from my hospital room to depression at home

 

You may know by now that I spent a week in the hospital with a bacterial blood infection.  My immunities had been dangerously low for at least five weeks and I finally got sick.  I started feeling bad on Thanksgiving Day and the Saturday following Thanksgiving I woke up with a fever of 104.5 degrees.  I went to the local emergency room almost immediately; they admitted me and figured out what was wrong with me quite quickly.  They put me on three IV antibiotics and around the clock fluids. 

 

I don't remember much of my first two days in the hospital, except that I had a very high fever, was freezing with chills, was badly dehydrated, drank huge amounts of water, and generally felt miserable.  On the third day I felt a bit better.  I asked the nurse if my condition had been life threatening.  All she would tell me is that any blood infection is potentially life threatening.  They told Krissy privately that my condition had been serious.  They almost never tell the patient anything that might be upsetting.  

 

They kept me in the hospital for almost a week, then my doctor sent me home with a prescription for a strong antibiotic.  I'm doing much better now except for a bleak depression that I can't get rid of. 

 

This depression surprises me because I rarely get depressed.  I think my depression was triggered by a fairly close brush with death.  I think as my recent illness moves farther into the past the depression will fade. 

 

It's very hard for me to write when I'm depressed, so this is the first thing I've written in the week that I've been home.  I'll try to write the conclusion to the journal entry I started just before Thanksgiving, and finish it soon, but it will probably be slow going. 

 

Krissy has written about my recent illness in her journal, Sometimes I Think.  Thank you for your comments, emails, prayers, and concern for both of us.  You have helped both of us a lot. 

 

I'll try to finish that journal entry I started two weeks ago.  Thank you for your support.

 

John

Tags: bacterial blood infection, hospital, IV antibiotics, depression