(Apologies for typos, spelling errors, poor sentence construction etc. This will be explained later).

My blog posts are infrequent, but when I do post it seems like I have something eventful to report and muse on. This is eventful.

I was grumbling about not being able to find a partner to climb outside with me over the long Memorial Day weekend (the previous Saturday to Monday). I was also experiencing very severe back pain (I could not stand anywhere near vertical) which I attributed to poor form while deadlifting. This continued into Saturday and Sunday, along with various waves of having difficulty with balance, walking; forgetfulness and general spaciness. These symptoms overlapped with a previous drug interaction I had between one of my usual medications and an antibiotic I had received from the dentist. Thus we thought if we can identify the one variable that changed and remove it, my symptoms would clear. This did not happen.  After consecutive days of being a pained, confused, teetering mess, Scott and I decided this might just be a bad UTI; why don’t we go to the ER of the nearby Mount Auburn Hospital, get some antibiotics, and be on our way. Certainly with plenty of time for Scott’s Monday late night flight to SF that evening.

I made my way to the ER, walking wobbly but still able to walk myself in. After a short wait, we were escorted in, had my temperature checked and sat waiting to be diagnosed and treated. I did indeed have a UTI and a very small kidney stone in my left kidney. To relieve the blockage, a stent was inserted (under general anesthesia) and I was brought up to the hospital floors for what we thought would be an overnight stay. Scott continued with his travel plans, encouraged by me and the doctors.

Then, things deteriorated very quickly. My blood pressure fell to 50/25, my heart rate was up at 150 bpm….and that is when I was rushed to the ICU for the second time in my life.