My stupidity and what happens when you drown.

So, as I had stated previously, I was drinking. Alot. Working part time during the day, and drinking at night. The beer was a way for me to feel better about the past few years, and I felt pretty good. Then there was that morning I spoke about where I woke up feeling horrible. I mean just destroyed. I had never EVER felt like this after drinking. I decided it was time to cut back, or even stop.

I had moved into a new home, and my life was pretty good. I was dating Tina, and things had turned around for me. I had forgot all about what the doctors had told me about keeping myself rested so I wouldn't get sick again. Well, working my ass off and the alcohol had slowly been straining my system and I didn't realize it.

You see, the more distance you put between the GBS, the better your chances are of it NOT coming back. I of course decided to push these limits, and I started getting fatigued. Everyday it got worse.

One morning, Tina was at work, and I woke up feeling pretty sick. I couldn't catch my breath and I was REALLY lightheaded. I tried to relax and blow it off, but it was starting to scare me. I was having flashbacks to that day in 1999. I of course started to panic, which made thing ten times worse.

I called the ambulance. there was no way I could make it to the ER myself. I called Tina at work and told her what was happening. Without blinking an eye, she left work and got there the SAME time the ambulance did. That was 8 miles!  they loaded me up, and did all the things that EMTs do. IV, blood, and joking around making me feel better.

I spent 3 days in the hospital in the cardio unit. After all of the tests, they discovered I had Idiopathic Cardiomyopathy. No blockages, no heart attack, just an unexplained enlargement of my heart. And if I wasn't careful, it was going to kill me. Now at this point, they were not sure if they could tie it into the GBS because of how rare it was to have the heart affected in that way.

I went home knowing a change had to be made. This also caused my doctor to remove me from work, and put me on permanent disability. Now that sucked. I loved to work. I loved doing what I did. But now, nothing. It was then I decided to jump into my computer business full time. At least it wasn't to stressful.

December of 2009. I had a wonderful wife and 2 beautiful children. I had been improving, or so I thought. Pneumonia hit me it of the blue, and I went to the ER in Charlevoix. They put me in for 3 days, and ran some tests. I was then referred to another cardiologist. Surprise! My heart had been slowly failing due to the enlargement of my heart. The pace it was beating at was erratic, and there was only one way to get it under control.

2 weeks later, I had a pacemaker installed and they were finally able to tie in my heart problems with the GBS. A rare occurrence indeed. Wow, did I feel special!

I of course being a moron, figured I was now bionic, and I could do anything!

Dumbass.

February 2010. I got sick, and I mean sick. Rob and George Scholey, Bryan Winegar, Patrick Mackay and my self were having our annual Super Bowl party. I started out feeling good, but I went downhill quick. I couldn't make it. I had to go home because I had no energy, and I was feeling REALLY cruddy. This was only the second time since 1990 I had missed a Super Bowl with my friends. I spent 3 days in bed, and it only got worse. I went into a coughing fit that I could not recover from. I tried to breath, and almost nothing happened. I panicked and Tina called 911. It took 2 tries due to the "magic" of Magic Jack. The ambulance rushed to our home as I was basically passing out from lack of oxygen. They got there lightning fast. I can never praise the EMT's in Charlevoix. They are the hands down best group of guys that watch over us. They had to come back into our bedroom to get me because I couldn't move.

Right before I blacked out, I remember seeing my daughter sitting on the couch with my sister in law crying. I told her I loved her, and I would be home soon. She waved to me through her tears.

That was all I remember until I got to the ER.

What happens next? Did I get a keg installed in my room? Was there an Asian nurse? Tune in tomorrow and find out what it's like to have the equivalent of 3 gallons of milk drained from your body in just 5 day!