Love your fate and remember we all die. It sounds morbid, but is a good way to deal with mortality. I was given the opportunity to contemplate these a bit more over the last week and a half.
On Thursday morning after a bout with diarrhea all night, in the light of day, I discovered it was actually blood. I called my boss and went to the ER. They did a CT scan and told me I had diverticulitis. He said it sucked, but if I took the antibiotics he gave me and ate soup for 24 hours, I should be fine.
Friday, I went to work, felt a little weak, but not bad. Saturday I flew to Cleveland to pick up my “new” 2004 Saab from the son of one of our lurkers, Violent_K. They were great to deal with and talk to, the car was exactly as described, so I got the title. Then the 3 of us had lunch with Nephilium and we all had a great time. Then I drove the car 8 1/2 hours down to my house. I love that car, it was so comfortable, had enough power to be fun, and it looks amazing.
Sunday afternoon, my stomach felt a little funny and I had a little blood in my stool. Not too bad, so I wasn’t overly concerned. Then Sunday night right before we were going to get the dogs taken care of for the evening, all hell broke loose in my gut. I didn’t have to run, but I did make it upstairs rather quickly. My wife was a little confused, asking why I left with the TV on and why wasn’t I going to help her with the dogs. I had no answers but headed straight for the toilet.
So. Much. Blood. Then it would stop for a few seconds and start again. It was very disconcerting.
I finally finished and wiped, then stood up and pulled up my underwear. I began to see red and had to lay down. I remember thinking that I did not want to die on the bathroom floor. I yelled for my wife, but was barely able to make a sound. She had came upstairs and was in the bedroom. She said she barely heard me say her name and “help”. Luckily I was in such a hurry I had not locked the toilet door. I was coated in a cold sweat and she was unable to get me up. I weigh twice as much as she does. I started to feel a little better and got up enough energy to stagger to the bed. I had the thought that if I lay down, I might not get back up, but didn’t have a choice. My son called 911 and was in the middle of requesting an ambulance when I started to feel a little better. With his assistance I made it downstairs and out to the car.
At the hospital, they kept doing CT scans and put me on a clear liquid diet. That is 6oz of broth, 6oz of jello and a small container of apple juice. That 3 times a day is wrong. In the meantime, I kept bleeding into the toilet and had one really bad session that left me light headed. They kept monitoring my hemoglobin level and it kept dropping.
They scheduled a colonoscopy for Wednesday afternoon and then they were able to determine it was simply diverticulitis. I had no colon cancer or polyps. They were also able to cauterize it and the Dr. said it might work, but there was no way to know, had to wait and see. At this point I was extremely weak and light headed. They gave me an iron IV and then a blood transfusion.
Thursday I ate my broth for breakfast. The Dr. told me that she was going to switch me to a liquid lunch and a soft dinner. If I had no bleeding a couple hours after dinner I could go home. It is now Thursday night, I am on my home computer and except for weakness, I feel fine.
During all of this, my wife was an angel. She brought me clean clothes and towels so I could shower and spent a lot of time in the room with me.
When she wasn’t there, I kept thinking about those moments when I thought I was not going to leave the house alive. I realized that while I do not look forward to dying, I do not fear it. I had the same realization when the Dr.s were saying they thought I had colon cancer because I had no diverticulitis symptoms and was bleeding so much. I thought that if this was my end, then I should not be overly sad about it. It might not feel “fair” for a nominally healthy 53 year old to die like this, but what is “fair”? Is it fair that I met my wife at 19 and we have had 30 very happy years together when I know people that married the wrong person and were miserable? Is it fair that some people die younger in in much worse circumstances?
My wife was concerned about what the diagnosis was going to be. I was able to remind her that something that can happen to anyone can happen to me. I also reiterated that if I had to choose 30 years with her or live to be a hundred as a single man, I would choose her every time and it is not a difficult decision. Luckily I do not have to deal with such circumstances and I am grateful that I am not in worse condition.
I will use this as a reminder to love the life I have and that I am definitely going to die sometime. It might not be in my power to determine the manner of my passing, but I can decide how to deal with it.
Glad that you’re doing better Ron. Hope that you stay well.
Thanks, no bleeding, but I am about as weak as a kitten.
Funny, Kittens tend to cause bleeding in others.
Damn – glad you are recovering. I like your Saab and wish they still made them.
Last week my wife bought a big beet salad from a farm store. The next day at work, I was sure something had gone terribly wrong with my innards before remembering what I had for dinner.
I got dragged to the emergency room (by mom) one day after mom made beets as a side for dinner.
