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What I remember my first week of being conscious, did not always match up with normal reality. I recall my bed being rolled down hallways that were inclines which were like hills and valleys. As time passed the hallucinations diminished and were replaced by an even more disturbing reality.
I was in an involuntarily situation, not fully aware of what was going on, having no control over what was happening to me and I could not see any light at the end of the tunnel. All this was very upsetting to me. All I could do is exist.
The doctors and nurses conducted themselves as the professionals that they are and I conducted myself as the amateur patient that I am.
At one point, while I was in intensive care, a doctor approached me and informed me that one of my ribs had been removed. The doctor then walked away.
I thought about it a while and then realized that when Adam had a rib removed he got a hot naked women (Eve). God, I am still waiting.
During my hospital stay, New York City had the most severe winter in memory. I missed the worst of it. People complained about the ice and cold but I had the reverse experience. My temperature had gotten so high that they put packs of ice against my body. The ice felt so good and then it melted.
I was very thirsty all the time and received very little water. I was told that I was in no danger of dying of thirst because I was being fed intravenously. The few times that I got water it was as pieces of ice in a styrofoam cup... this was a most joyful experience.
Many different medical procedures were tried to return me to good health. I do not recall any of the procedures being "bloodletting with leeches". Maybe the hospital was out of leeches that month.
While I was in the hospital it was superbowl weekend. Televisions were all over the hospital and just before the game started the hospital personel were switching all the TVs to the superbowl. When they came to my television, I said "leave it alone, I do not want to see the superbowl. The superbowl heroes are all hype. What really matters is the heroes that are nurses and doctors."
The Nurse Manager Suzanne Martz was very supportive. She gave me her card and said that I could contact her if there was any problem. She would have most certainly heard from me if any of her nurses had allowed me to die.
The device that got me normal was the defibrillator. The procedure was done by Dr. Koruth and his team in the operating room.
I was told that I was going to be discharge from the hospital. This made me very happy that my ordeal (physical and physiological) was finally over and I was going home.
Then I was told that I wasn’t going home but to rehab. I did not know what rehab was, I thought that it was where they sent celebrities who had substance abuse problems.
It was a really cold winter, and I was rolled up in blankets like a cocoon and was transported to the Riverside Rehab. On to Riverside Rehab
UNFINISHED More to be added