When we got home, Trelina told me to go inside and get in bed while she took care of Jasmine and the luggage. Still out of it, I went in and sort of shuffled around in the kitchen for awhile until Trelina once again directed me up to bed. When she'd finished taking care of everything else, she had to actually help me onto the mattress, as any activity on the left side of my torso was enough to set all the pain bells ringing. I remember crying out as I put my back fully on the bed, laying there gritting my teeth and gasping while Trelina stood over me without any idea of what to do. She wasn't alone in that.
(Also - and I mention this here just to fully illustrate how much the first couple days of November sucked - we found out that night that we couldn't use the upstairs bathroom, the one closest to our bedroom, because every time we flushed, water poured through the kitchen ceiling. We had to go down two floors to the basement if we wanted to take a leak. Welcome home!)
I managed to get in and out of bed on my own during the night, and even to sleep a little bit, but I didn't feel any better in the morning, so we got dressed, dropped Jasmine off at a friend's house, and went to Howard County General.
It was like how I imagine JK Rowling must have felt after finally finding somebody willing to publish her silly little book about kid magicians. The doctors could tell immediately that something was seriously wrong with me. They EKG'ed me and X-rayed me and I got the obligatory IVs, just like in Phoenix, but nobody was shrugging their shoulders and going, "I don't know... muscle pull?" Even the male nurse said something to the effect of, "Dude, I'm not a radiologist, but your lungs look awful!"
I was asked a battery of questions by half a dozen doctors... who obviously weren't comparing notes because they were all asking me the same things. "Where've you been?" "What've you been doing?" "Got any history of lung problems?" "Are you HIV positive?" "Why are you so sick and your wife and kid aren't?"
The radiologist finally made the call: pneumonia in both lungs, along with an abscess on the left lung that looked like it had been there a long time. I saw some of the original CAT scans of my chest cavity, and the left lung was 2/3 full of infection. I have no idea how the doctor in Phoenix missed all that, or if it all just manifested in the three days between ER visits. In any case, I was going to be in the hospital for a while, and Trelina had a lot of calls to make.
Wednesday, December 14, 2011
Tuesday, December 13, 2011
How Phoenix Tried to Kill Me - Part 2
In retrospect, I'm not sure why I didn't go back to the hospital at some point over the next two days in Phoenix, because I was nearly incapacitated with pain, which had spread over my left side and chest by Sunday morning. Probably I didn't want to lose another day of vacation just so they could tell me to ice the shoulder again, but I was losing time in other ways. On Monday - Halloween - I skipped out on seeing Trelina's parents that morning so that I'd be able to go trick or treating with Jasmine that night. As it turned out, I spent most of that night first stretched out in my sister's recliner and then in her spare bed. No trick or treating for me.
My memory of those days is foggy, but the real problems started on Tuesday, when we were packing up to fly home.
You remember how in Inception, Leonardo Dicaprio talks about how you never go anywhere in a dream - you're just in one place one moment and in another the next? That's what that Tuesday was like for me, like photographs of a day rather than a single continuous stream of activity.
Click. I'm getting out of bed. Click. I'm in the shower and Trelina's poking her head in to ask if I'm alright. Click. I'm staring at my breakfast, with no desire to eat it. Click. I'm at the airport waiting to board. Click. I'm on the plane.
I was still in a lot of pain, but based on what I found out later, I'm pretty sure I was also a bit oxygen-starved at this point too. Poor Trelina had to take care of me AND Jasmine for that long (thankfully non-stop) trip home. Most of my "awake" periods started with her saying my name sharply because she could see that I was starting to go glassy-eyed.
As with the rest of the day, I don't remember much of the flight home.I'm pretty sure I didn't actually sleep, and I'm certain I was in agony, but the blackouts - or whatever they were - ended up being a blessing. I'm sure if I hadn't been checked out most of the time, that I couldn't have made that flight home. I would have been writhing in the aisle and screaming the whole time.
Getting off of the plane and getting our luggage was a bit of an ordeal, but Trelina handled it without much help from me and got us to our car without incident. She wanted to take me straight to the ER, but it was after midnight and I just wanted to try to sleep. So we went home, deciding that if I didn't feel miraculously better in the morning, the hospital was going to be our first stop.
