Life's Detours

"GOOFIN' OFF AGAIN?", YOU ASK
So, you're asking yourself, where the heck is The Potstirrer?  Is he gone on yet another vacation?  Is he just goofin' off?  Well, some of you already know the answer to that question, but for the rest of you, and to attempt to chart the future, let me tell about my last week.

"PE"
Back in Junior High School the term "PE" meant physical education - you know, running around, burning off energy and getting all sweaty.  As I moved on through life that term came to mean other things - like Project Engineer, or Professional Engineer, for example.  Well, I now have a new definition for "PE" - Pulmonary embolism.

COUNCIL MEETING PAIN
Last Tuesday night I was hunkered down at the Costa Mesa City Council meeting taking copious notes, photos and screen grabs, trying to keep up with the proceedings.  You may recall from my previous entry, that the agenda was packed and the meeting ended at midnight. 

 TOO POOPED TO POST
Around 10 p.m. I began to experience sharp pains in my back and was getting shortness of breath, to the point where I had to leave the meeting.  I went home and watched the remainder of the meeting on television, but instead of posting an entry of the meeting so it would be waiting for you in the morning I went to bed.  The pain made it to difficult to focus. 

TOOK ALL DAY AND NIGHT
After a mostly sleepless night I got up and struggled to get that blog entry posted.  It took me the entire day - I finally hit the "publish" button at 8:12 p.m. and my sweet and very patient wife was not a happy person.  Eventually, because the pain and shortness of breath persisted, I had her drive me to Hoag Hospital at 11:00.  I still can't get over having valet park at the hospital!

SEEMED LIKE A WEEK!
I'll give you the shortest version of the next couple days that I can.  My ER doctor finally got to me after a few tests had been run and told me she was glad I made it - I could have died - and the tone in her voice implied that I was not out of the woods yet.  More tests and pain killers (yea!) later she decided to admit me.  She diagnosed the pulmonary embolism and they really needed to keep an eye on it, so they eventually hauled my carcass to a room on the 10th floor, which I would discover a couple hours later had a wonderful white-water view.  At 3:00 a.m. my wife headed home knowing I was in good hands.

SLEEPLESS...
There's not much sleeping going on in hospitals - particularly on the 10th floor, which is usually reserved for the sickest among us.  Usually you're lucky if you can snatch 20 minutes without interruption.  At 7:30 a.m. my internist was standing over me, glowering at me.  He told me he had been in touch with the doctors at the hospital and understood more tests would be conducted and that I was in their good hands.... and left.

TESTS, TESTS, AND MORE TESTS
We're now at Thursday morning, with more tests ahead.  I've had two CT scans, a couple bouts of Ultrasound tests, and my blood pressure and temperature taken more times than you can imagine.  I watched the lifeguard boat patrolling the riptides most of the day off and on.

AND MORE...
They hooked me up with oxygen and gave me blood thinners to keep the clot in my lung from moving and to, hopefully, prevent more from forming.  And, we're still not talking about checking out of the hospital yet.

WHAT TIME IS IT?
At 3:00 a.m. (time apparently has no relevance in hospitals) I was wrestled onto a gurney and moved to another room, this time on the 3rd floor, with a lovely view of Newport Harbor.  More tests, more drugs, etc. 

HEADED HOME FRIDAY AT 4:00
Finally they processed me out and my sweet wife came to fetch me around 4:00 p.m.

IPHONE TO THE RESCUE
Some of you already know much of that part of the story - I had my phone and, while more loopy than usual from the pain meds, I could still attempt to communicate.

DID WATCH THE PARKS & REC. MEETING
I missed the Parks and Recreation Meeting live, but watched it after I got home. This was Julie Mercurio's debut and it was uneventful.  The agenda was light and she actually seconded a motion to validate her existence.  I noted that Costa Mesa's wannabe Dope Czar, Jimmy Fitzy, was among those who spoke in her defense.  One interesting element was during public comments when speaker Alex Reich made it clear with his presentation - including visuals - that he didn't think much of her candidacy.  Here's one of them.

ON THE RADIO
I also understand Ms. Mercurio was on Tom Johnson's radio show Sunday morning, but I missed that one, too.  If it's available on streaming video I'll find it.  I know one thing... she should have had plenty of words saved up for Tom, because she was almost mute during the meeting Thursday.

PLAY IT BY EAR
So, here's the future for me as I know it now.  I'm lucky there are not meetings I would normally attend this week, but next week will be a doozy.  I'm not sure whether my physical condition will permit me to travel to those venues and, quite honestly, I'm not sure whether I'll be able to write much about them, in any event.  A doctor visit tomorrow will give me more clarity.

WHAT'S IMPORTANT?
Life sometimes throws you curveballs - this is one of those times.  It certainly will cause me to re-assess what's important in my life, and how much time and energy I'm going to be willing to put in on the blog and all that entails downstream.  We'll know more next week.

THANKS FOR THE GOOD WISHES
I want to thank all of you who found out I was ill (my sister blabbed it on my Facebook page) and communicated with me your kind wishes.  Thanks very much for that.  Now those of you in Mesa Verde know what all that cheering was about  going on near the country club last week!  Seriously, though, I was at a pretty low ebb and those messages of encouragement meant a lot to me.

PAY ATTENTION AND SPEAK UP!
In the meantime, pay attention to what's going on... attend the meetings, speak your piece.  Don't let Righeimer and Mensinger intimidate you into silence - they win if you do.

AS ARNOLD SAID IN "THE TERMINATOR"...
I'll be back soon... I hope.