6 day growth starting from last Wednesday. But since the doctors have warned me to take it very easy for a while, I figured I would give it a good college try and see what I can come up with the next week or two.
I am hoping that the serious parts of this extended health blog are at an end at this point. I believe at this point, my body is going to be the best proponent of my healing process. This has been a wild and scary ride; I learned a lot about my body and myself. I also learned a lot about the health care system and some of it's stronger and weaker points. These things I will discuss in what I hope will be my next/last blog post on this subject.
But for now, I am feeling relief and slightly energized. I am relieved that I will be leaving the hospital in about 45 minutes. I am relieved that I will no longer be tethered to various bags, pumps and tubes. I am relieved that my movement is no longer stymied by those bags, pumps, and tubes. If I could do a cartwheel (something that I tried to learn repeatedly in my youth), I would do one now. But mostly, I am relieved and energized to be going home to my wife and son. It is my love for them that defines me and being away has been nearly more than I can bear.
I am probably at about 75-80% at this moment, so your continued thoughts, prayers and wishes are still welcome. As I mentioned above, I may post one or two more blogs on this experience in the coming days. It is my wish that it be just one more blog that ties up the lose ends and reports continued growing good health.
I do want to say this. I was thinking recently about how folks say you should appreciate your good health. I'm not sure anyone can actually appreciate their good health until it is gone. How can you appreciate what it means to be able to see until you have lost your sight? How can you really appreciate what it means to be able to walk until you have lost that ability?
However, I may have a way that anyone can show their appreciation for their good health. If you hug a family member, go take a walk, laugh with your friends, wrestle with your dog, kiss your significant other; in these ways you show your appreciation for your good health. And when you do those things, you might occasionally think 'I can do this because I am healthy', then you are actually appreciating your health.
So here is to your good health!
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