My memory of those days is foggy, but the real problems started on Tuesday, when we were packing up to fly home.
You remember how in Inception, Leonardo Dicaprio talks about how you never go anywhere in a dream - you're just in one place one moment and in another the next? That's what that Tuesday was like for me, like photographs of a day rather than a single continuous stream of activity.
Click. I'm getting out of bed. Click. I'm in the shower and Trelina's poking her head in to ask if I'm alright. Click. I'm staring at my breakfast, with no desire to eat it. Click. I'm at the airport waiting to board. Click. I'm on the plane.
I was still in a lot of pain, but based on what I found out later, I'm pretty sure I was also a bit oxygen-starved at this point too. Poor Trelina had to take care of me AND Jasmine for that long (thankfully non-stop) trip home. Most of my "awake" periods started with her saying my name sharply because she could see that I was starting to go glassy-eyed.
As with the rest of the day, I don't remember much of the flight home.I'm pretty sure I didn't actually sleep, and I'm certain I was in agony, but the blackouts - or whatever they were - ended up being a blessing. I'm sure if I hadn't been checked out most of the time, that I couldn't have made that flight home. I would have been writhing in the aisle and screaming the whole time.
Getting off of the plane and getting our luggage was a bit of an ordeal, but Trelina handled it without much help from me and got us to our car without incident. She wanted to take me straight to the ER, but it was after midnight and I just wanted to try to sleep. So we went home, deciding that if I didn't feel miraculously better in the morning, the hospital was going to be our first stop.
Monday, December 12, 2011
How Phoenix Tried to Kill Me - Part 1
At the end of October, the family and I took a trip to Phoenix, AZ. Trelina and I both went to high school there, and we still have a lot of friends and family that live in the area - and since we hadn't been back in a few years, there were still plenty of people who needed to meet Jasmine. Our days were going to be pretty full, but the Big Event for the visit was the big Halloween party/bonfire/hootenanny my cousin Mike was throwing out on his ranch on Saturday night.
We arrived on a Thursday, and those first two days went pretty much according to plan. We got settled in at the hotel (which wasn't as centrally located as I'd intended, but still not THAT far from the action) and managed to see my sisters - one of whom had driven over from Texas just for the occasion - and have a nice dinner with a few select friends on Friday night. Jasmine was even sleeping well, despite the fact that that kid NEVER sleeps well unless she's in her own crib.
Saturday, I woke up with some pain in my shoulder. Specifically, it was under my shoulder blade, and it hurt when I took a really deep breath. I'd had this type of pain before, though not this intense, and I decided it was probably just muscle strain from sleeping on a strange bed and pillow. After breakfast, I went to the hotel gym and ran a couple of miles on the treadmill, trying to work out the kink. Afterward, I was exhausted out of all proportion to the effort of the workout, and I laid down for a quick nap. When I woke up, the pain in my shoulder had multiplied and I was now dizzy and nauseated if I tried to be any direction but horizontal.
One of the nice things about being back in your hometown for a visit is you've usually got a vast number of willing babysitters. My sisters took Jasmine while Trelina and I spent most of Saturday in the emergency room. They IV'ed me, X-rayed me, and probably did other horrible things I can't remember (more on that next time) and finally decided that I was right all along - it was a pulled muscle. The doctor on duty suggested I load up on Motrin and maybe ice the shoulder. The pain would take care of itself in a couple of days.
I wasn't feeling up to partying after all this - the pain seemed to be getting more intense by the hour, as did the difficulty with breathing - so we picked up Jasmine and went back to the hotel. We had missed my cousin's party, and caused my sisters to miss it too, and even though that seemed like the absolute nadir of the trip, things would start to suck a lot worse before we got on the plane home.
We arrived on a Thursday, and those first two days went pretty much according to plan. We got settled in at the hotel (which wasn't as centrally located as I'd intended, but still not THAT far from the action) and managed to see my sisters - one of whom had driven over from Texas just for the occasion - and have a nice dinner with a few select friends on Friday night. Jasmine was even sleeping well, despite the fact that that kid NEVER sleeps well unless she's in her own crib.
