The Canadian Smoke is Coming in...
June 30, 2023
If you are on oxygen or have any kind of breathing issues STAY INSIDE with the windows closed. Time to have the boys setup the portable AC in the living room. I have used O2 alot this week,especially yesterday, because of the smoke. When a person with normal lung functions can't tell about air quality, those of us with lung issues can tell. CommonWealth Home Health Care gave me a pre-recorded message yesterday warning about the canadian smoke.
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My appeal to my VA Disability claim...
June 29, 2023
... Has been listed as submitted. Now we wait.. and wait and wait....
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What saved my life? What is ECMO?
June 28, 2023
My life was saved by one person GOD!!! Don't believe it? Ask my doctors and nurses. They exhausted all other options. Most of them can't believe that I'm still on this earth.
In this blog you read alot about ECMO.. This was the Doctors last "Hail Mary" play. There were no more options. I was not improving enough to qualify for a lung transplant. From the Wellstar Kennestone website, this is what ECMO is:
Advanced Life Support Allows Lung & Heart Healing
Extracorporeal Membrane Oxygenation (ECMO) is a machine that can give the heart, lungs — or both — time to heal after extreme trauma, organ failure or in preparation for major surgery. This advanced technology can do the job of the heart and lungs or just the lungs so the organs can heal. ECMO does not treat specific conditions but provides the valuable time necessary for the body to get better and for other essential treatments or surgeries. Sometimes, it is also used to support a patient in need of lung or heart transplant or before implanting a
left ventricular assist device (LVAD).
Wellstar Kennestone Regional Medical Center is one of a
few locations in Georgia that provide ECMO advanced life support technology and expertise. Our ECMO-trained team includes:
- Critical care intensivists
- Interventional cardiologists
- Advanced heart failure cardiologists
- Electrophysiologists (cardiology)
- ECMO nurse specialists
- Perfusionists who oversee our ECMO specialist nurses
- Respiratory therapists who take care of the breathing machine, or ventilator
- Pulmonologists and cardiologists, who provide the continuum of care through recovery
ECMO gave my lungs a chance to rest and for doctors to "clean them out" as much as they could. My wife now knows what it looks like when I die. As you can tell from the rest of the blog, my condition continued to be a rollercoaster ride. Some days it still is. Sometimes I can go almost a week without oxygen, sometimes I can't go an hour without it.
I put "few locations in Georgia" in red for a reason. God not only healed me enough to survive and start recovery. He had me positioned in the right place at the right time, Marietta Georgia. There is no doubt in my mind that if I would have ended up ANYWHERE else I would not be typing this now and my wife would be in the posession of a US Flag folded on the mantle. He gave me my medical TEAM. My team includes doctors, nurses, family, friends, church, co-workers and anonymous donors that helped us out both spiritually and financially. We have made many friends along the way on this journey. Some of which we still stay in contact with. Some have moved on to other hospitals, some are still at Kennestone. We love my nurses especially, aka "my Adopted Daughters". The doctors call the shots but they were there thru thick and thin taking care of me every minute!!!
Hug your loved ones now... You never know when your last moment in this life ends.
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Another 1st since getting out of the hospital...well actually 2nd..
June 24, 2023
Today I put rear brakes in Derek's work car. He said he felt like a bystander because I did all the work while he watched. I call this a 2nd because last weekend we installed the front bearing/hub assemblies. My head was severely burnt... dummy didn't wear a hat.
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My Covid19 Journey, as told by my wife thru updates to friends and family
June 21, 2023
My wife's updates from my hospital stay have been added and I'm starting to fill in other dates afte my release
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The DMV Strikes again...
June 17, 2023
The DMV sent me a letter warning me my physical expires next month. As long as I don't drive commercial I can wait 3 years for a new physical before they downgrade me. Better set my calendar.
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I finally did it...
June 2, 2023
After a year, I finally took my paperwork to the DMV for my Handicap Placards. Not that I will use them all the time but with the Canadian smoke from the wildfires rolling in I thought I may need them. It's hard enough to breathe with high humidity and pollen let alone smoke in the air. It just makes it easier to get into the store or Dr office quicker without having to walk all the way accross the parking lot. Don't get me wrong, I'm doing much better than I was a year ago but I still have bad days too.
I had to have my VA Doc sign them first. I was a little shocked. I whipped out my wallet to pay for them at the DMV and they were FREE. The only thing the state gives away I think. It's better to have them and not have to use them than to need them and not have them...
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