Ongoing Ordeal

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Day 4: A more permanent neighbor.

So I got a new neighbor today. This guy was somewhat of a mystery. He was some old fellow who had just come out of liver surgery. He was on liquid restriction but despite this fact he constantly begged for something to drink, and he especially loved pop(for those of you in less-cultured areas, that's soda.) The man's surgery left him with a beach ball for a stomach. When talking to him across the curtain, his words were a mashed, slurred mess, but when you were talking right next to him, his quiet voice was quite coherent and understandable. Did I mention this guy never stopped asking for something to drink? Constantly. He was on a catheter, so he didn't care how much he drank. Thursday was dominated by listening to this guy ask for pop, and answering his questions of "how are you doing over there?" and "What's up?", all the while dealing with a delirium.

At least he enjoyed the fan, and I'm thankful for that. I would have hated to have them take it away.

Day 5: The massacre.
The day was great! My fever had dropped below 101, and I no longer needed the heparin IV. My day couldn't have been better. I was looking at getting out of here soon. However, that night my first IV port closed up and they needed to put in a 2nd one. During this time they were also taking my blood every 12 hours because I was on heparin. But tonight, they needed to give me an antibiotic and the IV just wouldn't take. So they called in several nurses, all who were supposedly "Good" at finding veins. 2 hours later, 8 blood-splattered holes taped up they finally called a lady from the ICU(intensive care unit) to tap a vein in my right arm. She stabbed me twice before managing to get one that worked... sorta. I had to keep my hand still while the IV was running. At this point my neighbor began moaning. The nurse asked me if he was okay, and I said, "Don't worry, he's going to ask for a drink in a minute." Sure enough, he asked for a can of Sprite.

With the abject fear of needles completely obliterated now, I managed to sleep for about four hours before being woken up again.

Day 6: Panic Mode
Apparently my blood-oxygen had dropped during the night and I was short of breath. This sent the doctor into a bit of a panic and he rushed me down to the radiology department for lung X-rays and a CAT scan. They had thought that over the night I had gotten a blood clot in my lung- which is a serious thing. Once I got back, one of the more eager nurses had already set up the heparin, and at this sight I also panicked. More heparin meant a longer stay at the hospital. Thankfully, before they even started up the drip, another nurse came in and shut down the machine, explaining that I did not after all have a blot clot in my lung, and I didn't need the heparin. I did however have pneumonia, which meant a stronger antibiotic. I cheered at this, hoping I could get out of the hospital sooner. Saturday night would be a smooth ride.

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The Ongoing ordeal

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Day 2: Tests

I'm lying in bed, with a machine pumping blood thinner(heparin) and antibiotics into me. Try as I might, but I kept waking due to a delirium nightmare running through my head. Mind you, delirium sucks. I was not able to focus on sleeping at all. I have a fever of 104, I'm sweating bullets, and my mind just couldn't get through the repeating nightmare. I was the leader of some tribe, and they all wanted to collect parts of a space ship together to escape(my infected body, no doubt). I knew that if they assembled the ship and left, I'd die, so my duty was to prevent my tribe from assembling the ship. This dream went on for hours and I couldn't break out of it. That is, until 6am, when I was brought back to consciousness by the morning nurse. She informed me that I needed to have some tests done. I was given time to eat breakfast before I went downstairs to the radiology department.

Let me tell you there was no better breakfast: Has browns, bacon, scrambled eggs, french toast & syrup, milk and cereal. And grapes. It was a feast and I gobbled it down. Soon after I was carted away. They decided to run a sonogram on my leg. Yeah, that thing they use to see babies in the womb? Same thing. They had to use some sort of hot gel on my leg as they scanned. I could tell the lady didn't enjoy the experience any more than I did. Thankfully it didn't last much more than 30 minutes, and I was carted back upstairs where I tried to sleep once again. Much of the rest of this day was lost to the nightmares.