Saturday, I woke up with some pain in my shoulder. Specifically, it was under my shoulder blade, and it hurt when I took a really deep breath. I'd had this type of pain before, though not this intense, and I decided it was probably just muscle strain from sleeping on a strange bed and pillow. After breakfast, I went to the hotel gym and ran a couple of miles on the treadmill, trying to work out the kink. Afterward, I was exhausted out of all proportion to the effort of the workout, and I laid down for a quick nap. When I woke up, the pain in my shoulder had multiplied and I was now dizzy and nauseated if I tried to be any direction but horizontal.
One of the nice things about being back in your hometown for a visit is you've usually got a vast number of willing babysitters. My sisters took Jasmine while Trelina and I spent most of Saturday in the emergency room. They IV'ed me, X-rayed me, and probably did other horrible things I can't remember (more on that next time) and finally decided that I was right all along - it was a pulled muscle. The doctor on duty suggested I load up on Motrin and maybe ice the shoulder. The pain would take care of itself in a couple of days.
I wasn't feeling up to partying after all this - the pain seemed to be getting more intense by the hour, as did the difficulty with breathing - so we picked up Jasmine and went back to the hotel. We had missed my cousin's party, and caused my sisters to miss it too, and even though that seemed like the absolute nadir of the trip, things would start to suck a lot worse before we got on the plane home.
Friday, December 9, 2011
Podcast Recommendation: Decoder Ring Theater
I like podcasts. They break up the "monotony" of listening to the same 1500+ songs in my iTunes library over and over again. I want to talk about (and recommend) some of the podcasts that get me through my commutes.
First up: Decoder Ring Theater (http://www.decoderringtheater.com/).
Decoder Ring Theater is an old-fashioned, full-cast radio show, mostly featuring adventures of the super-heroic Red Panda or the hard-boiled detective tales of Black Jack Justice. With these characters as the anchors, DCR also occasionally do special done-in-one (or done-in-two) stories set in other genres - sci-fi, horror, etc. - as part of their Summer Showcase series.
The bombastic style of some of the voice work, especially in some of the earlier episodes, may be a little off-putting to those who've never listened to Depression-era radio drama before (such as the Green Hornet or the Shadow or any of the thousands of others); and some of the storytelling in those same early episodes is a little rough as Red Panda creator Gregg Taylor works out how to tell an action story with dialog and sound effects and nothing else. (You can tell he hit a rough patch when he resorts to third-person narration, which, to his credit, is only once or twice in those first 12 episodes.) If you can get past that, though, DCR has a lot of fun to offer. It's not all superhero-y Red Panda stuff, but it's all rooted in pulp-style genre material.
Surprisingly (because I would have sworn I'd take the superhero over the PI), I slightly prefer the Black Jack Justice stuff to the Red Panda, probably because Black Jack uses a first-person narrator, making it a little easier to follow. I haven't cared as much for the anthology-style Summer Showcase episodes, but that might just be me wanting to get back to the Panda and Jack. (Summer Showcase did feature what's probably my favorite of what D.C.R. output I've listened to so far, though - a one-shot sci-fi noir called I.D.0 that has more than a little Blade Runner in its DNA.)
Episodes are generally between 20 and 30 minutes, and there are A LOT out there. I've listened to dozens of these things, and I'm still back in 2007 in the archives. The Decoder Ring Theater podcast is available for download from their site and all the major podcast sites. Or you can just subscribe through iTunes, like I do.
Decoder Ring Theater isn't going to be for everybody, but those of you who dig old-time radio shows are in for a treat.
First up: Decoder Ring Theater (http://www.decoderringtheater.com/).
Decoder Ring Theater is an old-fashioned, full-cast radio show, mostly featuring adventures of the super-heroic Red Panda or the hard-boiled detective tales of Black Jack Justice. With these characters as the anchors, DCR also occasionally do special done-in-one (or done-in-two) stories set in other genres - sci-fi, horror, etc. - as part of their Summer Showcase series.