I love beets and get them all the time at a local place.
My wife hates them so I never get them at home.
I should tell her if I had more beets, this sort of thing wouldn’t happen.
First time I took a piss after eating red beets, I thought I had a bladder bleed.
You’re a stud ron, for getting this posted.
Yeah. I was prepped to put something together for the midday post.
Thanks, and Neph, it was great to meet you.
Oh, Neph’s very popular ron. The sportos, the motorheads, geeks, sluts, bloods, wastoids, dweebies, dickheads and glibs – they all adore him. They think he’s a righteous dude.
Legit LOL
Speaking of diarrhea:
What an odd thing to post on a public forum.
Or at least very poorly written and liable to be taken out of context. Was he talking about being 18 and having sex with a 17-year old?
It’s so poorly written that I don’t know how you can assume he meant 18 and 17.
college student 18-22 fucking high school girls 16-17.
A handful of prodigies make into college before turning 18. So he was fucking the local girls that hung out around campus (or showed up for free boozed at college parties).
Bio says he went to Berkeley.. in the late 70’s to 80’s.. Cant’ say what the age was then, but today it is 18… with a Romeo & Juiliet law of 3 years. (still a misdemeanor).
NJ law (local, and all I cared about in my youth) is 16 and above, no limit (other than special trust relationships). and a Romeo and Juliet exception of 4 years from 13-16.
So the phrasing implies the knowledge of the 18 limit, but like many things in the day (and today) it isn’t enforced that way, or is always given the 3 year leeway.
I remember that sub-plot of Animal House.
That’s enough information for dozens of middle-aged women to come out of the woodwork and sue for him for coercing them into sex. There is plenty of precedent to support that.
I thought that was Adam Schiff, and I thought no way that guy had sex with women.
I was at this party near campus during my senior year of college and was talking it up with this girl. She was from what I remember (I was pounding Everclear mixed apple cider from a cooler) pretty good looking. We were talking it up, making out and I randomly asked if she were she went to school. She said some suburb name and I started naming off colleges near that suburb and she finally said X High School, but it was okay because she was a senior. I remember getting up, telling my group of friends who I came with, and we realized that the party had a lot of girls from high school. We got the fuck out of there and went to the bar.
Like I was a drunk and horny 21 year old, but even then, I knew not to fuck around with girls from high school.
Similar story, except I wasn’t drunk, we only danced, I was 17, she was 13, and it was Mormon prom. I made plenty of room for Joseph Smith, Brigham Young and all their wives when I realized she was in 8th grade. She looked 15 at the youngest.
There is no such thing. What was the occasion?
“What was the occasion?”
The local congregation hosted a dance (I don’t remember if it was a before-party or after-party…it may have been a few days after prom at school, even) that they called Mormon prom. I was under the impression that it was more widespread, but apparently not.
Anyway, I was invited by a friend of mine, and I went because I had a huge crush on her best friend. Her best friend was too busy flirting with other guys to notice me, so I danced (don’t tell my wife that I could dance back then) with some of the other girls. I thought that it was limited to high school juniors and seniors, but it was not.
??? 🤔
“I also reiterated that if I had to choose 30 years with her or live to be a hundred as a single man, I would choose her every time and it is not a difficult decision.”
Too many fucking onions at the office today. In all seriousness, happy to hear that you’re okay and on the road to recovery.
Took the words right out of my mouth, Ed.
Thanks, much better today.
Ron, I’m so happy it’s not worse than that. My brother #1 went through the same almost exact thing, but they found stage IV colon cancer.
Still, all that blood loss is nothing to sneeze at, and the fact that it could be cauterized is a blessing, and I’m glad that fixed it. So far.
Appreciate it, so far it’s holding.
Colon cancer is nasty stuff.
Glad to hear you’re home now and feeling mostly better.
I will use this as a reminder to love the life I have and that I am definitely going to die sometime. It might not be in my power to determine the manner of my passing, but I can decide how to deal with it.
Quite true. Seneca wrote that we are in no way guaranteed a certain number of years on this Earth. We play the part that the stage director has given us: Whether that’s a long part or just a few lines, we simply have to give our best performance (it’s another debate whether that director is God, a multitude of gods, or just the ultimate “something” that underlies all of reality).
I thought that if this was my end, then I should not be overly sad about it. It might not feel “fair” for a nominally healthy 53 year old to die like this, but what is “fair”?
I hope I can keep that in mind if I ever have an experience like that.
Stay strong, man!
Mostly better is right.
Went to the DMV to register my car and my stamina is gone.
