To the Edge and Back

I’ve been quiet for the past few weeks because I’ve been ill. On August 17, I wasn’t feeling too well, not really full-blown sick, but on the puny side, and I told my husband Champ I wanted him to cover our office the next day and let me stay home. I felt a little worse on Tuesday, and stayed home again. I had terrible diarrhea all night and was constantly thirsty. On Wednesday morning, I woke up in a state of extreme illness and confusion. Champ asked me if I knew the signs of a stroke. Of course I do, but I looked at him blankly and said “no.” He asked if I knew who he was. That was another “no.” He asked if I knew who I was. When I answered “no” to that, he took me to the ER.

After a few blood tests, x-rays and the like, a doctor came in and informed me I was being admitted with a severe urinary tract infection, which I had not had any of the usual symptoms of, and that it had gone systemic. I also had pneumonia in both lungs–something I just went though in March of 2013. They admitted me to the hospital and started pumping me full of antibiotics. The diarrhea lasted four more days to the point where I was reduced to wearing a diaper in the hospital. That’s a rather humbling experience. A friend of ours who is a pharmacist told Champ that another day or two without the antibiotics and IV fluids, and I would have died.

I was released after a week in the hospital, which included two days in the ICU. My mom came to take care of me. She is 75 and I could never in a million years have had a better mother than what she has been to me. I turned 55 while I was sick. She was wiping my butt just like I was baby, so was Champ, and for all intents and purposes, I was one. She made me some homemade soup the day after I came home. I ate a half a bowl (it was delicious vegetable soup). About an hour later, my stomach got very bloated and hard. I was vomiting, and the next morning, I told Champ I thought I had better go to the ER.

Low and behold, another x-ray revealed that I was full of gall stones. They admitted me again and  took out my gall bladder early the next morning. After another week in the hospital, I came home again last Thursday.

My hormones and electrolytes were screwy in the hospital, and I had to go to the doctor for a checkup yesterday. I also spent last night at the Sleep Center–not a restful place at all. I haven’t gotten those results yet, but I had been placed on a BiPap in the hospital because I was retaining too much carbon dioxide. They woke me up in the middle of the night and put me on a CPAP. I expect I’ll hear all about it later today.

On my birthday, all I could say was “55 and still alive.”

I have been overwhelmed at the outpouring of love and compassion from everybody. FB friends I have never even met sent me cards and gifts. Several people sent me money in amounts from $5 to $500, which just made me cry in gratitude and disbelief at the kindness. People sent flowers and fruit baskets. Local people have delivered food to my house. Restaurant owners have refused to take any money when Champ went to get takeout.

Since I’m known for pissing people off with some of my commentaries, I might as well not pass up this opportunity to say thank God for Obamacare. Last year, when I was stricken with pneumonia the first time, we had given up our health insurance. It had gone to over $600 a month. Champ was not working much, our business was struggling in our local economy, which is still very depressed, and we simply couldn’t pay for it anymore. It was either give that up or give up eating. We also had a $5000 deductible. My hospital bill was over $10,000, which I am still working to pay off. On January 1, I got us signed up for Obamacare. We are now insured with a $500 deductible, not $5000, and we are paying $235 a month. My prescriptions have cost me $5 each. The nebulizer I had to get to take breathing treatments at home four times a day was free. Before anyone jumps on taxpayers subsidizing that, let me say that I got my first job at the age of 13, and I have worked every day of my life since, so I have paid my share in taxes and I continue to do so. It feels good to me not to have to worry that I am going to lose my home or my business over healthcare expenses. So there. I appreciate it whether anyone else does or not.

Champ’s social security kicks in this month, so we can breathe a little easier on that front, as well. I am taking a few weeks off from work to gain my strength back. I am sapped. I have seen some of my FB friends spreading the suggestion that people buy my books in order to help my finances, and I really appreciate that more than I can say, along with everything else people have done for me during this time. So in a fit of shameless self-promotion, I will list them here in case you are led to purchase one.

The first one is one I finished last year while I was in the hospital with the first round of pneumonia. It’s about death and dying and the wonderful Nina McIntosh, author of The Educated Heart. I watched Nina get her affairs in order while she was suffering from ALS. When I was in the hospital, I had the thought that I might not be leaving there alive, and that I needed to get my own affairs in order. We all do, while we’re able to, instead of leaving it for our grief-stricken family to do. The last part of the book walks you through that. It’s called The Days Still Left.

My most recent book is Excuse me, exactly how does that work? Hocus Pocus in Holistic Health Care. I didn’t question anything I was taught in massage school, and I should have. Part memoir, partly an examination of some of the things that are heavily marketed to massage therapists, who then turn around and market to the unknowing public. Yes, it will step on a few toes, but my hope is that it makes people THINK.

Massage is my second career. In my first life, I cooked for the public for more than 20 years. My little cook book is full of great Southern recipes and funny stories that happened to me in the restaurant business. Nothin’ Fancy, Good Food and a Few Funny Stories.

In 2012, The Massage Nerd, aka Ryan Hoyme, and I collaborated on the Manual for Massage Therapy Educators. This is NOT meant to be a textbook. We were both unceremoniously foisted onto our first class of massage students, and this is just the practical advice of the things we wish we had known when we started out and what we’ve learned along the way.

The Plain and Simple Guide to Therapeutic Massage & Bodywork Examinations 2nd ed.   Get ready to pass the MBLEx or NCBTMB exams. The inside cover has a scratch-off password to a website filled with practice questions and learning games.  Great teacher ancillaries, too. I am very proud to say this book is sold in hundreds of massage schools.

One Year to a Successful Massage Therapy Practice is full of low-cost and no-cost ways to get your practice off the ground or revitalize an older one.

I’m proud of this book because I didn’t try to sell it to LWW; they asked me to write it, and I was happy to oblige. The inside cover has a password for a website with dozens of useful forms. It covers everything from your business plan to retirement and in between.             A Massage Therapist’s guide to Business also has great instructor ancillaries.

That’s it, although I do have a few more in the works. Thank you for your support.

2 Replies to “To the Edge and Back”

  1. I am really sorry to hear about what you had to go through and I really hope you will get better in time.

    You are a true fighter and you should be an inspiration for anyone who is going through a rough patch.

    Godspeed!

  2. Get well soon Laura! I just found out you were sick. I hope you are feeling better by now.

    Thank you for all you have done to help me out.

    You deserve the best.

    Sincerely,

    Shirley

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