Where the hell I have been and why your order isn't done yet.

Don C said:

I'm really sorry to hear about your parents passing and your wife's illness. I hope she has a speedy recovery.

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TheRktmn said:

I am finally home after having surgery to fix my kidneys. So far so good, hopefully I can get things back to normal work-wise fairly quickly. Now for the PSA:

My Father started suffering from early onset dementia due to Alzheimer's when he was 63 years old. Most noticeable was forgetting things like where he left his keys, then he started forgetting to do things or thinking that he already had. The worst was when he forgot how to do things he had always done.

Last summer I noticed that I was getting more forgetful. Things I have built for years suddenly made no sense and I had to consult my 'how to build' sheets from years ago. I didn't say anything because I was scared to death that I would end up like Dad and we all know that ignoring a problem makes it go away, right?

So in my mind I attributed it to all the other things going on over the previous few months and working too much. I figured once I got caught up things would even out again. Then I started noticing that things weren't getting done. I would kit an order, start on it and not complete it, then go back a few days later and be surprised that it wasn't done and finish it.

In early October one of our dogs ran full speed into the side of Cheryl's leg and broke her tibial plateau (basically her knee). I vaguely remember taking her to the ER that night, but nothing after that. Since Cheryl was now home all the time she started noticing things weren't right with me.
From what she tells me that it was really weird watching me work because I could accept orders, write them up, receive them, mark them and start kitting them just like normal, but the kits were incomplete because I was running out of parts that I had forgotten to reorder. I don't really remember much of July through September and nothing in October after taking Cheryl to the ER....

This part is what I have been told by Cheryl and medical staff: About 3 days after Cheryl's knee was broken Cheryl made me take her to the ER again. Once there she checked me in as being 'in an altered mental state'. Apparently I thought she was one of my sisters, had no idea where I was, what day it was or why I was in an ER.

Luckily an alert Dr ran some blood tests and found that I had been in renal failure for an extended period. According to ER staff I was in the '24 hour window' of checking out permanently. So they did some emergency surgery and found that the tube that goes from the kidney to bladder on the left side was completely blocked and that kidney had stopped functioning and was presumed dead. The right kidney was struggling, but so clogged with stones that it was a miracle it was working. I woke up a couple of days later with tubes in me and and a collection bag on me.

Now I am home, no tubes, no bag and two functioning kidneys. They sent me home with some pills, told me to rest until I felt up to it, then resume normal activities. I guess The Good Lord saw my backlog and figured I really needed to get back to work.

After finally getting to my PC and reading through the 400+ emails I received while out of commission I am sure that all the prayers and good wishes certainly helped - thank you all for them!

So what's the purpose of this long winded story? Guys (and maybe girls) - Don't ignore the little things as you get older. I know it's natural to tough it out, ignore the pain, etc. But as we get older that little thing may be a warning of bigger, badder things. I ignored my back pain because I had back surgery a year ago, so I self diagnosed it as needing more exercise. I ignored the forgetfulness and loss of dexterity as over work and stiff fingers and it damn near killed me. Listen to your body, get regular exams, tell your Dr when things aren't right.

To all of you that emailed and texted me with prayers and good wishes - THANK YOU.

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