Day 3: Relief and a neighbor.
It was Wednesday and I had an idea. My temperature was still bouncing between 104 and 101, and the doctor believes it was today when I contracted the pneumonia. What I was doing I don't remember, but I do remember delicious food. That's something about this hospital. They treated meals like ordering from a restaurant. A small touch but much appreciated. And the food was good. In any case my idea was to get a fan blowing on me to help stop the sweating. The nurses obliged and soon I was cooling off. I was still delirious but now I was able to do so without a bucket of sweat on my body. It was about now when I got the neighbor, who had some respiratory problem. He was cold so he didn't like the fan, but instead of asking me to turn it off they moved him to another room. Go figure. Again, much of this remaining day was lost to delirium, and I slept.

While I do remember many people showing up during this time, most of all my brothers, father, and sister, I don't remember all that happened. Their company was still nonetheless appreciated.

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Alive and well

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I'm sure a few of you folks have wanted to know what just what the heck happened over the past week and a half. Let me bring up everyone to speed. I was admitted to the hospital for an infection in my leg, brought on by my poor circulation. This blog is mainly to remind myself of the ordeal I went through and how I never want to go through it again. I do this more for my benefit than anyone else's, so if you wish, below are the details.

Day 1(Feb. 27th): Initial infection
It started out as an ordinary Monday. I woke up as I always do on Mondays, around 11am. I had class at 1pm but I was feeling like crap and with very little sleep behind me I decided to sleep in. It was about 4pm when I roused back awake. I was tired, and quite warm. My leg was apparently swollen and aching(which was a typical event so I paid it no mind.) What I did find unusual was the fact that I couldn't stop shivering. I thought it was really cold in my apartment, so I turned up the heat. This only slightly solved the problem.
I was planning on playing some video games with my buddy Dave that night around 8pm-9pm. As time wore on and it got closer, I began to feel much more tired and warm. The shivering did stop eventually but I knew something was coming on. Dave insisted I take a caffeine pill and tough it out, unawares that I was also getting more sick. After about an hour he said I was sweating like crazy. He took my temperature. 104°F. For those of you who do not know, at 102°F, most people are incoherent. I still maintained my ability to talk normally. He measured again, and it was the same. After a few discussions with his girlfriend the nurse and my step-mom the nurse, I was off to the hospital.

They too took my temperature, and it was 105°F there. After a couple tests and investigation, they admitted me to the hospital. I tell you I am the wittiest when I'm lying on my back, 12 midnight and a 105° fever coursing through my body. I can barely remember them stabbing me with the needle to insert the IV. I did have a problem with them stabbing me, as I've always had a fear of needles. That night I managed to get by by looking the other way and humming the Overworld theme to Super Mario Brothers. Anything to get my mind off that needle. Once the IV was in and a room prepared, I was off on my way for an extended stay at Chez Lockport Memorial Hospital.

To be continued...

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Dream

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I'm at a beach on Lake Erie. However, the beach itself is far from the water itself. The water used to come right up but the lake itself has dried by about 100 yards, leaving the ground underneath it hard packed. There is a volleyball game going on where 5 feet of water used to be. I'm asked to join in but after a few rounds I decide to run to the water's edge, which is quite far away. So I start running.

The ground is hard underneath my bare feet, but I run pretty fast. My mom takes my place in volleyball and proceeds to beat the opposing team using her patented one-handed power-serve(she would throw the ball up with one hand and pound it over the net with the same hand- my mom had cerebral palsy and only had about half-use of her right hand). Meanwhile I'm still running. I cover the terrain quickly despite its hard and dry nature. I reach the edge of the water and I notice a hole near the edge. I peer into it and it looks like there's a tunnel underneath. I run back to the old beach and I see my sister Kandi. She tells me that the tunnel is safe and there are holes every 20 yards to let in air and light. I find the opening to the tunnel and I crawl inside. I move quickly, as quickly as I did running, but this time on all fours. It's quite scary and I get a little claustrophobic. I'm crawling and crawling, and I come to one of the holes, and I hear the water lapping. I know I'm close to water. Over the water I hear someone snoring. I look deeper down the tunnel and I see a large cloth sack and someone behind it. I grab the bag and look into it, only to find useless junk. I pegged the sleeping man as a bum but I don't bother to wonder what he's doing here. Just then, some water spills into the hole above me. I panic. Suddenly I feel very claustrophobic, my own warm breath seems to choke me in this confined space. Instead of climbing out the hole(I had the feeling it was covered with a grate) I begin to race back down the tunnel I had first came, praying I'd get out before the water drowned me. As I began to wake from this dream, I wondered just what the bum was doing there, sleeping in the tunnel.

