Yea! Power's back as of Friday afternoon. Internet came back late Friday night. We thought it'd take long because we're at the tail end of a line and the telephone pole and transformer at the other end of the block were both lying on the ground because the pole had snapped in half!

Spent yesterday cleaning up, picking up the pieces, putting things back in place, and making sure nothing got burnt out. We'd unplugged the TVs and shut off the AC at the circuit box, so we seem to be okay.

Our two house cats keep wanting to go out on the back porch like they used to, but it's half gone, so that's not going to be an option for awhile.

Anyway, expect to get caught up on my games today.

Delighted you have power and have been able to make progress on cleanup. Sympathy to your cats who can't go out on the porch the way they used to. Some of our cats always want to go out to our enclosed back porch, but we don't allow them.

In reply to Grimsby Baskerville (msg # 719):

Yeah, poor cats.

Wow, that's a long time to be unwell! I'm so sorry! And no worries, it's a busy season anyway. Merry Christmas!

Very sorry Starmaster has had such a long illness. I do hope he will feel better soon and be able to be more active in his games.

In reply to GM StarMaster (msg # 722):

How terrible.

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year of Gaming!

Happy New Year to you too.

In reply to Maybelle Diggory (msg # 728):

Hey Everybody!

Something that some of you may know about me is that the December to February time of year is when I send my Brain out for a good Washing.  And as so often happens, I then can't remember where I sent it, and it takes a month or two to find it again ... so that's where I've been.

But enough of my lies and excuses...


StarMaster went back into the hospital last Friday (01/06).  Over the last month -- after he'd been cleared of COVID by the Doctors -- he was still feeling weak and "out of it".  The weakness got slowly worse, and he also lost his appetite, just couldn't sleep well, and had difficulty focusing.

He finally managed to schedule a VA appointment to actually see a Doctor for next Friday -- so he needed to go to the VA to get bloodwork done this past Friday.

He was unsteady on his feet by then, so I drove him up to the VA for the bloodwork that morning -- we got home around Noon and about an hour later, his VA Doc calls up and orders him to get to an ER immediately!

The Doc said his A1C was way abouve 9.0.  That's no typo -- abouve 9 - point - 0!!

We rushed him immediately to the Hospital (assume Standard Hospital ER Nightmare) and finally got him admitted.

As of the time of this writing, if the Docs actually have any idea about the cause of what's happening, they ain't telling StarMaster...

Anyway, That's all I know.  I'll keep checking in with him, and if I learn anythi--Crap!  My Brain fell out from my ear again!

Now I gotta go chappabloomatonka...pllllllllllllltt!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

In reply to Denholm Hawkesbury (msg # 729):

As I said in another game, this is deeply disturbing, but I do hope that now Starmaster is in the hospital they will be able to deal with his problem effectively.

In reply to Denholm Hawkesbury (msg # 729):

I hope he gets better.

Oh my gosh that's terrible! I hope he gets better asap!

So here's what's been happening...

I've been 'ill' for about three months now, starting with getting COVID back in the beginning of October. Wasn't too bad and I got over it in a few days, but it left me with the typical aftermath symptom of being tired ALL THE TIME. I was slowly getting over it, and even had a few hours of energy every day.

I had a doctor's appointment scheduled for mid-October but then Hurricane Ian hit. The VA clinic took some damage and was closed for two weeks. I finally got the appointment rescheduled for Jan. 13.

December 1st, I had a minor chest pain on my right side. It felt like just a minor muscle strain but at my age and with my medical history, I felt it was prudent to check. Called the VA clinic to see about a walk-in visit the next day and the nurse I talked to went into panic mode with the 'chest pain' words, and told me to go to the ER. So, on Friday, December 2nd, that's what I did. More panic mode.

Spent 4 days being poked and prodded, inspected, detected, and injected and stuff, only to be told my heart was fine. More exactly, they couldn't find any cause for the chest pain... the obvious cause seemed to elude them.

Here's where it started going to hell. Getting out of the hospital, I had an extreme loss of appetite, shortness of breath, and NO ENERGY. Didn't have any of that when I went in!

Not only was I not hungry, but nothing tasted appealing any more. Could barely eat my favorite foods, and then only 2-3 bites. On top of that, I ran out of one of my diabetes medicines. Not eating and drinking much, I also wasn't taking my meds as regularly as I had been.

This went on for the next three weeks, so things probably grew gradually worse without me quite realizing it.

December 31st, I managed to pull a back muscle, and while the pain meds I took didn't do squat, I at least knew it'd go away in a few days. It did. And then I got hives!

Jan. 6 I went to the VA clinic to get bloodwork done for my doctor's appointment. No sooner did I get home than the doctor called to tell me my blood sugar level was 903! I needed to go to the ER pronto! That's where I've been for the past week. :-(

I still didn't feel all that bad (weak and no energy), but I definitely had some serious health issues. Turned out I had ketoacidosis and some kidney issues. After a few days treatment, the keto was gone, kidneys were all better, and my blood sugar was back to normal. Now I had to survive the 'recovery'. As long as I was stuck in that hospital bed, though, I knew I wasn't going to get better. So now I'm home.

Have a nurse helping me, and physical therapy should start tomorrow. And now I have to play tag with a doctor's appointment again...

Anyway, the reason I'm telling you all this is in case you, family or a friend should find yourself in a similar situation, you'll have a heads-up/warning about what's might be happening.


Now it's just recovery and rehab.

In reply to GM StarMaster (msg # 733):

Very best wishes for recovery and rehab. This sounds like a horrible experience, but I am glad you have finally turned the corner.

In reply to GM StarMaster (msg # 733):

Hope you recover!

903!!!!!!!!!!! That's insane!!! My nephew has diabetes and it can cause a lot of issues when you get sick, as I'm sure you know. This is really good information, thank you for sharing it and I'm really glad you're on the road to recovery!

I like the "Raven" out of Baltimore as a name. Baltimore was quite a major port in the old days, and of course "Raven" explains away the sinister color of our craft as well as being a salute to Poe.

In reply to Grimsby Baskerville (msg # 737):

Exactly why I did it!  ^_^

That there is an American Football team of that name, from that city is totally cooincidental... :p

Glad you picked up on it, Grimsby, as it went completely over my head, which is a testament to the status of my recovery--not quite 100% yet.

Good job, Denholm!

Apologies that I'm late to posting! I didn't realize it had begun again. Truthfully, I'm horribly distracted with health drama, so I'm sorry if I'm a bit of a space case!

Yeah, I'm still recovering, too. Was setting something on the floor last Friday morning, lost my balance and fell over backwards onto the tiled concrete slab. Bruised a back muscle, so I'm in a lot of pain and glued to a heating pad most of the day.

In reply to GM StarMaster (msg # 741):

Deepest sympathy. I do hope the heating pad really helps your back.