January 20th, 2008

Sunday, January 20th, 2008 was the day my life would change forever. You will have to excuse me, because as I am sure you can understand, quite a bit of it is a blur. I hadn't been feeling well for a few days the week leading up to that weekend. However, by Saturday I felt well enough to attend basketball games at my alma mater, Moravian College, and an alumni reception afterward

Anyway, Sunday I woke up feeling quite ill. But I dragged my butt into work at Schuylkill Valley Sports in Allentown. Honestly, I will never really know how I made it through that shift. I had two high school students working with me -- Erika and Dave. They basically ran the store that day. I will always remember them and forever be grateful to them for that.

After work, my dad picked me up. Dave and Erika rode with us across the mall parking lot to the bank to drop the deposit in the overnight box. Then Dad drove me home. We left my car at the mall. I think my dad and his friend picked it up later that week.

Dad was going to drive me straight to the hospital, but I do remember suggesting to him that I go in an ambulance so that I would be seen sooner.  I knew it could take a while going through an emergency department waiting room.  So we went home and called 9-1-1.  The nearest hospital to the apartment where my parents and I lived was Lehigh Valley Hospital-Muhlenberg.  It was only a mile away.  In retrospect, I was fortunate to be taken there.  It would have a profound impact on my future, which I will write more about in future blog entries.

I don't remember a whole lot that happened once I got to the hospital. I do remember many people surrounding me in my little room in the ER. Later, I remember realizing I had been taken to the Intensive Care Unit. I recall quite clearly that I wasn't allowed anything to eat or drink for quite a while, and when a doctor finally allowed me to have some water, I called him a "rock star".

I will write more about that first hospital stay, as well as a couple others that year and some other health complications related to diabetes, in upcoming entries.  Thank you for reading this blog.