Aw, you guys are awesome. Thanks for the all well wishes. Now, here's what's going on...
On Monday after work, I came down with a nasty migraine headache. I didn't think it was a big deal--I've gotten migraines before (routinely, even). But it hadn't gone away by Wednesday, and I daresay it had become intolerably painful by Wednesday night. It felt like I was being stabbed in the back of head every time my heart beat. So we went to a place called FireCare (kind of a 2nd-rate ER) and they told me it was a meio-facial headache and that I was dehydrated. I got a deep-tissue neck massage and had two liters of fluids injected into my arm. Great. But I did feel a little better.
Next time? The pain is just as bad. Went back to FirstCare, and they told me to head to the actual ER. Which I did. The next two days are a big blur. The ER doctor gave me a lumbar puncture and then immediately took me into emergency brain surgery for a brain abcsess. This is serious stuff--it's where bacteria (or fungus) have broken through the blood-brain barrier between the sinuses and the brain and are now sitting directly on the surface of the brain. My brain got scrubbed, lots of spinal fluid was cultured, and I got sent to an ICU room.
That's where I've been ever since. I perpetually hear from my three doctors that "tomorrow" I will have my head tube removed. The head tube is used to equilate (is that a word? I'm still woozy) pressure in my skull but it can also be used to take a sample of spinal fluid OR inject antibiotics directly to the abcsess site. That might happen tomorrow, as my spinal fluid is still "cloudy," or filled with bacteria. I'll know more tomorrow...
Once the head tube is out, I'll be able to move from the ICU to a normal hospital room and start the actual road to recovery. I'll have to learn to walk again (seriously) and my primary doctor will have to figure out a med schedule for me to take home with a CADD pump to give me antibiotics through my PICCline IV. So that's the story. I'll know more tomorrow. Keep pulling for your favorite dinosaur-obsessed staffer, guys. I might not make it to the next Newscast, but I can't imagine why I'd be kept away from later episodes!