Waiting now for my third round of surgery - emergency number 2: Abcesses
Sunday, July 22, 2012 at 5:36AM 
I began this day feeling stronger and better than I have felt since this ordeal began - and it was kind of like all of a sudden. I did have one concern - four or five staple sutures had come out in the area of my belly button and there was an ugly hole developing there.
Dr. O'Malley is on vacation so I called his colleague who is standing in for him. He suggested I go to the emergency room here in the valley and get some new sutures put in.
The doctor here at Valley did not like the way the wound looked, so he ordered a CAT Scan. At first glance he thought the CAT Scans looked fine, but the radiologist found a couple of small abscesses that he said must be operated on and dealt with ASAP.
So he is trying to get ahold of Dr. O'Malley's stand in and get this scheduled and done tonight. He wanted to send me.to Anchorage by Ambulance, but I figure my bills are undoubtedly headed over the $200,000 mark and I did not want to add an unnecessary ambulance fee to that.
So he agreed to let Margie drive me.
And now we are on our way. The weather is ugly, cold and rainey. I just shot one new photo with phone to demonstrate. I'm afraid this app stacks all photos at the top and pushes all text to the bottom.
I am going to stop working on this now and use the rest of the drive to pysch myself into a positive attitude. I will not actually post this until after I am admitted and my third surgery draws nigh.
Well, nearly ten hours have lapsed since I wrote the last paragraph above and I have still not been taken into surgery. When I left Valley, the doc there made it sound urgent that this surgery be done within hours. In fact, they would have liked to have kept me
there and had a surgeon come in and do it.
The doc who is going to do it here apparently looked at the CAT Scans and said it can wait until morning. Word I get is that he wanted to study the scans a little further to see if maybe instead of subjecting me to the full-blown surgery he can instead put some drains into me and drain the Abcesses that way. I sure as hell hope so.
In fact, i keep fantasizing that he will come in and say that upon further study this was all a mistake and that all I need to do is go home and take antibodies and that will do the trick.
It has been a miserable night here in the hospital in that this has been one noisy room, I have a decent but noisy roommate and the slightest motion in my left hand will crimp and shutdown my IV and set off the alarm and the nurses can take up to 25 minutes to respond and turn off the alarm.
I have gotten no sleep. A little bit ago I got up and did ten or so laps in the hallway, as you can see in the fourth picture. I am going to go ahead and post this now. I have been able to contact all my family except for Melanie, who is dip netting on the Kenai with Charlie. Maybe Margie has been able to reach her,
I do not plan to post again until after my surgery, whatever it is - soon, I hope.
Reader Comments (12)
Bill/Frostfrog...
I'm here in Spain very very far from you but so close on the internet thinking of you and sending you all my best wishes and positive feelings knowing totally and utterly sure that everything is going to go perfectly well.
So a big hug and see you very soon on BURN.
Paul
Good Lord, but you have had a time of it. Hugs to all of you.
BILL,
FROSTYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY,
OUR FROSTFROG...
I am here...yes,I am finally here...your civi...
let me tell you this...
I LOVE YOU and I am sending ALL the energy from the Universe ...can you feel it?
I tried to send you olive oil but the post office rejected my request...$%&@#
but
I might find another way...
FROSTY...all our good energy is coming to you...believe me,it's all in our brain and our vision...
focus now BILL...cause together we can do miracles!!!
Love and Strength from Greece
your civi
Sending good thoughts and prayers up north! Will have you in my thoughts all day Bill. Maybe they need to put in a zipper and add a Martini to your IV. Cheers for a speedy recovery.
Bill, I hope that you have now had the surgery if required and that you are on your way to a full recovery with not further issues. Thinking of you and sending healing thoughts your way.
Oh wow! You are way overdue for some good luck. I think I would amp up on probiotics if I were you. It sounds like your immune system needs some help. And the CATS? They must be totally perplexed that they can't roam all over you and give you the "butt hello" when you're lying down. The whole family is in an upheaval while you try desperately to heal. ((((hugs)))) to everyone affected by this, especially you, Bill.
Geez, Bill, this is really terrible that you are having so many complications. I hope it passes quickly and you are feeling better in your recovery.
Olive oil? It must be a Greek thing. In any case, Bill, I'm feeling the luck this week. I dodged a bullet on Friday and I think there's more than enough luck to go around. So hang on and this will all come right. I'm gonna stop now because being this optimistic doesn't come naturally to me. That must be IRL's doing. He's definitely a bad influence.
When my mom's second husband was sick a while back everyday they took time to focus on what they were thankful for. I always thought this was a great exercise for times of stress. There is a refocus on positive and less on the unknown stuff. I think it's good for healing and for making sound decisions. I, for one, am thankful for your blog; your eye for photography and you unique approach to seeing the world. I'm sending hugs and healing energy. Hang in there Bill.
When my mom's second husband was sick a while back everyday they took time to focus on what they were thankful for. I always thought this was a great exercise for times of stress. There is a refocus on positive and less on the unknown stuff. I think it's good for healing and for making sound decisions. I, for one, am thankful for your blog; your eye for photography and you unique approach to seeing the world. I'm sending hugs and healing energy. Hang in there Bill.
It's wonderful the radiologist spotted those small abscesses before they grew larger & even more lethal. When I read the headline, my first "lady like" reaction was "Oh CRAP!! Seems like enough should be ENOUGH! I'm sending many positive thoughts, wishes & prayers for your recovery. My optimistic self is wishing you'll come home, have a hefty check in the mail & that all your projects will be accepted & give promise of a healthy & stable financial recovery as well.
Get well, may the pain subside quickly into nothingness & that coming good fortune will make this seem like a bad dream.
Geez with you Uncle Bill!