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Boy, getting lax around here with the writing and expounding etc. I've been particularly busy lately. My job is okay, and I only hope it remains so. My fellow coworkers and I received new info about being sold to Time Warner(local area only) and that's left us a bit stress-free for a while.

School on the other hand, is getting tricky. My calculus teacher continues her incoherent lessons, and I can only hope and pray I'll be ready for tomorrow's exam. I remain optimistic but something in the back of my brain is telling me I'm about to let myself down. Also, while I am understanding my physical chemistry classes fine, when I go to do the homework my mind turns to mush. I don't know why I have such a hard time remembering the lessons. Even my notes seem vague.

My weekend went pretty smooth, although I didn't get any housework done. I received my student loan surplus, so I promptly deposited them. I ran some errands after that, but I'm still looking for a place that sells sneakers my size. Guess I'll just have to order online. Also, I did my taxes with my dad. Everything seemed to be in order and it looks like I'll be getting about $1400. With that, and my other money, I am finally going to wipe out the credit card debt I've built up over the years. I realize that I'm using student loans to pay off the credit card... but at least with the student loans I don't have to pay them back until I finish school. Uncle Sam is the most forgiving lender!

I also believe I have finally nixed my computer's overheating problems. A good can of air has really helped my laptop's cooling situation. I'll find out soon enough when I test Warcraft 3.

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Week of Destiny!

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Well not so much. I continue to forge ahead at school, but it's slow going. I'm doing really well at work, performing as they would have me do(my call time is 7:30, well within the standards for bonus!), and I also found out that I also made bonus last month, so that's an extra $200 to me! Hurray!

Also this week I received the envelopes to send my pledge to my church. This is the first time I've ever done something like this so I'm kinda nervous, but I'm sure I won't miss sending out what I've promised.

I'm in the process of working up the guts to see my doctor about taking care of my sleep apnea. And visiting the dentist. It's scary because I don't know anyone out here. Bleh. I'll have more to write later.

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Tuesday.... Success.

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I managed to get a great deal of things done today. But first: The past couple days!

I got a new toy. A Dell Digital Jukebox. It's Gen1 but that's okay. It seems to work quite well, and since I'd probably end up paying just as much for a much smaller mp3 player, it was worth the grab. So far so good, but I hate navigating with Windows Media player. I really wish for a click-and-drag method, and the ability to use it as a hdd disk on other computers that might not have the drivers for it. That aside, I'm on a new shift... except its the same days and time as my old one. The only difference is that I have a new supervisor who is so friendly and energetic(not to mention attractive). I think I'm going to like it :)

Monday was a lazy day, despite classes. I can see an issue with my calculus professor, as she has very poor English. They say Math is the universal language but to tell you the truth trying to explain it when she doesn't understand what you're saying is near impossible. I'm also hoping we move a little more forward on Wednesday on vectors, as this is the second day she's spent on the same material. Her field is physics and I'm told physicists LOVE vectors.

Today was much more successful. I set out to accomplish 3 goals: Do laundry, clean the bathroom, grocery shopping/preparing food for the week. I also wanted to get on WoW with Goob again tonight but it was not to be, as the server broke. I did do my laundry, such as it is, and I did finish cleaning the bathroom. When I younger my main chore was the bathroom. Perhaps this is why i hate cleaning it so much. I also got my groceries taken care of, and I have several meals lined up for the week :9. However, they are too simple to really share with you on tonight's post, so when I try something complicated I'll share.

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New beginnings

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Classes started today, and thanks to the crappy weather and the battlefield known as Buffalo State's parking availablity, I missed my first class. The second class looks to be as boring and dull as I predicted. I have no idea how I'm going to survive it. I *must* get a B- or better in the class, or getting my education certification from BuffState will be in jeopardy.

All that aside, the day was rather dull. Work was dull, all the callers were easy-peasy, with no crazy folks calling in. I'm rather thankful for that. I've conspired with my fellow team members at work to get our supervisor a $40 gift certificate to Salvatore's, which is as riché as Buffalo gets in terms of restaurants. I hope he likes it, he really is an awesome boss.

