Well, it’s been about a month and I am out of the hospital! I was almost in tears as I walked down the halls to the car with my pillow in hand. It was one of the greatest feelings I’ve felt in a long time. However, it wouldn’t last long.
Even though I was now out of the hospital and going to be living in my own residence, I still have a lot of issues brewing in my system. For one, my taste buds and sense of smell is still totally out of whack. My entire apartment smells nasty and everything tastes like medicine/metal. It’s enough to make me nauseous and puke. It’s so intolerable and I hope it goes away soon. But with all of the medications that I am still on, I am thinking it is going to last a bit longer than I would like.
Secondly, I am extremely weak and fatigued. The last few days I thought my strength levels were on the mend. But as I walked to the car, I knew that was far from the truth. When we got home I had to go up one flight of steps and that took everything I had out of me. I was dead tired. I’m not sleeping very well at night and my diet still isn’t where it should be. Those two things probably aren’t helping anything.
I also have a very difficult time regulating my body temperature. I am typically either sweating or freezing. Very rarely am I able to find a happy median.
Oh yeah I also subtley mentioned the fact that I am still on a ton of medications. Well in the hospital I was getting most of these meds via IV. Now I have to take them all in pill form. So every morning and every night I have to take a handful of pills. When you’re already nauseous, it is not an easy thing to do.
So I am out of the hospital once again and will now start going back to the hospital 2-3 times per week for checkups. After a few months, that will go down to once per week. Then like after six months, that will go down to once every two weeks. Then maybe after a year, once per month…and so forth.
My older brother, Mike, will be competing in a triathlon at my alma mater UW-Whitewater this weekend. If my immune system can handle it, and the weather is decent, I may try making the trip down with my father on Sunday to watch him race. He starts the swim at 11:23 AM at the Williams Center swimming pool if anyone is in the area and interested in watching/cheering him on.
Lastly, I just want to thank everyone again for the tremendous support that I have gotten. I’ve had the opportunity to meet and talk to some very amazing people. It is truly astonishing at some of the things people do…people who I have never even met before. Sometimes it is hard for me to hold in my emotions on this topic – understandably so. So from the bottom of my heart, and I mean this with every breath in my body, thank you.
Love
Eric