Not healthy, nosir….

[jrittenhouse]

Originally published at . You can comment here or there.

Apologies to the folks out there who have wondered if I fell into a dark pit, because I basically did.

During the National Skating Championship in Lincoln at the end of July, I got seriously blasted and drained by a week of 105-110F temperatures (I don’t do well in heat, and never have) and

Comments

Best wishes

[lsanderson]

Hope you're feeling better soon.

Re: Best wishes

[jrittenhouse]

Thanks, Larry!

[seawasp]

Dang, man, you need completely new feet. That darn thing's been giving you trouble for years.

Hope you get better.

[jrittenhouse]

That's why the foot surgeon rolled the dice on this; the guy had been on the case for years, and was going crazy trying to fix it. Consulted with all sorts of colleagues, you name it. He suspected osteomyelitis (bone infection) a while back, but the MRIs didn't show anything odd until now.

And yeah, this has absolutely messed up my life for the last five years. It's made things hell on a stick.

[seawasp]

In your position, I think after 3 years I'd have asked whether I could just have the damn thing cut off and replaced with a nice non-infectable artificial foot. I understand those have gotten considerably better since my youth.

[jrittenhouse]

Well, I **really** didn't want to lose any of it if I could, but I wasn't about to be stupid about it. The bang-bang-bang of infections and any IV antibiotic damage to my sole kidney was progressively knocking the crap out of me, and I was desperate to find a way out of all of this. The surgeon's a very talented guy who has my total confidence, and I don't say that about many people.

Also, the whole mess was screwing with my spare time, my energy, my abili to do much aside of just survive. I wanna grow up and be a pro like you, and sitting around and going 'aaaagh' majorly doesn't help on that.

[cakmpls]

Extensive experience has taught us that even with caring medical people, the patient has to stay on top of things. I feel very bad for those who don't have the knowledge or the personality to do so, and who have no one to do it for them.

As always, our best wishes to you, Susan, and Mere!

[jrittenhouse]

I can be what you'd call "Minnesota Nice" or I can take on the avatar of Mother Jones, complete with backup villagers carrying torches and pitchforks; just depends on my past experience in that situation and how strong the scent of bullshit is.  Not being a medical person but a very informed person who can catch crapola as it's shoved at me, I will bear down on obvious jerkery.

[wouldyoueva]

It sounds like you got the same rehab hospital I just got out of, especially in terms of food.

The only advice I can give you is learn everyone's name, and don't be afraid to escalate complaints. I had a horrible nursing assistant who constantly whined about any work she had to do, things like taking me to the bathroom, or bringing me fresh water. I am sympathetic about her workload but I still pointed out the problem to her supervisor.

I think there's an advantage of growing up unpopular, in that one is willing to put one's well-being first over being "nice." I've shared hospital rooms with people who wanted to be "nice" and watched them get crapped on.

Glad to hear you are on the mend, and I'm sorry I wasn't able to go to Worldcon to touch base.

[jrittenhouse]

Yeah, would have loved to sit down and catch up with you at Worldcon. And I'm taking that tack - especially since the sort of patient they're used to here is supine and semi-conscious.

[crankyoldgoat]

trusting doctors is what got my wife dead.

trust no one outside of sawed off shotgun range.

be doubtful of those inside said range.

[jrittenhouse]

You got it, Garry. Total trust is a nightmare. I've heard horror stories like yours before; negligence killed off a Aunt of mine who was plugged into a Dialysis machine.

[crankyoldgoat]

oh, I've got some interesting stories about dialysis courtesy of my late mother in law and late aunt.

both of whome ended up renal patients because doctors failed to do what they should have.

since you were laid up so long, did you have a chance to crack open the novel I sent you?

though, perhaps, that would have just made the suffering worse.

[jrittenhouse]

The problem was more **presence of mind**, wubbawubba, but thanks for reminding me, so I'll D/L It from my mail tonight.