Episode 2-Debra Goes to the Hospital and Gets High

At Robert’s surprise birthday luncheon on Sunday (1/7/18), my back was hurting like crazy! Greg, RN, had a NSAID topical gel that my friend Tiki applied to my back. Thank you both! It helped.

But then I woke up a little after 4:00 a.m. the next morning in horrible pain. I could barely even walk. Fortunately, I had made coffee the night before and was able to just flip a switch to get it going. Thank you, David, for installing the 12V wiring. Thank you cousins, Cynde and Mike, for the 12V coffee maker. And thank you, Steven, for making it all work! Robert and I are both blessed to be surrounded with AWEmazing, wonderful people.

The coffee was for Robert. I was about to wake him up to get me to the hospital, but I held on until dawn. It is no fun and can even be dangerous to drive the back roads across the desert. The only trouble was . . . he wouldn’t wake up. Along with the accident that caused his TBI and back injuries, my dear friend also lost 75% of his hearing. Finally, I crossed my fingers, and tried his door. Fortunately for me he had left it unlocked. I scared him, but he was immediately ready to get ready (thank you, dear Robert), and we were headed out in less than 30 minutes.

Only to hurry up and wait (queue the video, Episode 2, above).

You know the drill. Urgent Care in ERs is painfully slow. And, I do mean painful. Before I share more with you about the day however, I want to share a hilarious clip from the incomparable Mr. Bean. OMGosh I laughed so hard when Robert shared this with me. Comedy at its best.

And does anyone know … is that Bess Armstrong playing the antagonist? I don’t know, but it looks like it to me. How awesome is this actress, whoever she is, to be able to do so much with only her eyes?!?

Back to our day … I have never had issues with my kidneys before, and I hope to never experience it again. I was discharged from the hospital with a diagnosis of a severe UTI. However, less than 12 hours later I passed a kidney stone in the middle of the desert, in my van, alone. Which was probably a good thing because I literally screamed.

P.A.I.N.F.U.L.

I’m on the mend though. Surrounded by wonderful friends. And looking forward to connecting with everyone. I won’t be able to attend the RTR – not really. I’m here but I mostly will stay in camp and hope that I get to see a lot of people, and meet a lot of viewers anyway. Fingers crossed. I am well aware that even with my limitations, I am one of the lucky ones. We saw a lot of sick, injured, and severely disabled folk while at the hospital. My heart goes out to them, and to any of you that are struggling. No matter what, KOKO. Keep On Keeping On. Don’t ever give up.

POST PUBLICATION NOTE: Two kidney stones later, I am really glad to be past this whole ordeal. I am changing many things about my diet and lifestyle, but the one thing I can absolutely state is that you will never, ever, ever see me drink another soda. This from a girl who could formerly drink Dr. Pepper by the gallon!