Kidney Stones and my Wild Wild Adventure

So, Back in May of this year (2016) I was found to have a blockage of my Uretur as a result of 4 large Kidney stones, with the lead stone measuring approximately 1 CM. Though I was so blocked I was not experiencing any pain my doctors were baffled why my Creatinine levels were rising steadily, as a fix I was asked to stop taking any and all medications, I was taking Atacand, Lorazepam , Lipotril, aspirin daily.
I stopped all medications as requested by my Doctor, only to find that it was not changing the rising Creatinine levels. then I attended a Blue Jays Game on the Hottest recorded day in Toronto, I sat in the stands enjoying my 4 hour game - upon leaving and heading for a drink and food afterwards I developed a pounding headache, the headache caused me to head home and sleep on an ice pillow, over the next few days the headaches returned with a burning head sensation, I used ice and still took no medications but by the Sunday I could not speak in any sensible language !

.I headed to the Emergency ward of a Downtown Hospital,  was admitted for observation-had multiple tests run, MRI, CT Scan, X-Ray, Blood Cultures,etc, On day 2,  still in hospital, I had a seizure (the very first in my life) that was so serious they called a code blue and revived me, but I was in a brain fog state ! They Inserted a Tube to my kidney for a Nephrostomy line, thankfully I was completely out of it !  When I came to I definitely felt the pain of that insertion.
I was in and out of consciousness over the next 4 weeks as they tried to determine what I had and, why my body was fevering every few hours to 96.4C. My fevers were so bad that,  needles would not stay in my arms.
 I kept sweating and soaking my clothes and bedding, the sweating caused the lines that were inserted to pop right out of my arms - finding a working vein was becoming increasingly more challenging for all of the nurses!  When they did finally find a vein,  it was too close to a nerve ending - everyone heard that yell !!
All the while,  I was not eating Hospital food (it was truly awful, so,  I opted for family to look after getting me food)  I ate Pizza, Burgers, Salads, Indian, Mexican, Sweets, and whatever I craved my family looked after.
 I still was 36 lbs off my weight from when I came in and I was determined to try and get myself over the 125 lb mark..

I was to be released after the 5th week, but was too weak and unable to walk due to muscle atrophy,.
 By now they had a full diagnosis and now could treat my condition with the correct drugs and targeting the issue(s)...Viral Meningitis, it had developed and expanded as a result of the Kidney Stone blockage, then I exacerbated the issue by my 4 hour play in the sun for the Blue Jays Game, the heat from the sun caused the infection to plume and enter my bloodstream then my brain !
Week 6 saw me gain back some ability to walk with the assistance of a walker and in-house physio, but,  there was trouble with my recent blood results, they showed I had picked up the MRSI virus in the hospital and now, I would need treatment for that for a week before I could be released !

I finally got released on week 7, 36 LBS lighter, no clothes to wear that fit, I had to pick up some clothes before I got home.
 I had about 5 weeks to get well enough to return to work on Nov 1,
  I ended up back in hospital for almost a week as a result of the infection returning (no antibiotics meant the organisms had free reign).!
 This time the hospital staff doctor inserted a PICC line so I could have  IV Meds to be delivered as required without running the risk of not finding a vein that would work.   So,  for 4 weeks I was on ceftazadime, then they stopped the antibiotic against my protestations and no doctor would carry the prescription forward without a bunch of new tests that wouldn't be done before the surgery was to happen.
 I,  was now booked for surgery Dec 2, and of course over that 2.5 week wait the infection returned sending me back to hospital for a short 4 day stay.  This time the Hospital did 2 surgical procedures, 1 was for a new Nephrostomy line, and the 2nd was to move the PICC line to the opposite arm, both done this time with local freezing and me wide awake...not a fun procedure and not recommended by me! both the old PICC Line and the Nephrostomy line were sent to test if they harboured the organisms that caused the infection.
I am now on Ceftazedime until January 29th - with a surgical procedure scheduled for January 24th 2017 so after 9 months there is light at the end of the tunnel, hope does spring eternal and 2017 is going to be an awesome year...at least on this side of the border. !
I am determined to keep up this Blog, even after a long stretch of ignoring it, it was a gift and I need to make it be what it was intended to be - a view into the great city and all it has to offer. !

Cheers,
Philip

The Thaw is coming the Thaw is COMING !

This is my hope, 1 great big worldwide thaw of the Christian fundamentalist , enough with all the hate, and negativity that we face almost daily. Can it be true, the New pope has told the Catholics of the world to put an end to the hate that they have focused on for so long, forget about the Abortion debate, and the Anti Gay marriage rhetoric, focus on the messages of love and acceptance, maybe there can be an opportunity for healing. I think the Thaw is coming..and I think it will be the children who are aged 8-16 that will push for this -supported by us, the lesser mortals and the soon to be more marginalized right wingers in society. Now if only we could somehow get the American Gun Toting public to see the misdirection they support by falling on the 2nd amendment, we may yet stand a chance for overall peace and tranquility. With the Recent win of a TRUMP administration at the Whitehouse and the foreboding rise of The Donald to the top of the heap, I anticipate a lot of Russian style corruption coming out of the government hierarchy. May we all have the opportunity to be spared the coming Right Wing Onslaught. Women are the owners of their bodies - no one should be able to direct what a woman can, or cannot do with her body, this would be like telling a man his genitals are not his to use, they are state sanctioned tools provided you are using them accordingly,(who decides what proper use is?) otherwise the government reserves the right to remove them ! Again far fetched but similar mindset. Set free those that have been working for change - listen to the message, when Trump tells us the Election is rigged, he knows of what he speaks, rigged elections are not new, they are just resurfacing here in North America, all of us should be afraid...January is the start of the New World Order, let's hope that the order is not as crazy as predicted and that sanity comes to the decision makers !