Sunday, July 9th was just a blur
of images, voices and I was barely aware of my surroundings. I kept slipping in and out of consciousness
although I prefer to think I was sleeping.
I do remember an overwhelming thirst for water as I had gone almost 16
hours without. This despite being hooked
up to an IV. I wanted ice water and in
some cases just ice. Apparently, my
daughter Caitlin drove all the way up from Burnaby to be by my side. I was told she was there, but I have no
independent memory of it. I’m also told
that good friends Glenda and Ron Miles came to the hospital as well, but again,
I don’t remember.
I vaguely remember intense, excruciating
pain in my left shoulder, but I did not know what I did to hurt it. I still don’t for that matter. I was receiving injections of Hydromorphone
every four hours to control the pain.
Funnily enough, my feet were not hurting at all. Had I been fully conscious I likely would
have refused the heavy-duty pain killers, although, maybe not as the pain was
almost unbearable. Monday, I don’t
remember at all.
Apparently during the time, I was
out of it, there was discussion about amputating my foot. I have no idea which one and I assume the
discussion was between the Doctors, Renee and Caitlin. At this point, other than the ankle injury to
my right foot, there were no signs that I could perceive of what was to come
with it. Again, I was barely semi-conscious,
so I had no idea what was going on.
Renee had driven my truck in from
the cabin, following the ambulance. Toby
was with her. She spent time in the
emergency ward waiting for some indication of what was happening and then finally
went back out to the truck. She slept in
the truck in the parking lot that night.
But it was not going to be an option for Toby to stay in the truck
during the day with the Kamloops heat and the severe smoke.
Because of all the wildfires, a
refugee center had been set up in Kamloops and they welcomed her with open arms
and provided her a place to sleep. There
was also a kennel available with Veterinarians to take care of Toby. He did not handle the separation from me well
at all, and became very sick from the anxiety.
He chewed a hole in his own leg and was in such rough shape, it became
touch and go for him as well. Things
were mighty stressful for Renee at that point with both Toby and I in life
threatening situations. Renee was now missing
work, and nobody could tell her or me for that matter how long I would be in
hospital.
When I finally became more fully
conscious I still wanted lots of water and was drinking 4 or 5 liter jugs a
day. Finally, the Doctors who admitted
me in Emergency[TG1]
came to see me. This was Tuesday or
Wednesday, I’m not sure. They told me
that I was brought into the hospital in full sepsis and bordering on septic
shock, in fact sitting right on the edge of septic shock. If had slipped over that edge, they told me I
would have not survived and that there was nothing they would have been able to
do about it. My internal organs would
have quickly begun shutting down in a cascade effect. As it was, they did not expect me to survive
the night. They were happy to see that I
did. That was the first indication and
realization of just how sick I really was.
All from a cut foot.
Now to begin the long slow
process of recovery. I was hooked up to
an IV, 24/7 and getting massive doses of antibiotics 3 or 4 times a day. My left shoulder was giving me extreme agony
and I don’t know why. It was so bad that
I was getting regular injections of hydromorphone to keep the pain
tolerable. My left arm was useless, and
I could not bend the fingers of my left hand.
I was also receiving injections
of Insulin 3 times a day because my blood sugar was so extremely high. I was told that I was now diabetic. Although, they say I was probably diabetic
for several months but didn’t know it as I had no symptoms at all. I had been tested a year previously and was
not diabetic then.
I became aware of some members of
my care team at that point, and everyone was wonderful. Nurse Tim really stood out for me. A male nurse, who I insisted looked like the
actor, Vince Vaughn and in fact I called him that several times. He said he preferred to think he looked like
Mr. Big from Sex and The City. Having
never watched the show I couldn’t say.
Tim was amazing and took such great care of me.
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