Today was an odd day. It was the first day back to work in about two weeks now, which in itself was a lot of fun, given what we have on our plate. Prior to that though I had to go a few tests down at Chilliwack General Hospital as a final follow-up to all that garbage I went through with my c. diff. infection years ago. Thankfully everything checked out ok, and I think I can finally put that whole health saga finally behind me. That said, I got nothing but sympathy for anyone who acquires c. diff in a hospital setting like I did. After work today I went out and made a run to all of my favourite ...

About a year ago, I was admitted to St. Paul's hospital for what would later turn out to be a rather severe pneumonia. I don't really get sick very often, so for me to suddenly be bed ridden after only two days of feeling bad was a very strange event. In fact, looking back I sometimes wonder if what I really had was pneumonia, or if that was just a symptom of what I actually had. I was going over my medical records a few months ago, and found all the reports from St. Paul's. When they admitted me I was in pretty rough shape. I had a massive fever, low oxygen in my blood, and I was so dehydrated ...

A few weeks ago I received a phone call, the purpose of which was ultimately to talk about some of the injuries I obtained as a result of the incident in November of 2006. During that call, I was asked if I had ever applied for compensation to the BC Victim's Assistance Program, which I hadn't even heard of to be honest. The BC Victim's Assistance Program is a government run program meant to help people who were the victims of violent crimes move on with their lives. It provides financial compensation for people due to medical expenses, time off work, counseling services, and lost income potential, ...

My first MRI was actually fair bit shittier than I imagined. I got to the hospital about 40 minutes before my scheduled time, and went to the Jim Pattison pavilion (like I was told). Unfortunately, there was no MRI facility in the JPP, and at that hour there wasn't really anyone to ask. I found an information kiosk that showed a MRI lab in the Centennial Pavilion, so I hurried down there and took a seat in the waiting room. Of course, there wasn't anyone in the reception booth so I just sat in the corner hoping that it was the correct place. There were a few other people in the waiting room with ...

Just got a call from Vancouver General Hospital. Turns out in just a few weeks I'll get the privilege of relaxing inside a big metal tube for an hour down in the MRI clinic. Apparently I can wear my own clothes, as long as there isn't any metal on them at all. Otherwise the metal will probably rip out and go crazy in the huge magnetic fields. The good news is that MRI's don't use radiation, which means my super powers will probably not be affected this round (I figure with all the CT scans and X-rays I had last year, I've had my share). Should be a fun time, staring at the inside of a tube while ...

I stumbled upon this article about killer viruses this morning, and it pretty much echos exactly everything that happened to me. I had a nap a few months ago, only to wake up with severe fever and chills. I thought I was battling the flu, and couldn't understand why I wasn't getting better. Six days later I was in the ICU at St. Paul's with a 104 degree F fever, and my left lung had partially collapsed due to pneumonia. A high school varsity athlete, a sturdy guy with a health history blissfully free of blips, 18-year-old Joseph Spencer had little reason to think anything was seriously wrong ...

Nearly one year ago today, four guys that I had never met before decided it would be a good idea to put my face through the plate glass window of a 7-11. Prior to that one moment in time, now forever etched into my memory, I was upstairs at the Railway Club in Vancouver, enjoying a few beers with some friends in celebration of their wedding earlier that night. Upon exiting the building, somewhere between catching a cab and eating a bag of nachos, I overheard these four guys harassing a bunch of girls just a few feet away from me. People have told me after the fact that perhaps I should have just ...

I finally got a hold of my doctor back in Vancouver today to try to figure out what's wrong with me and what I can do about it. It turns out that I have a fairly serious infection caused by a bacteria called "clostridium difficile." C. Difficile sometimes lives in the intestines and is normally kept in check by a range of good bacteria that also live there. Unfortunately, as a result of the antibiotic treament I had in the hospital (which was clindamycin I believe), a large portion of the good bacteria have died off, leaving a pile of bad stuff to proliferate: Clostridium Difficile ...

Last night I was released from St. Paul's Hospital in Vancouver to continue the healing process at home. I won't make this a long entry becuase frankly, I find it physically rather hard to type and concentate for writing emails and things right now. The whole episode that led me to head to the hospital is as follows. On Saturday night I was finding myself really short of breath at home. Plus, no matter what medication I took, I just couldn't seem to get my fever to come down. I hit a point when it hit 39C and my heart rate wouldn't settle down and I thought to myself that something was very, very ...

Friday morning, I woke up with a rather large fever, and spent the first hour or two hugging a toilet. I was feeling pretty defeated, so I called my mom out in Chilliwack and asked her to come out and spend the night with me. It's been really great. They made me a meal, looking after me, did my laundry, and tried to do what they could to make me feel better. I went to bed, and actually had a pretty decent sleep. Unfortunately, I had a really large fever upon waking up today, and realized that something wasn't really right. I went down to the walk in clinic with Marty, which was a challenge since ...

After work, I was feeling a bit tired so I laid down for a quick nap. When I woke up a few hours later, not only did I have a wicked headache, most of my joints hurt too. I've since turned the heat up in my apartment to around 28C, and I'm still shivering on the couch with some blankets on. The next couple days are pretty busy for me, so I can't really afford to be sick. I'm going to head to bed now and hopefully wake up at a reasonable hour. My cute maid is coming again in the morning -- so exciting. ...

I don't really have much to say, but I thought I'd write one last entry before my big surgery day. I spent most of the weekend putting in some hours for work, since I had a few meetings last week that took up too much time. Except for the party down at Bryght on Friday night, I didn't really accomplish too much. Well, that's not entirely true -- today I went into my room and finally sat down to do my taxes.. I think I'm technically a few weeks late, but since I don't owe any money, I don't think anybody will kick up a big fuss (in fact, those sneaky bastards owe me $1100). About two months ago, ...

Today I headed out to The University of British Columbia for an appointment with Dr. Kevin Bush, one of the best plastic surgeons (who specializes in cranial-facial reconstruction) in the province. I had some time to kill, so I spent 30 minutes just walking around enjoying the sunshine, reminiscing about the nearly eight years I spent wandering around the campus. It's really weird being on campus in the summer. Most students don't really have a chance to see the rose garden in full bloom, or enjoy campus life when the weather is nice out (since the school year coincides with the bad weather seasons ...

As most of you know, I have been waiting anxiously to have my surgery performed down at St. Paul's. About two weeks ago, I had a meeting at the hospital with my surgeon (where I sat and waited for three hours just to sign a few forms) where we discussed the surgery date (which was supposed to be this week), and a few of the details. I called last Thursday to try and nail down an exact date, but they said they wouldn't be able to give me one. So today, I called down to the doctor's office to find out what was going on. I was told that for some reason, nobody even submitted my name into the queue ...

Ever since my injury in November, I have spent quite a bit of time in hospitals, doctor's offices, and medical clinics. Part of those visits usually involves some interaction with medical students. And while I'm certain that there really are good medical students out there who are passionate about helping people and eager to learn more in their field, almost every single medical student I've encountered has been both arrogant and misinformed, a deadly combination when you're trying to help people who are sick or have undergone significant trauma. My first encounter came sometime around November ...

Normally I'd be writing about Erin's wedding, posting some photos and saying what I good time I had. Unfortunately, something happened on the way home that night that sort of changed the focus of this blog entry. After the wedding, a few of us decided to go down to the Railway Club for a few more drinks. After it was over, everyone slowly made their way into cabs and headed back home. I was the last guy to get one, so since it was proving difficult to get a cab, I made my way into the store right beside the Railway Club and got some food. After I came out, I overheard three guys bugging three ...