That’s a bummer. My Mom had a few episodes in the last year of anemia and hematuria. She would feel like she ran a marathon after just walking the dogs around a block or two.
Well I hope they figure it out soon and get you patched up.
Eat more steak.
They just delivered my shed and I am exhausted after standing and talking to them.
You know it.
It is brave to talk about this sort of thing, and Glibs is a great place in that it is OK to talk about it. I am glad you are OK, and I feel the same way about my wife. It is a good thing.
A good friend of mine, also in the same age bucket as he is 52, has started saying that the warranty has expired, it ends at 50. Which seems about right. He just had six inches removed from his colon, as he was bleeding on the outside of it, so, no bloody stool, just felt like glass shards in his belly. Now I call him semicolon. Well, until he blew up his new deer rifle, which makes me call him Lazer Eyes.
I saw that picture, he left his bore sight device in right?
Semi colon, that’s funny, I don’t care who you are.
Yep, bore laser.
It’s why my laser bore sight goes in the chamber.
Are we not saying phrasing anymore?
You kids and your euphemisms for intercourse!
I’m glad you doing better Ron. Problems with your plumbing are awful and the stigma about it keeps people from getting help early enough to prevent shittier outcomes “pun intended”
“So getcha ass checked out before it’s too late, turkeys!”
https://youtu.be/zzRXMkogj7o?t=130
Thanks, I have a little family history so I had gotten checked before, but I was a little overdue for my next one.
I am sorry you had to go through that Ron. Here’s hoping you recover to better than you were before.
It’s all good now, just have to build my stamina back up.
Milk, steaks, and heavy weights!
The weights will have to wait at least a week.
It sucks because I had just gotten 3 good weeks of working out for the first time after spraining my ankle last August.
Monday, I’m going to take the dog for a walk and see what I can add to that.
Late to the party, but eat liver in whatever form you can stand. Liverwurst, Braunschweiger, liver & onions, whatever.
I was transfused with 2 pints, and it took weeks (more than a month) to begin to feel up to snuff.
Take your time, listen to your body. It will take longer than you’d like, but this too shall pass.
Ron: My recovery was like eating an elephant.
I started out prone for about three weeks. Sleep, eat, bathe. Next step was cleaning up the house doing things that never get done…pull out the washer dryer and clean, cabinets. arrange garage properly, wipe down walls and baseboards, etc.
As you can imagine my wife was pleased.
Next riding the mower and….drum roll….I bleached down all of the outside siding by hand, with a rag and a ladder. That was about three months in.
I was strong enough then to start on flower beds, transplanting stuff – which involved using a shovel – and maintaining flower beds slowly, bit by bit. A couple of months later I was hauling dirt and stones by hand uphill to build new beds. Today I mowed five acres of grass, ran the weedeater, washed the car and spent an hour prying 100lb + stones out of the ground.
End result – I went from planning a funeral to feeling better than I have in 20 years.
I also have a dozen huckleberry bushes transplanted to the yard, half a dozen species of wildflower, same number of roses and 75 paw paws planted and coming along nicely.
Take care of yourself and keep your chin up.
Going for liver and onions tonight
My wife has a menu planned to help me recover.
I keep walking out to the garage and looking at the equipment and kayaks I would like to put in my new shed, but losing my breath walking out there disabuses me of that notion.
That sounds great. exercise…moderate….plus a good diet. Cant beat it.
This is the least surprising news I have seen today:
https://www.pahomepage.com/news/graduates-claims-of-school-shooting-at-dallas-high-school-debunked/
Leftist activists really are scum.
In my actual back yard. Shit heads.
That is quite the false flag there. David Hogg envy I suppose. The AOCs, Crocketts, Schumers, Schiffs, Obamas, Hoggs etc…they really are the worst kinds of people. We haven’t heard the last of this guy. Let’s see how he spins this into a ticket to the national spotlight.
We haven’t heard the last of this guy. Let’s see how he spins this into a ticket to the national spotlight.
I disagree here. He showed himself to be too much of an idiot to be useful. A certain amount of nuance in your lies is required to make it on the national stage. He just don’t got it.
I hope you are right trashy but I thought that about so many of them that are now in the catbird’s seat.
Oh, this is delicious. “Maryland Man” Abrego-Garcia is coming back to the US from El Salvador, but only because we extradited him on human trafficking charges.
https://redstate.com/bonchie/2025/06/06/new-deported-illegal-immigrant-kilmar-abrego-garcia-headed-back-to-the-united-states-with-a-big-twist-n2190124
Clicked too soon:
I guess the administration “facilitated” the shit out of his return, as ordered.