Hi Allie,
Just checking in to say hi.
Hi.
I hope all is well with you and your son. I've thought about both of you several times over the past year or so.
So....since the last time we spoke, I almost died (literally), my daughter had a daughter (two weeks ago), and I almost singlehandidly (well, I had two lawyers helping me) got the superintendent of the local school system to resign. No golden parachute payment upon departure (that should be against the law anyway), just an arbitrated nondisclosure between him, the school board members, and the associated witnesses that they couldn't make public the circumstances of his resignation.
Of course, if the county prosecutor presses charges, it's all going to come out anyway.
I decided my mission was accomplished, so called my political career quits after two years. I'm a lame duck, will be leaving the school board in December after the new members are sworn in.
Of course, I can't leave you hanging with my cryptic "almost died" comment, so here's the poop on that.
The first week of October last year, I came down with Covid. Felt like crap, but wasn't in too bad a shape. Janeane and Matthew also had it. After about 7-8 days, I was feeling better, then I woke up one morning with a 103 degree fever. Lungs actually weren't bad, very little coughing compared to the prior week, but ultra high fever, weak, no energy, no appetite. That was on Friday, 10/8/21.
Over the weekend, the fever dissipated, somewhat, but Monday morning came back with a vengeance. Janeane was really suffering with severe Covid symptoms, and she's asthmatic, so we both went to the ER. They ran PCR tests, told us to go home, take Tylenol, and monitor symptoms. I have one of those blood O2 saturation finger clips at home. It was reading 90-91 for me that day.
Tuesday morning, I'm worse. J is feeling a little better. Blood saturation is 88%. I go back to the ER. They give me monoclonal antibody treatment and take some blood samples to run tests. The doctors are a little puzzled. They know I'm Covid positive, but my lungs are fairly clear, and super high fever isn't a normal Covid symptom. I spend about ten hours at the ER, then go home.
Wednesday, October 13th, 2021. The Day Everything Changed. I woke up that morning, turned to J, and said, "I'm dying, I can feel it. My soul is withering, the light is fading. If I don't receive medical care today, I'll be dead by midnight." Blood O2 saturation reads.....74%. Fever is 104.5 F. Blood pressure is 88/55. Back to the ER I go.
I walk in, same receptionist for the third day. I tell her, "If I'm not admitted today, I'll go outside, sit in that corner by the bus stop, and die. It's nice and sunny there, and out of the wind."
The receptionist tells me to hang on, just as the same nurse from the past two days comes out. The nurse says, "Mr Griffin, we were just going to call you. We got your blood work back......You're going to be here a while. Quite frankly, I'm surprised you are able to walk in here."
Turns out I did have Covid (tested Covid negative two days later, however), but my real problem was that I had developed pneumococcal pneumonia, which in a healthy middle aged man is usually not terribly serious if treated promptly. Problem was, the Covid had severely weakened my immune system, I couldn't fight the bacteria, and now it was all through my bloodstream, into my organs, and I was dying of sepsis.
10 days in a coma, 9 days of recovery/rehab in hospital, and then months of self-administered therapy/strength and balance training were required to get me back to normal.
I'm good now. I'm 40 lbs lighter, putting up much more weight off the bench than before, and in the best shape I've been in for probably 20-25 years.
I've been reborn, in many ways. I consider 10/13/21 my rebirthday.
I'll tell you more details later, gotta run.
Toodles for now.
-Brett
Just checking in to say hi.
Hi.
I hope all is well with you and your son. I've thought about both of you several times over the past year or so.
So....since the last time we spoke, I almost died (literally), my daughter had a daughter (two weeks ago), and I almost singlehandidly (well, I had two lawyers helping me) got the superintendent of the local school system to resign. No golden parachute payment upon departure (that should be against the law anyway), just an arbitrated nondisclosure between him, the school board members, and the associated witnesses that they couldn't make public the circumstances of his resignation.
Of course, if the county prosecutor presses charges, it's all going to come out anyway.
I decided my mission was accomplished, so called my political career quits after two years. I'm a lame duck, will be leaving the school board in December after the new members are sworn in.
Of course, I can't leave you hanging with my cryptic "almost died" comment, so here's the poop on that.
The first week of October last year, I came down with Covid. Felt like crap, but wasn't in too bad a shape. Janeane and Matthew also had it. After about 7-8 days, I was feeling better, then I woke up one morning with a 103 degree fever. Lungs actually weren't bad, very little coughing compared to the prior week, but ultra high fever, weak, no energy, no appetite. That was on Friday, 10/8/21.
Over the weekend, the fever dissipated, somewhat, but Monday morning came back with a vengeance. Janeane was really suffering with severe Covid symptoms, and she's asthmatic, so we both went to the ER. They ran PCR tests, told us to go home, take Tylenol, and monitor symptoms. I have one of those blood O2 saturation finger clips at home. It was reading 90-91 for me that day.
Tuesday morning, I'm worse. J is feeling a little better. Blood saturation is 88%. I go back to the ER. They give me monoclonal antibody treatment and take some blood samples to run tests. The doctors are a little puzzled. They know I'm Covid positive, but my lungs are fairly clear, and super high fever isn't a normal Covid symptom. I spend about ten hours at the ER, then go home.
Wednesday, October 13th, 2021. The Day Everything Changed. I woke up that morning, turned to J, and said, "I'm dying, I can feel it. My soul is withering, the light is fading. If I don't receive medical care today, I'll be dead by midnight." Blood O2 saturation reads.....74%. Fever is 104.5 F. Blood pressure is 88/55. Back to the ER I go.
I walk in, same receptionist for the third day. I tell her, "If I'm not admitted today, I'll go outside, sit in that corner by the bus stop, and die. It's nice and sunny there, and out of the wind."
The receptionist tells me to hang on, just as the same nurse from the past two days comes out. The nurse says, "Mr Griffin, we were just going to call you. We got your blood work back......You're going to be here a while. Quite frankly, I'm surprised you are able to walk in here."
Turns out I did have Covid (tested Covid negative two days later, however), but my real problem was that I had developed pneumococcal pneumonia, which in a healthy middle aged man is usually not terribly serious if treated promptly. Problem was, the Covid had severely weakened my immune system, I couldn't fight the bacteria, and now it was all through my bloodstream, into my organs, and I was dying of sepsis.
10 days in a coma, 9 days of recovery/rehab in hospital, and then months of self-administered therapy/strength and balance training were required to get me back to normal.
I'm good now. I'm 40 lbs lighter, putting up much more weight off the bench than before, and in the best shape I've been in for probably 20-25 years.
I've been reborn, in many ways. I consider 10/13/21 my rebirthday.
I'll tell you more details later, gotta run.
Toodles for now.
-Brett
