Sick! Big time! Fifty eight days! Three hospitals and one recuperation facility!

Just coming out of it. Home now for two weeks.

It was towards the end of April. An old friend Cheryl Keast had driven to Key West from Cape Coral to have dinner with me at Antonia’s. She and her husband Roger had been friends for 15 years. Snowbird friends. Roger had died 3 years earlier. We decided to get together for dinner.

Parked on Simonton for a 1 1/2 block walk to Antonia’s.

Suddenly I was without energy. Totally wiped out. Sat on curb. Finally made it to Atonia’s.

It was Dr. Norris and the Key West Hospital the next day. For two days. I was shitting toilet bowl full of black blood those two days.

It was decided I needed better care. I was helicoptered to Mount Sinai in Miami. Spent one week at Mount Sinai. Sinai decided I required better care than they could provide. Ambulanced me over to Cleveland Clinic for upwards of three weeks. Toilet full of black liquid blood continued.

I had a stomach leak causing the blood problem. Two procedures to determine cause of the leak. One through the throat failed. A blockage. One through the rectum also failed. Scar tissue from a surgery 15 years earlier prevented it.

Then the “movie pill.” Size of a potassium tablet. Supposedly was to take 40,000 pictures over 4 hours. I would then pass it.

The tablet got lost. Dd not work. To this day is thought still be somewhere in my stomach.

The next step was big time surgery. Cut through the abdomen. Cleveland Clinic MDs were supposedly the best at it.

They were reluctant to do it because of its danger.

In the meantime, still shitting toilet full of liquid blood.

The leak had to be stopped!

Surgery was short timed. When portion of stomach was removed, it shuddered and shaked. I was closed immediately for fear of death. Never to be opened again.

Now I was really in trouble! Cure not available. Needed to find leak and close it.

The bleeding stopped. Turned to black turds. Represented drying blood. Needed brown turds.

I was not improving.

The doctor in charge of my procedure came in and talked with me. Told me to make arrangements to die. Talk to my family, get my affairs in order, etc.

Pissed me off no end! Death was the last thing on my mind! I was 89 and would move to 90 on July 6. Decided screw the docs and system. I was going to live!!!

I am still here. My attitude did not go over well.

I was transferred to Empress Recuperation. From my perspective, to die on someone else’s time.

The recup was terrific. I exercised big time. Pushed myself.

I was not making progress. The Doctor in charge paid me a visit. His people were not able to help me. Normally they sent people in my condition to hospice. However because I was working my ass off and was positive in the exercises, they were sending me home. Home to die was the message!

Hemoglobin is the key. An adult male should be 13.5. I was running up and down from low 6’s to 8’s. Needed lots of transfusions to keep blood stabilized.

My only hope was the leak might stop on its own. Not expectd, however.

In the two weeks home, my hemoglobin has steadily risen to 11. Wowie! Big time!

Hope it continues.

I have remained in bed. This my first blog. Will start walking soon. Lets hope the hemoglobin continues to rise. My life depends on it!

Pray for me!