Thyroid!!!... continued...
So, finishing-up on this... Mariana gets me to UofC Hospital, the absolute best of the best, into the ER and I'm a bit out of it all, but I do remember telling them some of the basics, like my open heart surgery back in 1969/70 for an Atrial Septal Defect that I was born with and how I was the 7th person to ever survive the heart-lung machine.
Mariana takes over, I'm admitted, Mariana looks terrified, we exchange glances that all is good... and off she goes to park the car.
They whisk me off and for the next few days at least, I'm all a blur... But I remember a stream of physicians and their gaggle of student doctors in tow. Test upon test, meds, exams, needles... a whole in-depth routine and though I couldn't tell you much of who said what about what, but I can tell you that I fully understood the import of each conversation with all, and I kid you not, 70 plus medical professionals.
Somewhere in all of this is when I learned that it was my thyroid! "My what?" I'm thinking... 'cause from what I know about the thyroid is it's something very heavy women have to deal with, and I'm neither... We'll I come to learn that the thyroid controls everything! Your heart, liver, etc.. Meds will regulate it... Heart is fine, (odd as that is...) and the liver will heal itself with a little help from some additional meds. The bloating is reducing fast. I'm peeing like a racehorse... and it starts to become apparent that I'm emaciated... so orders, between tests, when permitted, is to EAT! Drink these supplements and EAT! Take these vitamins and EAT, more! In the process of the tests, they discover polyps on my lungs... and I'm uninsured, and for all intents and purposes, homeless, and I am going to need a considerable amount of recovery time so they can't release me, and they really shouldn't keep me... The sad reality is, no insurance, than 'nothing more than the absolute minimum'. But again, the UofC is THE best. There are ways... and I may have TB!
At which point, I'm whisked away out of ER into isolation.
Some room way in the corner of the fifth floor. And there is no place better in the world for me than to be in the corner! YES, The Corner of the corner in the hospital!
This is home ground to me! I know the corner routine well... and just like with The Corner Bar you read about, I become that dynamic guy in the corner room on the fifth floor that NO ONE knows about.
The staff, nurses and aides, food service and cleaning... people coming to get me for additional tests... social workers...(tell ya 'bout that in the next post or so), physical therapists... visitors... and even Doctors are all having a hard time finding me.
The Corner.
Yes.
And would you believe, practically the entire 'CORNER' shows up to visit! Some 40 people from the bar and all walks of life come streaming in. Young-uns to Olders... (Joe in particular, and sadly, he passed about three weeks or so after I got out of the hospital...) Rich and poor, black, white, native, Asian, Arabic... and even a Zombian! Everyone! And calls from even more!
WOW!
I am overwhelmed and incredibly emotional on all of this... I am Amazed! I am Honored. I am grateful. I am still in tears, and it gets better! More emotional!!!
Anyway...Now, I'm not going to go into much detail here, but 1 week in ER and another 3 in this "Corner" gets me to the point where I've got to go... not 'cause I want to, not cause I'm healthy again, far from it... but the UofC has done their job, (and MUCH MUCH more...) and I have to go, but they can't send me out on the street. They can't let me go back to my tent.
They are confused as to what to do.
And then another Angel steps up. Two actually. My bar-tender Derrick and his girl Michelle. They will take me in. They will help me heal. They will keep an eye on me. They will feed me back to health. They will... and they do! They save me. They feed me. They ROCK! I can't even express how much these two ROCK! How awesome and patient and caring they are. How encouraging and loving! MY bar-keeper is "my brothers keeper" as the saying goes and what heart! What grace! What awesome humanness! Awesome. Just outright gosh-darn awesome!!!
So, I'll give a very shortened version of our experiences together in another post... but, I hope that everyone that ever reads this, reads on. Because what this couple did for me, I would have, up until now, done this for few, let alone someone I only socially knew... And I'm pretty darn sure the majority of readers wouldn't take on such a responsibility with such grace and generosity for someone they only knew socially, and not always shiningly... anyway... I can't find the right words right now... see the future posts... cause we've still got a long way to go before the Airstream becomes a reality beyond my deposit...
Cheers
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