Puttered around WoW for a bit, and learned that my guild is doing upper-leavel raids now, which puts me in a position to get leveling on my warrior. I hooked up with a guy who also apparently works at Adelphia too. He was cool and we spent time going through quests. I look forward to teaming up again with him.

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Dream Again

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A plaque has spread through where I live. It doesn't kill you right away but it changes you at first. Your skin becomes sensitive to light, before slowly flaking away. Those infect are shunned from society, and because so many have been infected, cities have become ghost towns with only the infected scurrying around, wrapped in rags to hide the sunlight from their skin. I once lived in one of these great cities, but I left.

There was a last refuge north of one of the cities, the one I moved from. It was set in an expansive canyon. I would have said cave because there are some dark places, but there is light everywhere. The canyon itself is very dry, accept for a small stream running through it. The walls on the sides curve somewhat to form a shelf of protection from the elements. Even so, structures are crudely attached to the walls of the canyon, but they look like they've withstood many years. A large man greets me and says I am welcome in sanctuary here. I wander around, admiring the sturdiness of the framework structures, when I come across a woman and a little girl. Then it hits me- this place is sanctuary but it's rather empty. There is only the tall man and myself, and this woman and child. I begin a conversation with the woman but I can't remember the subject. I watch the little girl let go of her mother's hand and wanders near a cave that is shrouded with dirty red cloth. A bandaged hand reaches out and pats the girl on the head. Suddenly, from the cave, a baritone chorus begins to sing a long and slow song. 'Song' doesn't really do it justice. The music was moving, slow but emotional. The words are unintelligible but nonetheless beautiful.

Suddenly I'm no longer in that place. Instead, I'm out in the country where houses are spanned by quite a few yards from each other. I'm walking home at a quick pace after visiting a neighbor for a cup of flour. Why a cup of flour? I do not know. The wind is howling as I struggle to keep the flour in the cup without having it blow away. The wind is fierce and I see trees swaying in the wind. It begins to snow with a vengeance. Suddenly I hear a loud tearing noise and I look behind me: The roof of another neighbor has been completely torn off. It blows away and slides along the icy-snowy ground. Feeling and urge to save anyone who might be hurt, I run back to their house only to find that it's empty. In fact, the walls are stripped with just a sink and fridge left in the kitchen. The house quickly deteriorates and the outer walls themselves are stripped apart by the wind. I see a patio chair sliding in the wind inside the house. I determine that no one was in the house and thus I could run back to my house where it's safe. The wind is still fierce and I notice that my cup of flour is halfway gone. I thought to myself, "Why am I bothering with this cup of flour. I need to get to safety!" I dump the flour and run back to my house. However, before I get there, I wake up.

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I feel happy and fine ha ha!

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It is a very interesting battle, trying to keep my call time down at work. No matter what I do it just doesn't seem to want to go down. Caller of the day goes to a local guy who didn't so much slur his words as completely mangling them. Not only that, he breathed into his phone. And what was his problem? He wanted to know how to get rid of spy-ware... at least I think that's what he wanted.

I love electronics. My laptop is awesome, but I've learned it's not something I want to tote around school(it's heavy). I've been looking at a tablet PC or something similar so I can both type and draw equations onto it. but then again, it's only fantasy... but I can dream.

I'm continuing to farm and grind out for my character on World of Warcraft. 6 hours of farming has raised nearly 100gp! That's gonna be awesome when we hit level 40.

And because I think everyone deserves a little torture, here is a couple things to get stuck in your head:

Gman having fun.
Gman not having fun.

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Nothing to report, sir

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Not much has happened these past few days. I did watch Serenity the movie with Dave and enjoyed a tasty dinner with him on Monday. I also managed to have a great conversation with Dave though we had to cut it short because of the movie. I really do find conversations with Dave very insightful and I can't wait til the next one.

Tuesday passed with very little excitement. I did some shopping, did laundry... The usual blah episode. I did find a key strategy to making money within the game. I'm planning on grinding and gathering enough to pay for me and Goob's mounts in the game. Too bad the giant kitties cost 90gb a piece.

