Chris Calohan
Well-known member
So, on Sept 29 my wife rushed me to the hospital because I awoke with a serious DVT in my right leg...I was fortunate enough to have enough of a medical BG to know I had a limited time before whatever was clotted was going to break loose and send me to the other side.
I had two things going for me that day: one, the ER was empty and two, the vascular surgeon on call was very good. In moments they had me on a Heparin drip and within 24 hours the vascular surgeon put in what he called a "soaker hose" to deliver a TPA clot busting medicine. Even though I'd thrown multiple PE's in both lungs, and had a clot that was started at the medial side of my right knee and went 4 inches above my belly button, whatever they did worked.
To add insult to injury, the day I was released from the hospital, I was told I also had Shingles and they started me on Valtrex immediately. Unfortunately, because of my condition, I was not allowed to travel any significant distance in a car so had to go home and face "Michael."
At the time I went home, Michael was only a Cat 3 storm with no expectancy that it would get any worse...but it did, at landfall it was the third worst hurricane to hit the mainland USA with winds that exceeded 188 mph at times. I was on the western eye wall for over 2 and a 1/2 hours and in the last half hour watched the back of my house dissolve...and then heard a tree break through the back of my house..it was not a fun afternoon and an even less fun night.
However, we lived to tell about it and with insurance will be able to rebuild. I am currently living in a beach cottage about 35 miles away from my property. The house has been tarped and closed up but is not livable even though I have power and water. Just tons of insulation all over the house and a lot of damage to the flooring. It is what it is and though I lament the loss as it had been recently remodeled from back to front, I know in a reasonable amount of time it will be back to where it was and I can get back to my photographic life.
Please forgive the quality of the images but cell phones aren't real cameras...LOL
Back of house looking out to what was an attached screen porch:
Back of house looking in from outside:
Tree through roof:
Street the morning after:
I had two things going for me that day: one, the ER was empty and two, the vascular surgeon on call was very good. In moments they had me on a Heparin drip and within 24 hours the vascular surgeon put in what he called a "soaker hose" to deliver a TPA clot busting medicine. Even though I'd thrown multiple PE's in both lungs, and had a clot that was started at the medial side of my right knee and went 4 inches above my belly button, whatever they did worked.
To add insult to injury, the day I was released from the hospital, I was told I also had Shingles and they started me on Valtrex immediately. Unfortunately, because of my condition, I was not allowed to travel any significant distance in a car so had to go home and face "Michael."
At the time I went home, Michael was only a Cat 3 storm with no expectancy that it would get any worse...but it did, at landfall it was the third worst hurricane to hit the mainland USA with winds that exceeded 188 mph at times. I was on the western eye wall for over 2 and a 1/2 hours and in the last half hour watched the back of my house dissolve...and then heard a tree break through the back of my house..it was not a fun afternoon and an even less fun night.
However, we lived to tell about it and with insurance will be able to rebuild. I am currently living in a beach cottage about 35 miles away from my property. The house has been tarped and closed up but is not livable even though I have power and water. Just tons of insulation all over the house and a lot of damage to the flooring. It is what it is and though I lament the loss as it had been recently remodeled from back to front, I know in a reasonable amount of time it will be back to where it was and I can get back to my photographic life.
Please forgive the quality of the images but cell phones aren't real cameras...LOL
Back of house looking out to what was an attached screen porch:
Back of house looking in from outside:
Tree through roof:
Street the morning after: