04/29/2026
So I have been trying to make this post for several days now. I’m still trying to wrap my head around this. March 30, 2026, I drove myself to the emergency room at the VA hospital. It took me 30 minutes to walk across the parking lot because my breathing was so labored. My right leg was swollen so badly and in so much pain it felt like it was going to start cracking open. When I went in, they got me right in. Did an ultrasound of my leg. Artery blocked. CT of my chest. Blocked and took me straight to surgical ICU. Tuesday morning, straight into the procedure room to have all these blood clots in this picture removed.
While in the waiting room for the procedure for just moments, the doctor was showing the monitor to everybody going to be involved in the procedure and everybody had a worried look on their face. They wouldn’t talk to me about it or show it to me but the doctor lacked words to me before he walked out. Was you have one job today and that’s, don’t die on the table. I’m not kidding. I’m not joking. Don’t die on the table.
They wheeled me into the room couldn’t help me breathe that I had to keep doing it on my own because if they gave me any sedation, it might just kill me itself. By this point, I’ve been struggling to breathe for three days, and I was really struggling hard just to take every single breath.
Before they started the procedure, they took this picture. The doctor showed everybody this picture in the room and kept referring to this picture, and the comments that I kept hearing were;
This guy really drive here
This guy really walked in here on his own?
Guys take a picture of this because you’re not gonna see another one of these outside the morgue.
This guy is lucky to have made it.
Two hours more or less he had been dead.
Luckiest man I’ve ever seen.
Throughout the four hour procedure the doctor just kept telling me hang on a little bit longer. Don’t die. I might be able to save you. Just keep going.
I’ve been struggling to know what to do with this since that day. I didn’t understand what coming home from that was going to be like. What’s all the blood thinners all of the blood clots have now released from my leg and I still can’t breathe I haven’t been able to breathe and I’ve been out of the hospital for over a week. Talk about life changer. I get up and I do something for five minutes and I gotta sit down for 45 minutes.
I think the hardest part about all this now is that I live alone, which I love until something like this happens. What if? What if it’s worse? What if something were to happen and it were worse? How long does it take somebody to find me?
I know the end of this is really morbid? I don’t mean it to be, but it made me think.
In the weeks to come, I’m gonna do something. I’ve never really done. I’m gonna be reaching out for help. I need a lot of help right now. Whether it be lifting things, maybe helping me around the house a little bit, get around a little bit, maybe even just hang out with me for a minute. Right now I need help with some bigger things too. I have to pack my entire house to get ready to move so I can sell it. I can’t do this by myself. If there’s anyone that can help me I would appreciate more than you’ll ever know.