The bombastic style of some of the voice work, especially in some of the earlier episodes, may be a little off-putting to those who've never listened to Depression-era radio drama before (such as the Green Hornet or the Shadow or any of the thousands of others); and some of the storytelling in those same early episodes is a little rough as Red Panda creator Gregg Taylor works out how to tell an action story with dialog and sound effects and nothing else. (You can tell he hit a rough patch when he resorts to third-person narration, which, to his credit, is only once or twice in those first 12 episodes.) If you can get past that, though, DCR has a lot of fun to offer. It's not all superhero-y Red Panda stuff, but it's all rooted in pulp-style genre material.
Surprisingly (because I would have sworn I'd take the superhero over the PI), I slightly prefer the Black Jack Justice stuff to the Red Panda, probably because Black Jack uses a first-person narrator, making it a little easier to follow. I haven't cared as much for the anthology-style Summer Showcase episodes, but that might just be me wanting to get back to the Panda and Jack. (Summer Showcase did feature what's probably my favorite of what D.C.R. output I've listened to so far, though - a one-shot sci-fi noir called I.D.0 that has more than a little Blade Runner in its DNA.)
Episodes are generally between 20 and 30 minutes, and there are A LOT out there. I've listened to dozens of these things, and I'm still back in 2007 in the archives. The Decoder Ring Theater podcast is available for download from their site and all the major podcast sites. Or you can just subscribe through iTunes, like I do.
Decoder Ring Theater isn't going to be for everybody, but those of you who dig old-time radio shows are in for a treat.
Tuesday, August 30, 2011
Solace and Zombies
WRITING UPDATE
I had to put BONES OF AFRICA aside for the moment, in lieu of doing something really cool for Tommy Hancock and Pro Se Productions. I haven't abandoned "Bones", but the deadline is a lot sooner for Tommy's project.
Also, I assure you... that is only a working title.
QUANTA OF SOLACE (did I mention that's a working title?)
Words written today: about 1500 (that's a good day for me)
ZOMBIE 5K
In other news, I signed up for the Run For Your Lives 5K in Baltimore in October. A 5K obstacle course with zombies chasing you throughout. Should be a good time... even if it's against the rules to punch the zombies in the head. I'm sure there will be pictures.
OPERATION BACKPACK
Finally, today and tomorrow are the last days you can buy the ebook pack to benefit Project Backpack. The pack includes 17 e-books in multiple formats for a measly $10 - including HOW THE WEST WAS WEIRD and HOW THE WEST WAS WEIRD, VOL. 2. We've already raised more than $1500 for PB, but I'm sure there are some more underprivileged kids out there who wouldn't mind some help buying school supplies. Please buy a pack if you can.
Tuesday, August 2, 2011
Operation Backpack Giveaway
HOW THE WEST WAS WEIRD and HOW THE WEST WAS WEIRD, VOL. 2 are part of an e-book bundle being offered this month to support Operation Backpack. Operation Backpack buys school supplies for kids who are homeless or in foster care. With this e-book bundle, you're getting 17 books (including both HTWWW volumes... did I mention that?) for $10 bucks. My two books alone would normally cost you $7.
- Here's a PDF with blurbs and cover images for all 17 books.
- E-books are delivered in both .mobi and .pdf formats.
- This bundle is only being offered until the end of August, so go get it now.
So... yeah, that's an awesome deal and a great cause. You should totally go buy that. You can do so here.
***
In other news, I wrote a measly 311 words on BONES OF AFRICA tonight - barely more than a page's worth of new words. I have a feeling I'm not going to be able to do much better than that most work nights...
Monday, August 1, 2011
Bad Reviews and African Bones
First of all, this guy didn't like How the West Was Weird, Vol. 1. He gave us a very well written review, though. Obviously I don't agree with most of his points, but they're worth a read.
Secondly, for the first time in more than half a year, I'm working on a new story, called Bones of Africa. I'm woefully out of practice, but I've been chugging along on it to the tune of 2-3 pages a day. If I keep that up, I should be done with the first draft early next week. Let's see if I can keep up with posting my daily progress here until then.
(Thanks to Writertopia for the word count widget.)
(Thanks to Writertopia for the word count widget.)
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