Kansas? errr . . . there's no place like home, there's no place like home!

July 24th, 2008 at 07:44pm DrBill 180

Dorothy was right, but admittedly spoiled DrBill, like the rest of us Valley residents, know that it's not about Kansas. Jeez, it gets hot here. Humid too but that has been relatively inconsistent, the humid part anyway. I've settled in a bit, have stopped complaining about the insanely aggressive KC drivers, though I just got one more "dig" in, didn't I? I've gotten lost or at least disoriented a few times driving without mountains or a river as reference point. Pretty embarrassing for a guy who claims an innate sense of direction no matter where he is. Must be the Lyme.

So, yes I've become accustomed to a new routine unlike anything reflected in my life prior. I digress . . . My last communication, essentially at the starting gates, had me anxiety-ridden in anticipation of a medical procedure that sounded quite invasive to me. I guess I am justified in the invasive interpretation in that the Peripheral Intravenous Central Catheter, or PICC-line that I had inserted indeed perforates the skin between the Bicep and Tricep exiting at the inferior-medial aspect of the upper arm and snakes through veins and into the heart. What do you think, invasive? However my angst was pointless as the team that performed this procedure at St Joseph's Hospital was nothing less than elegant in their professionalism, friendliness and execution. I hope that the procedures that I performed in my years as a Dentist were anywhere near as painless and efficient as what turned out to be a less than 20 minute and very interesting procedure that I even got to watch on a fluoroscope. From the hospital, I headed right over to the Health Centers of America clinic for my first IV-bag of Vancomycin, the antibiotic of choice for my individual case. This must have been my lucky day as I was met by the most welcoming staff of nurses and escorted to "my" chair, where I have ended up spending about six hours each day broken up into early morning 6:45 AM and 3:45 PM daily sessions. Wednesdays, blood is drawn at 3 PM to monitor effectiveness and progress. Okay, I am a creature of habit and routine does work for me and it is a good thing because that is what it takes to line up with the schedule here. Rigorous, almost grueling, but doable. I look at this with passion as my full-time job with a potential huge payoff of a full life again. There is little time but for sleep, food and IVs, thus the delay in this Blog update. I really should have been in bed 90 minutes ago, but this incompletion has been weighing on me as I hold myself as a man who does what he says he'll do. So here it is. The other patients are wonderful, it already feels like a loving, mutually supportive family. The attitudes are very positive and some days are even fun with creative play or mental challenge. This could end up as introspective an experience as my Psych grad-school years. Stay tuned, there could be a book in the making here. I've been threatening that for years, perhaps this is the time. Today is day number 18 of treatment and day number 23 as a temporary Kansas City, Missouri resident. I do miss the mountains terribly but at least this area has somewhat rolling topography, not just totally flat.

You've likely seen the movie, "Groundhod Day", where everyday is a Deja vu. Well I'm living the Kansas City IV version! Thanks to Mitch, Michael, Kit, Josh and the many others who have expressed well-wishes. They tell me that I am responding exceptionally well, so perhaps I'll be home sooner than expected. I'll do better at keeping you up-to-date and in the mean time . . . have an awesome summer adventure!
DrBill

Entry Filed under: Health, Colorado, United Post