Hi again everyone! I know I've been absent from the board. Last time I was absent was due to surgery in October to remove part of my colon due to repeated attacks of diverticulitis. Well, sometime in December and unbenkownst to me, a few of the stitches gave way and for two month, fecal matter had been seeping into my body cavitiy. I say unbeknowst because there was no pain and the abdominal swelling that was there they though was from the effects of the surgery, which is common. Late in Feb. I started having pains in my side but thought I pulled a muscle from shoveling snow. After the pain got worse, I asked my wife to drive me to the ER. Next thing I knew, I was being prepped for emergency surgery. It turns out that I ended up with Sepsis and my entire body was infected. I spent the next 4-5 weeks in the hospital and was sedated and put on a resperator for the first two of those weeks during which the doctors weren't sure if I was going to make it. I think the words they told my wife were, "I can't say for sure that he won't make it." Translation: He might make it but there's a good chance he won't. I had trouble breathing on my own (hence the resperators), ran a 105 fever and was packed in ice (literally) to get it under control, had 18 bags of IV fluid hooked up to me, a temp trach done to help me breath so they could get me out of sedation, caught a case of C-Dif (not sure how to spell it) while there as well. The surgeon was able to re-do the surgery from October but this time they had to give me a temporary colostomy. It'll be reversed eventually but I have to heal 100% before they can do it or I risk the same thing happening again and I also have to lose weight (I've lost 43 lbs so far).
When I came to, I was told how bad it was. I think I remember a nurse telling me if I had waited another day I may not have made it to the ER. Plus the first couple of weeks were touch and go. Needless to say, it was a pretty trumatic thing to hear and I spent a lot of time praying, thinking and thanking God for giving me another chance. I started thinking about what was important to me....family, friends, etc. One of the things I thought about was the generosity of the people I've met through cigars. Not only sharing their cigars with me but their knowledge as well. I'm the type of person that, if I can't enjoy something, I have to be away from it completely; which is why I was absent from the board. But the more I thought about it, the more I missed it and one of the things being in the hospital made me realize and appreciate more are the people I've gotten to meet and interact with on here.
I'm still not at 100% and have a long recovery road ahead of me. I'm not allowed to smoke yet as I'm still healing and I'm trying to get my humidor back to where it was and see which of my sticks I can salvage (my wife didn't know what to do and since I was in the hospital for so long, the humidity took a big drop). I'm not able to work for at least another 2-3 months but that's okay because my position at the company was phased out when the client I worked for cancelled their contract. So, once I'm able to work, I'll be sending out resumes. But that's okay because I'm ABLE to sent out resumes....the outcome very easily could have gone the other way. I know this might be a little sappy but I since I have the opportunity to say it: Thank you to everyone that has taken the time to share their knowledge with me, those that blew up my mailbox with gifts (and there were MANY instances of that happening) and those whom I've had the chance to meet up with in person and share a smoke with. This board and it's membership have been incredibly friendly toward me and I look forward to being more active again like I was before I got sick. Thanks everyone!!!
When I came to, I was told how bad it was. I think I remember a nurse telling me if I had waited another day I may not have made it to the ER. Plus the first couple of weeks were touch and go. Needless to say, it was a pretty trumatic thing to hear and I spent a lot of time praying, thinking and thanking God for giving me another chance. I started thinking about what was important to me....family, friends, etc. One of the things I thought about was the generosity of the people I've met through cigars. Not only sharing their cigars with me but their knowledge as well. I'm the type of person that, if I can't enjoy something, I have to be away from it completely; which is why I was absent from the board. But the more I thought about it, the more I missed it and one of the things being in the hospital made me realize and appreciate more are the people I've gotten to meet and interact with on here.
I'm still not at 100% and have a long recovery road ahead of me. I'm not allowed to smoke yet as I'm still healing and I'm trying to get my humidor back to where it was and see which of my sticks I can salvage (my wife didn't know what to do and since I was in the hospital for so long, the humidity took a big drop). I'm not able to work for at least another 2-3 months but that's okay because my position at the company was phased out when the client I worked for cancelled their contract. So, once I'm able to work, I'll be sending out resumes. But that's okay because I'm ABLE to sent out resumes....the outcome very easily could have gone the other way. I know this might be a little sappy but I since I have the opportunity to say it: Thank you to everyone that has taken the time to share their knowledge with me, those that blew up my mailbox with gifts (and there were MANY instances of that happening) and those whom I've had the chance to meet up with in person and share a smoke with. This board and it's membership have been incredibly friendly toward me and I look forward to being more active again like I was before I got sick. Thanks everyone!!!
