I'm hoping I can pass the Hat.
Sometime in the wee hours of Saturday, February 3rd my appendix burst. I thought it was bad food or a hernia from 2017, Things got worse as the day went on. By 3 or 4 PM, my stomach had expanded to half again its normal size and I thought I was going to explode. I called a neighbor, they called the meat wagon and I arrived at Methodist Hospital by 6 pm. I almost tried to wait it out on Sunday, so glad I didn't! By the time I got to Methodist I was in the early stages of septic shock. I was in the ICU until Monday morning when they rolled me into the operating room.
I won't go into too many gory details, but I was on the table for more than 2 hours as they washed out my body cavity with 21 gallons of water to remove all the puss that my appendix had blown all over the inside of my organ cavity. Little yellow hand grenade of destruction. I got home exactly one week later, still bloated, and having trouble breathing because my inflamed internal organs are still pressing up against my diaphragm this Wednesday, Feb. 28. The whole time I was in the hospital, I was thinking about what a great year 2023 had been because of all of you.
UPDATE MARCH 16: The prognosis is good, I'll be off my feet pretty much for the next 4-5 weeks, gut swelling is down & good to go in my office chair for a few hours at a time. Because of your generosity I have been able to pay additional care expenses and unexpected medical bills during Feb. & March. Again, because of your generosity 2024 is going to be another great year. If you haven't received a thank you note for me yet, I will write each and every one of you who's helped me out! Just taking a little longer and I thought. Thank you thank you thank you!
