I had my first fever on November 5th, 2020.

When I have a fever, I tend to assume it's an isolated incident; at worst, it’s a short-lived period. But, that wasn't the case this time. I would eventually go on to have multiple fevers/day for the following six weeks.

As much as the fevers were a troubling issue, which went up past 103 degrees on nearly a daily basis, it was the additional dozen symptoms that soon developed that led me to sit in front of my primary physician (after an earlier, but fruitless trip to the urgent care clinic) who told me on the Monday after Thanksgiving that I needed to go to the emergency room immediately because I was dealing with sepsis.

At that point, I went back and forth with my doctor telling him I needed to drive the three minutes back to my house then my wife would take me to the ER. He wanted an ambulance to pick me up but eventually relented.

Before we get too far ahead in my story, let’s pull back a bit.

My fevers began during one of the peak times of COVID-19. Naturally, I went to get tested and was negative. If it wasn’t COVID, what was it?

We quickly isolated me in our bedroom once I was feverish. Remaining in one room, even for a couple of days, can be frustrating. That was especially true with how cruddy I was feeling. So, I dove into distractions.

Most of the time I watched movies or TV shows on my laptop. I wanted to pass the time by reading books as well but found it extremely difficult to actively focus on the words I was reading. I was only reading short passages of Scripture since reading was tough, but those moments were so encouraging.

I eventually realized I had the option of either watching videos about Christian living, listening to an online audio Bible, or listening to podcasts to grow me in my faith. I mean, I enjoy a good action or drama movie, but it only entertained and distracted me for a time, leaving me back where I was before the movie began.

So, I watched or listened to some media related to my Christian faith and sprinkled in streaming movies and shows. I also remember watching quite a few cooking competition shows... don't judge me. 😉

Immersing myself in these videos and podcasts was one way I was encouraged. They didn’t leave me back where I was when I began watching or listening to them. They weren’t an escape. I was lifted to a place of increased peace and trust that God was at work in all of this.

I had absolutely no idea all God would eventually do for me and for others through this chapter of my life.

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Nicole and Zach took me to the ER after I packed a few things. She had to fill out the intake forms because I couldn’t write anything at that point. My neurological issues were already limiting my ability to use my hands for things such as writing. I had a visible tremor.

I felt as if my body was shutting down one process at a time. That’s likely because my body was shutting down one process at a time.

Nicole then needed to leave the hospital because she wasn’t allowed to be there due to COVID restrictions. The nurse eventually took me back to a room where I was initially examined and then had a lot of time laying there all alone.

Nicole and I both realized at that time, in separate locations, that we may never see each other again and we each began to work through that reality in our minds.

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I remember I had a fever shortly after they set me up in that temporary room. They took away my blanket so all I had was a top sheet (so my temperature didn’t get too high). I was FREEZING.

I had been laying there with teeth chattering for nearly two hours until I realized I needed to ask for help beyond my own limited abilities. That was when I asked God to somehow warm me up.

The amazing thing was that it happened. I shouldn’t have been surprised but I admit I was because of how quickly things turned around. I was even pulling back my sheet back to cool off after five minutes because I was too warm.

When a nurse stopped in to check on me, I asked her if the temperature of my room as changed. She said no, that the ER is the same temperature 24/7.

That was the first reminder that God was there with me. My fever broke shortly after that, at least for that evening.

They eventually admitted me to the hospital and set me up in a room. I was glad it was a private room, so I didn’t keep someone else awake with the cough I had. (I’d later find out I had Legionnaire’s Disease at that time along with cancer.)

Something caught me off-guard during my first full day in the hospital. I was designated as a fall risk. I had expertly deduced that by seeing the bright yellow bracelet which read: ‘FALL RISK.” What caught me off-guard was the alarm on my bed if I tried to get off it. 😊

That continued for three or four days until I called the nurse’s station to come and turn off the alarm so I could get out of bed to wash my face. They let me know I was no longer a fall risk. I still thought I was a fall risk so I was careful, but I liked my new freedom so I didn’t tell them I was shakier than they may have realized. I just didn’t get out of bed unless it was necessary.

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I didn’t know it at the time, but I was going to spend 12 days in that hospital room as more than half a dozen specialists examined me and sought to determine what was wrong with me.

The daily routine quickly began where I’d be woken up at 4:00am to give a blood sample. I wondered why it had to be at that time: Do people have better blood at that time of day?

Eventually, I’d get into the habit of jokingly giving the tech a hard time for waking me up from a fun dream. I did my best to make people laugh. If it was a rough morning, I’d keep my eyes closed, hold both arms and ask which one they wanted to use.

Things were pretty interesting from the start. Those first blood draws led to my infectious disease doctor telling me that I tested positive for hepatitis B. That was stressful to hear because it screamed “FALSE POSITIVE!” to me, but the doctor didn’t see it that way.

I knew I wasn’t engaging in the activities that would lead to contracting that disease, so I simply needed to wait until I tested negative. I eventually did, but it took four days.

The nursing staff was wonderful. They were the ones who really took care of me on an hour-by-hour basis. I thanked them so often that they probably grew tired of me doing so. But I wanted them to know I appreciated their help.

Day after day I was told I’d need to get this procedure or that. I had biopsy after biopsy, whether it was bone marrow, lung, and kidney biopsies, I just kept saying “yes, yes, yes” in hopes of someone being able to determine what was wrong with me so they could begin treating me for that issue, whatever it was.

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They had a great menu of food options to eat whenever I had an appetite. Which wasn’t often. The problem was that nothing tasted right/good so I’d only nibble at whatever I ordered. It all smelled delicious though.

I watched a lot of TV; I did my best to pass the time. My existence at that time was hours between blood draws and surgical procedures.

There was one day when my back pain was hitting me hard so I asked one of the nurses, Diamond was her name, if she could find something like a tennis ball for me to put between my back and the bed to ease a muscle spasm I was dealing with.

She didn’t know where to get a tennis ball, so she went back to her station, thought it through, then fashioned a tennis ball-like thing from various items in the medical supply closet. It worked perfectly. That was the level of nursing I had there at the hospital. They were always eager to help me.

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It took a few days until I eventually looked at myself in the mirror. I was shocked! My face was very swollen.

I was down 25 pounds. I’d lost that much weight over the span of three weeks, but my face resembled a version of me that was at least 300 pounds. I was a living bobblehead… that’s the best way to accurately describe my appearance at that time.

I realized, a few days later, that the nurses and doctors seemed as if they weren’t taking me seriously about how swollen my face was because, well, they hadn’t met me before that time.

So, I downloaded a picture of myself, as I normally look, and I showed that picture to a nurse and a few of my doctors. That was when the medical team began to look more closely at my lymphatic system...