One Year Ago Today

July 23, 2024, at home

Photo: Me, one year ago today, July 23, 2023, Intensive Care Unit (ICU), Delray Medical Center

This strange "memory" amazes me because I barely remember it. One year ago today, I was in quite a bad way. I was in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) of the nearby hospital with Pulmonary Vascular Congestion, which means that my lungs were unable to expel the proper amount of carbon dioxide from my body. Now, a year later, I am faring comparatively well, considering this medical episode, plus my six recent surgeries:

March 2022: heart (quadruple coronary artery bypass)

May 2022: 1st chest (opened chest to remove sternal plates due to loose screws and infection; chest left open for about one week)

May 2022: 2nd chest (closed chest about a week after 1st chest surgery)

September 2023: 1st spine (abscess/infection removed from disk)

October 2023: 2nd spine (installation of titanium rod to hold spine together due to bone infection)

April 2024: right ankle (bone biopsy, deburring, and draining of fluid)

The following is my original post from one year ago today. Considering my condition, I am surprised that I was able to write it and then post it onto Facebook. I'm not sure if that's a selfie.

July 23, 2023: I am in a very serious situation here in the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at Delray Medical Center in Delray Beach, Florida. Through the result of a chest X-ray (and obviously by observation of my body here at the hospital), it has been officially determined that I have Pulmonary Vascular Congestion (a "Blood Gap"), which means that my lungs are unable to expel the proper amount of carbon dioxide from my body. I should be better as the "Gap" narrows, but I am unable to eat or to drink anything until sometime tomorrow. I am already very thirsty from the ventilator. I am urinating through a Foley Catheter, with a fair amount pain. My heart is constantly being monitored with many electrodes from myself to my heart monitor. My blood pressure is often being monitored. I received an insulin injection, as per my usual diabetes. I received a dosage of intravenous steroid for my lungs (and my usual asthma symptoms). My lower back pain, which I now know from the result of a spinal X-ray and a spinal MRI, is from a herniated disk. Luckily, my pain hasn't been as severe as it was when I entered the emergency room of the hospital several days ago. Unfortunately, due to my dangerously low blood-pressure levels, I am not permitted to receive ANY pain medication. I am also dealing with fractures in the two bones (Tibia and Fibula) of my right foot due to two falls in April. Because of my propensity of developing cellulitis and my proximity to the MRI machines, my podiatrist wants me to have an MRI of my right ankle.