Saturday, May 16, 2009

My Week In The Hospital (Room 316)

I didn't post last Sunday because I was getting sodium bicarbonate pumped into my system. I was getting sodium bicarbonate pumped into my system because the levels of enzymes in my kidneys was around 250,000. These levels should have been less than 1000. How did I do it you ask? I went to work out with a trainer and really overdid it. As a result, my muscles broke down too hard and sent massive amounts of protein and blood to my kidneys and my urine was brown (sorry if that is gross). Anyway, I went to the emergency room and they admitted me in. This was Saturday night/ Sunday morning because I finally got admitted at 1:30am. The next morning the doctor on shift told me that if I would have waited a week to come in, my scenario could have been:
1. Lose both kidneys.
2. Lose liver
3. Death.
4. A really bad combination of all three.

My brother was with me when I woke up Sunday morning. My wife and son arrived a little later on. The rest of Sunday was realizing that I was exceptionally blessed to not have any organ damage, and getting used to the fact that I was going to have to stay in the hospital a few days. On Wednesday, I learned from my assigned doctor that my levels went up to 264,000 before they actually stabilized and began to come down. Once again, I began to realize how serious this could have become. Now I have never been in the hospital before, so the fact that I have to stay in bed all day long is driving me crazy! So I began to walk the halls of the floor that I was on. Basically, the third floor consists of three major areas. The kidney/ major organ wing that I was on, the cancer ward, and ICU. Now I was able to walk pretty much anywhere on the floor I wanted because I was not allowed to go outside. So I walked through the cancer ward and I walked through ICU. This is where I began to see God's blessings in my circumstances. I began to call the ICU ward the place where "they tie you down by you face". This is because almost every patient had something attached to their nose, their mouth, or both. I would assume they were for oxygen and feeding tubes. One person I saw was a double leg amputee with both tubes attached. During the week I would wave to the patients in these rooms as I walked by. They seemed to appreciate it. I didn't go in their rooms because I didn't want to be a pain in the butt. But there was also the possibility that I could infect them with something because their immunity systems were very weak. Most of the nurses and visitors they had were covered up with aprons, gloves, and face masks too. The cancer ward was even more intense. The sign on the door going in stated that no children were allowed into the area under the age of 14. That lets you know how severe their circumstances were. I'll tell you more later.

Peace and Love

Rev. Mike

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