Today was somewhat blah. I managed to keep my call time down, and remembering the things I need to do to maintain it. Here's hoping it's a trend!

Shouts out to my brother in Florida, Mike "Stykz" Johnson. Glad to see he can still read, even if it is my journal :) Just kidding, bro!

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Ahh the weekend.

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As World of Warcraft news goes, my guild has moved to a new server and my Tauren warrior is slowly inching towards that goal of 60. Last night he reached level 56 with much fanfare. The new server is quiet but it has allowed our guild great opportunities to recruit and gain more members. I'm proud to say that we've reached a level of 121 members, with a nightly crew of about 20-25 people on at night.

In other news, it is the weekend and I'm glad it is finally here. I've had a rough time at work and my call time has suffered. I think it might be partly bad luck and the fact that I've kicked caffeine as well(which is no small feat in and of itself). It gets better and better as each day goes by.

Monday looks exciting as I get to clean out my old car and prepare it for its final trip under my ownership. I couldn't find the title for it so I only get $30 for it, but I suppose that's better than what I was expecting for it. It's was a good car and it served me well. So long, LHS, so long.


Santa Fe Taco Salad

You will need:
1.5 cups salsa, mild, medium, or hot.
1/3 cup taco sauce, or 1/2 package taco meat seasoning.
1 lb ground beef.
1 cup velveeta or similar cheese spread
1/2 cup sour cream
2 cups shredded or garden salad

Pan fry the ground beef until fully cooked and drain excess grease. Add salsa, taco sauce/seasoning, and Velveeta to the pan and melt under low heat. Mix thoroughly until cheese is fully melted. Spread mixture over a plate of the salad and top with sour cream. Eat and enjoy! Serves 2. Yummy!

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Day 3 of the diet has passed, and with it several temptations. I have forgotten how hard it is to stick to this! Twice I was tempted with chocolate and once with a donut. Thankfully I prevailed. I've realized I have a great deal of 'will' power... It's the 'won't' power I lack. But today I succeeded. That being said, today was pretty smooth except for one damn call. Jerry from Florida just couldn't understand the concept of using a client to check email versus using the web-mail client. He wasted 50 minutes of my time explaining this over and over and over again. ARG!

I'm still hoping to have that potluck dinner at work. Because of our tough schedule, we can't have our team meeting time moved around easily in order to allow us to have the potluck dinner. Only one more team meeting left with my current team :(

Oh, I'd like to share my recipes on this journal too. Not necessarily for everyone to enjoy but so I don't forget them when I come up with them. Today's recipe:


Stuffed Peppers

You will need:
4-5 green bell peppers(or red/yellow ones too)
2 lbs ground beef
1 cup diced mushrooms
1 cup chopped onion
1 cup shredded mild cheddar
Seasoning salt

Preheat oven to 350°F. Begin coring each the peppers carefully, removing the center along with the seeds. This can be done by slicing around the top stem and making one cut along to the bottom. Carefully remove the stem and seeds and rinse in cold water. Next, mash together the ground beef, mushrooms, onions, and cheese together with your hands(much like you would a meatloaf). Be sure to sprinkle in some seasoning salt, usually an 1/8th of a teaspoon should do. Next, fill the peppers with the meaty paste, so that the pepper is only slightly bursting with the meat. Do this for each pepper. Next, place each pepper in a cake pan or ceramic casserole dish and bake for 35-45 minutes. Remove from oven, serves 4 or 5. Yummy!

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Okay okay!

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The past 4 days have been hectic. I had a delightful New Years Day, spending time with my father's family, and then my brother, and then my Dad. It was good to hear from everyone. I really do miss the days of my childhood, being able to spend time with family on a regular basis. Being on my own does have its disadvantages too.

Speaking of disadvantages, I've learned a hard lesson in the proper way to feed myself. The past few months I've been eating a great deal of packaged food, and fast food. I've decided to draw the line. No more. I'm through with that garbage. From here on out, I'm on a plan and I'm sticking to it. So far, so good. Now all I need to do is get myself a workout schedule.

Caller of the day goes to Eboné(Eh-boh-nay), who yelled at me to not say her name anymore because I mispronounced it. Sheesh.

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