For the first time in a month I slept in my own bed last night. It was fantastic! I had many pillows propped up under me to keep me on a slight angel, but I was pretty comfortable. Keagan and I got up and went shopping. When we got home I made her a french toast breakfast. It was the first meal I've cooked in a month (other then cereal - which I'm really good at if I may say so). We put away all the food and cleaned up the house a bit. Keagan has gone off to work and I have a full day of little tasks to take on. I have calls to make, some programs to write, and a bunch of birthday cards to write. My entire family has their birthday in either August or September. I'm the only one way out in November. So, my first two big tasks I have taken on since surgery where making french toast and writing out birthday cards. I'm feeling really good and I'm very
excited to get back to work.
Couple of stories to tell you all about while I was in the hospital:
1. My Chest Tube: Ok, first of all I didn't say any of those things that Keagan said I did!...ok, so maybe I did. I don't remember them though. All I remember is I could feel the doctor cut my side. When he did it I remember thinking to myself "F***ing liar! He said I wouldnt be able to feel anything." Turns out he said I wouldn't be able to remember anything. It hurt pretty bad, but I really don't remember that much of it. Once the tube was in I felt better immediately. Two minutes later it was killing me. I don't know why, but my pain level was at a 10! I was yelling it out at the nurses as they walked by. They gave me a injection of some pretty good stuff and then I felt much better. I had that chest tube in the entire week and it did cause me a lot of pain. I think it was the main cause of most of my discomfort.
To help me deal with the pain they gave me a drug called diladen (I think that's what it was called). Its a narcotic and they told me that I could get addicted to it if I wasn't careful. I didn't think anything of it and kept asking for it any time I was hurting. By my last day I found myself asking for it when I wasn't even hurting all that much. When they would first inject it into my IV I would get this rush of warmth through my body and a odd feeling in my stomach. At first it made me feel sick, but it took all my pain away almost immediately. Any time I would get some pain I would ask for it. I can now see how some can get addicted to drugs. It scared me that at times I wanted this drug when I wasn't in pain. My last two days in the hospital I cut myself off from it and took pills instead. Drugs are a scary thing and I'm glad I've never messed around with them.
2) My Bronchoscophy: I had one of these done before I had surgery and it wasn't all that much fun. Basically, they lube up my nose and throat and shove a camera tube down my nose and into my lungs to look around. I would say on a scale of 1 to 10 the discomfort I felt that first time was a 4. This time, however, was a 10. I hated it! They put some much lube in my nose and throat that I could hardly breathe. Once I was done I had to cough all that crap up. Trying to cough with a chest tube in does not feel good. I ended up swallowing a lot of it and that made me feel sick. All in all it was a bad morning. They did go in and get out with the camera very quickly, but the prep for the procedure was terrible. I hope that none of you ever have to got through that. It is not enjoyable what so ever.
I feel bad for Elizabeth Shults, she came to visit me just as I got back from this procedure. I was really unhappy and they had given me a bunch of that Dilaten stuff to make me feel better. I was tossed! I think she spoke with me for a little while, however I don't remember much of it.
3) Nurses: I know its a big Ben Stiller joke to make fun of male nurses, but I had two male nurses that were awesome. Mike, the cyclist, was 6 foot 7 inches tall and 240 pounds. He was a MP in the military and was a body builder at one time weighing 280 pounds. He was a big dude! Very nice and was always there when I needed him. He understood everything I was going through and always had an answer for any questions I had. He is a good man and I really appreciated his help. He and I had a lot in common both being athletes and had many talks about training and competition. It was really nice to shoot the shit with him, took my mind off my chest tube.
The other nurse was Tony. Tony was not the athletes Mike was, but I got along with him very well. We didn't have anything in common to talk about on a personal level, however he did a fantastic job taking care of me. Unfortunately, for him, he had to deal with me after every major pain producing process I had. He was my first nurse after having my chest tube put in, my first nurse after my bronch, and my first nurse after a small collapse of the lung I had in the hospital. He was patient and calm and did just a great job.
I couldn't be more thankful for those two guys and all the other nurses in that department. Everyone was great!
I also want to thank everyone to came to visit me during my second trip in. I was drugged pretty heavily some times so I'm sorry if I forget to mention your name. Steve Johns came over and talked with me my first day back, he brought me this huge breakfast burrito (it was fantastic by the way - thanks Steve), Bryon and Julie brought me food and visited quite often, Bob and Elizabeth brought her famous cookies and told me some great stories, Mike Caldwell (my father in law) would come over during his lunch break just to hang out and watch a movie with me, Jeannine and Michelle Caldwell (my mother and sister in laws) came over multiple times to visit and tell me stories. I got a daily phone call for Jeannine just to check in on me and make sure everything was going ok. Thank you all so much! I really appreciate it.
I want to thank my buddy John Perry for spending multiple days and multiple tanks of gas coming out to watch movies and keep me company. Thank you John Boy!
And finally, I want to thank my parents. They would both call me at least once a day to check in on me and update me on what was going on with the family. I know it is really hard on them not being here, but wanting to be a part of what is going on. I just want you both to know that I love you and could feel your love from the other end of the country. You two are the best partents a guy like me could ask for. I love you!
Well, I'm off to work on some of my daily tasks now. Thank you all for reading and for the thoughts and prays you sent me. I'm looking forward to getting back to normal life. I plan on starting back to work on sunday for a few hours in the morning. Since I have been home I have only needed to take one pain pill, so I feel like I should be able to be off the drugs by saturday and hopefully be able to drive myself to work on sunday morning. My best to all of you and I hope to see you all soon.
- Robert
Steve and Spooner - Spoon ready to strike!
Mark and the mascot from Wooster!
Mike and Janine warming up!
My bride and my little man!
Pammy and sweet Eliee - working those hamstrings
What a turnout we had today! I was totally blown away by the support from all my family and friends who came out to help raise funds and participate in the 5K walk. I was overwhelmed by how many people were there wearing my logo and supporting the efforts for something I feel so passionately about. We raised over $2,750.00 and had 22 walkers and 8 dogs that all participated in the event. All in all it was a blast and I couldn't have been happier with the day. 
