May 4, 2024 – I just returned from six days in the hospital recovering from a UTI that had blossomed into a nasty sepsis infection. The hospital stay ran through my birthday–not my best birthday, but my lovely wife did bring me a small piece of my birthday cake each day. I never really felt all that bad, but I did become so weak I literally could not stand up–and yes, I’m an old-school author who will only use the word “literally” literally.
Now I have a couple of PICC port ends protruding from my right arm, one of which will be hooked to a pump providing an antibiotic 24 hours a day for six weeks. That one is to make sure the infection does not attack my artificial heart valve, as such things are prone to do. All the diagnostics in the hospital said this has not happened, but the infectious disease doctor likes to make sure. Replacing that valve would be no fun at all.
That set me back a week on my work on my next novel! Fortunately, I don’t have a deadline anyway, just my own impatience. I did manage to knock out a short essay about sepsis on my phone (how I missed my PC!).
Ports to access blood vessels, battery-operated pump in continuous use, artificial heart valve–I am Locutus of Borg!