Some of you may have noticed that I've been gone a while Its a long story so here it goes..... 

July 29 2005 I passed out in my apartment and was taken to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle. At first we thought I was suffering from heat stroke, I was actually bleeding internally  from  scare tissue in my esophagus ( gotta take that acid reflux thing seriously kids ).

After vomiting blood all over myself and the ER nurses I was rushed into emergency surgery, at one point the doctors told my family  they were considering surgically removing my stomach ( they didn't, thank god that would have really sucked!).

 During surgery I inhaled vomit into my lungs.  ( Yup, just like Jimi Hendrix )

 This lead to pneumonia and a condition call Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome or ARDS.

Acute respiratory distress syndrome, is a lung condition that leads to low oxygen levels in the blood. ARDS can be life threatening. This is because your body's organs, such as the kidneys and brain, need oxygen-rich blood to work properly.  If the body's organs don't get the oxygen they need  the organs may not work properly or may stop working completely

The doctors gave me less that a 50/50 chance of living ( my family bought in a priest to perform last rights, what a drag! )

I was in a coma for 7 weeks, when I finally woke up my muscles had atrophied to the point that I could barley move. I spent a month in a nursing home to learn how to walk again.

Believe it or not I actually feel pretty lucky. ARDS affects over 150,000 people a year  is about 50 percent  fatal and kills more people a year than breast cancer, according to the ARDS foundation Many ARDS survivors end up permanently disabled.

I still have some physical therapy to go through but over all I feel pretty good.

I came out of this experience with about half a million dollars in medical bills, a new appreciation for life and a really cool scar that runs from my navel to my sternum.

The doctors and nurses  at Harborview did a great job at keeping my alive especially the ICU staff. I'd like to thank the physical  therapy staff at Queen Ann Health Care as well.

Its been a tough few months and I couldn't have gotten through it without the help of my family, friends and co-workers

Told you it was a long story

For more details go to Deannas blog....

http://powerfuldot.blogspot.com/

or the KOMO 4 Website

http://www.komotv.com/news/story.asp?ID=39421