Journal entry by Michael Miller —
Some folks have been asking what became of me after I left the hospital,so here's an update. Eileen and I spent one week at Siu Yin's new condo in Denver right after I got out. The hospital required that we stay within 20 miles for 2 weeks, but our home is 27 miles. What's 7 miles, right? A huge no no, according to the hospital folks. They would not budge on this requirement.
So, luckily, our dear friend Siu Yin offered to put us up in what is usually an airb&b. The condo is 3 stories and the first floor consists of a garage, bedroom and bath, which they usually rent out. then, the living space is on the 2nd and 3rd floors. they let have the run of the place, so we were not just confined to one room. And it was only about 2 miles from the hospital.
It was perfect for a week, but then we longed to be home. So, we came home after 1 week, but then i made the mistake of letting it slip that we were home and they flipped out. They urged us to reconsider through email, phone calls, and in-person meetings and told us we would not be covered if we used other medical facilities. But, we did not budge, and now it's a moot point because it's past the two week point.
I'm still pretty weak and I use a walker to get around outside the house. I can get along without a support inside the house. I've got GI issues that just won't go away and I've been on an IV every day to augment my fluid intake. I've also lost 50 pounds and am so thin you can blow me over with a slight gust of wind. I also have no immunities from disease, so I must be really careful not to pick something up.
Eileen is feeding me excellent meals and is taking total care of me - doctor's appointments, hooking up the IV, encouraging me to go for walks, and drinking more fluids. I come off the IV tomorrow and have a final doctor's appointment with the hospital. Then they transfer me back to Kaiser.
I also still have a lot of back pain. I have to figure that out. The operation I had in March was a vertebroplasty where they fill in cracks in compressed vertebrae. They did two of them and that was supposed to fix my back pain, but it's still there. That's my major worry in the near future because all of this hubbub did nothing to fix that. My bones are still very brittle.
I'm getting better day by day, but it's very slow. At least I don't feel compelled to go out with a pandemic raging. Thanks to everyone who has commented and contacted me about my condition. It's been a joy to write this blog and I'll continue to update it knowing you care.
So, luckily, our dear friend Siu Yin offered to put us up in what is usually an airb&b. The condo is 3 stories and the first floor consists of a garage, bedroom and bath, which they usually rent out. then, the living space is on the 2nd and 3rd floors. they let have the run of the place, so we were not just confined to one room. And it was only about 2 miles from the hospital.
It was perfect for a week, but then we longed to be home. So, we came home after 1 week, but then i made the mistake of letting it slip that we were home and they flipped out. They urged us to reconsider through email, phone calls, and in-person meetings and told us we would not be covered if we used other medical facilities. But, we did not budge, and now it's a moot point because it's past the two week point.
I'm still pretty weak and I use a walker to get around outside the house. I can get along without a support inside the house. I've got GI issues that just won't go away and I've been on an IV every day to augment my fluid intake. I've also lost 50 pounds and am so thin you can blow me over with a slight gust of wind. I also have no immunities from disease, so I must be really careful not to pick something up.
Eileen is feeding me excellent meals and is taking total care of me - doctor's appointments, hooking up the IV, encouraging me to go for walks, and drinking more fluids. I come off the IV tomorrow and have a final doctor's appointment with the hospital. Then they transfer me back to Kaiser.
I also still have a lot of back pain. I have to figure that out. The operation I had in March was a vertebroplasty where they fill in cracks in compressed vertebrae. They did two of them and that was supposed to fix my back pain, but it's still there. That's my major worry in the near future because all of this hubbub did nothing to fix that. My bones are still very brittle.
I'm getting better day by day, but it's very slow. At least I don't feel compelled to go out with a pandemic raging. Thanks to everyone who has commented and contacted me about my condition. It's been a joy to write this blog and I'll continue to update it knowing you care.
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