~nitehood

Good day friends,

I feel that it is important to let you all know what I just went through. No beating around the bush.. here's what happened:

Almost four weeks ago, I went and saw a show at a night club and had a fabulous night, which of course involved some drinking. A lot of drinking. But came you blame me? It was Mark Farina!!! The next day I woke up still drunk and completely capable of functioning my normal tasks with no problem, save that dizziness from still being quite hammered. In the afternoon the drunkenness tuned into a hangover of which I never experienced before; vomiting, shivering, and head pounding. The only two places I felt comfortable was leaning over the toilet, and in the bath. I was decommissioned to say the least. As the hangover went on, a pain in my side began to grow and began to have trouble breathing. By the next morning, I was only able to take a quarter size of my regular full breath, and was in extreme pain. There was no way that this was still the hangover. So I checked myself into the hospital (April 20th).

After admitting myself into the hospital, I went through a series of x-rays, and was diagnosed with Necrotizing Pneumonia. This is a type of pneumonia that eats away at your lung tissue, much like a flesh eating diseases. But the catch is that you don't feel it until it reaches the outer layer of your lungs. Meaning that you don't feel it until it has accomplished some extensive damage. And it acts fast! In less than 24 hours, I was completely decommission.

How did this come to be? How did I catch such a bug?
When I passed out on that night of partying, I had apparently vomited in my sleep and inhaled some of the vomit without notice. As a result, bacteria that didn't belong in my lungs began to manifest and grow into what it had. This goes to show that it can happen to anyone after a night of heavy drinking.

Further tests and diagnostics revealed that I had holes in the lower right side of my lungs from this infection. The x-rays were frightening to look at. It almost looked like I was missing a lung. This of course this meant that I was to remain hospitalized until this infection had cleared up. In addition, there was still some work to be done find out exactly what kind of bacteria was causing this infection so that they can treat it with the proper antibiotics. After going through the tests, such as a bronchoscopy, they isolated the cause and prescribed the appropriate medications. I remained in the hospital for two weeks battling fevers and coughing up everything imaginable.

After two weeks I showed significant improvements, however, the fevers remained constant. This meant that the infection was still having it's own little party within the holes that remained in my lungs. How do you get antibiotics in a hole? I was healing, but the rate that I was healing at was going to take six months to overcome this microscopic war. Was I to battle fevers and pains in my lungs for six months?

Luckily there was an alternative, and it was carefully decided that I go under the knife and have the lower lobe of the right side of my lung removed, where the infection resided. The procedure was called a Lower Lobectomy. I agreed to through with the procedure. Besides, after six month of fevers and antibiotics I would still be left with holes in my lungs, and be extremely susceptible to serious infections. I couldn't imagine myself living like that for six months.

The surgery occurred on the morning of the fifteenth day I was in the hospital, and was a complete success! My x-rays in the days to follow looked exactly how the surgeon and doctors wanted them to. My fevers ceased immediately, and I was on the road to recovery. The only thing left to deal with was the pain from the incisions of the surgery. Ouch! Painful indeed. Luckily I had a morphine button beside me for the next 4 days, as they slowly waned me over to oral pain killers.

One day short of three weeks in the hospital, I proved that I was able to handle the pains and deal with them via oral medications. So they cut me loose. As of Saturday May 10th, I was finally out of the hospital to recuperate from the surgical incisions while taking oral antibiotics to ensure that the infection is obliterated and does not return. It was to be four to six weeks from being discharged from the hospital that my incision pains are healed. As I write this, it has been four days that I have been out of the hospital.

I definitely would not have been able to recover as fast as I have had it not been for the support of my family and close friends. My father dropped his work and came out from Vancouver to Victoria to spend countless hours with me, which helped to keep me from going insane in my isolated hospital quarters. My mom and other friends of the family saved me from the disgusting and often inedible food that the hospital provides patients. And of course my positive attitude helped to perk up the nursing staff who then would be pleased to help a joyful optimistic patient as oppose to a gloomy pessimistic jerk.

Again, I stress that my attitude was a key factor. I made friends with the doctors and nurses who then cared for me as a friend instead being just another patient. My attitude was constantly: Okay, this is what I got now, lets move forward and make it better. I touted one day at a time, one step at a time, one battle at a time, little by little. And all with a smile on my face. I strongly believe in the power of positive attitude and claim myself to be a walking specimen of this idea after accomplishing the feats I have endured. I advocate others to do the same at all times!

I thank all those who were able to come visit and make my day that much more enjoyable. For those who were not able to, or simply just did not know, I say: Do not worry, my energy levels were low, and I always needed a nap after a visit. Any more visitors may have been too much. Everything worked out just right.

And that's my story. I wanted all of you to know what I went through. Some of you will definitely be shaking your head about having drank too much, which we all know is dangerous, but think about those who have passed away from inhaling their vomit after a vomit after a night of drinking. My empathy goes out to them.

Feel free to pass along and share my story here with others. As it will definitely help to make people think twice about cracking another drink. If I had waited another day to go to the hospital, or even another six hours, chances would have been that I would not have been able to recover from this. It was the most intense experience of my life. Far greater than the time I was struck from behind by a car, suffered a brain injury, and was drug induced into a coma for a week. Again, positive attitude is what pulled me through that one, as I not only beat the odds of death, but also mental retardation.

I hope you all have a great day, as I am having myself a great day and enjoying everything for what it is!

Thank you friends,
Chris Rail