Where has Jeff been?

[6StringJazzer]

I'm home at last after a three-week ordeal of seeing two doctors, three emergency room visits, and six nights in the hospital. Turns out I developed Stevens-Johnson Syndrome, a severe allergic reaction to sulfa drugs. It will probably be another couple of weeks before I'm back to 100%. They sent me home with nine prescriptions, and I have a list of doctors to see for follow-ups.

If you've ever been hospitalized, you know they don't let you sleep. I was getting vitals checked every 4 hours, glucose checked every few hours, blood drawn once a day (often at 4 AM), medications administered every 6 hours, eye drops every 4 hours. And those activities were all out of sync so it was a constant stream. Not to mention the alarms that go off if your IV line gets clogged. (At one point I had three IV ports in my arms. One of them was a PICC line with multiple connections; I looked like a USB hub.)

On the plus side they had pretty good Internet connectivity so when my wife was visiting we watched movies on my tablet.

I won't even get into the frustration of getting a correct diagnosis only after suffering eight days of symptoms and seeing six or seven different doctors. Of course, in hindsight, it all seems like it should have been obvious to a doctor, but everybody in health care seems to be terribly distracted by covid right now. That was the first thing my own doctor tested me for (negative). The hospital had to move me to another wing the second night because they were turning mine into a covid ward. The ERs are slammed with covid cases. Although I had a short wait to be seen by a doctor, they were out of examining rooms and had to put people in beds out in the hallways (I scored a room two out of three times).

It will still be some time before I have the energy to come back on the Forum at full strength but I am thinking about you all.

[AliGW]

Jeff - as I said in that other thread where you mentioned this, I hope your convalescence and return to full health is speedy.

[MrShorty]

Best wishes for a complete and timely recovery. And don't worry about us. Whatever is happening on this forum is small potatoes compared to getting your health back.

[TMS]

Ouch, that sounds nasty. Glad you're home and getting better. Hope it's a speedy recovery.

[FDibbins]

Is that a bit like the ...."Where's Wally"?

I feel you, Jeff, having been through that ER system myself recently Mine was for covid (kicked (and still is kicking) my butt big time. 8 days in hospital (including many of those unsynchronized dances you mentioned, as well as belly shots daily to prevent blood clots), blood clot in left thigh diagnosed after an 11 hour ER visit/wait, calf cramps from said blood clot, O2 at home every night and during the day as needed.

I an glad you made it through and are (somewhat?) on the road to recovery...I have been told mine will take months to get close to recovered. Take it easy, 1 day at a time. Enjoy the good days, and muscle through the bad days.

This place runs just fine, despite our efforts lol, come back as and when you can!

[alansidman]

Jeff,

Hope that you have a speedy recovery.

Alan

[rorya]

Take it easy and get well soon, Jeff!