 | Current mood:  thankfulCategory: Life Firstly I want to take the time to THANK YOU all for the great concern and the prayers and the support that you have provided my family and I in our little family crisis. I know that every little prayer and thought helped and was very much appreciated. I guess I should explain what happened. Mom was traveling with my Aunt Jeanette and my cousin Jeanelle to Raleigh, North Carolina to go to my other cousin's (Jenna) wedding. They had practically just arrived in the area and went out to do a little last minute shopping. As my mother was trying to get back in my aunt's 4x4 truck (a little taller than your average pickup) and she reached to close the passenger side door, she lost her balance while sitting on the edge of the seat and tumbled "flipped" out of the truck and landed on her head, neck and back. A couple of passerbys stopped to help my aunt with Mom and (rather than call EMS) put Mom in a wheelchair that was in the back of the pickup (my cousin has severe rheumatoid arthritis and needs a wheelchair occasionally) and wheeled her across the street to the nearby ER. Dad received a phone call from the ER doc and I managed to call back and talk to her. At that point she had already been thru x-rays and CT and was immobilized on a backboard with a cervical collar awaiting transport to WakeMed Trauma Center. My brother Matt left from Tennessee immediately and Dad and I left at daybreak on Sunday for the 13 hour drive. Mom was immediately admitted to Neuro ICU and diagnosed with a displacement of the C-6 and C-7 vertebrae. We talked with the neurosurgeon and I was able to look at the CT. The neurodoc stated that it was a miracle that my mother did not have complete lower body paralysis. Both vertebrae were displaced several centimeters and actually the edge of C-7 vertebrae was resting on top of the edge of C-6. According to the doc, Mom was "blessed" with "a generous spinal canal" (the area where the spinal cord goes thru) which resulted in very little neurological deficits. The only thing my mom was complaining about (aside from the neck pain) was bilateral upper arm weakness and pain. Mom spent the weekend horizontal in NICU with about 40 pounds of traction on her head and neck, trying to get the vertebrae to go back into place naturally. Well, naturally, that didn't happen. Mom's first surgery was Monday afternoon and lasted for 4 hours. The neurosurgeon reported that the vertebrae went back into "perfect alignment" and had to insert a titanium plate and screws on the posterior side of C-6&7. Mom spent the next two days recovering from surgery and we finally got her back eating and drinking, though she was in extreme pain (was on a morphine and then a fentanyl PCA pump for a day and a half). On Thursday it was decided that she would go back into surgery on Friday to place a second plate and screws on the anterior aspect of C-6&7, basically to strengthen the neck for the long term and per the doc "would improve her long term recovery significantly". So that surgery went without a hitch. She was transferred out of NICU on Thursday night to a private room in the neuro step-down unit and had her surgery the following morning. As of right now, Mom is recovering tremendously (though Dad would believe otherwise). I guess this paramedic stuff doesn't hurt. It was a bit tough with it being my mom and all, but I was able to stay objective and managed to keep both Mom and Dad informed of all the different aspects of care and what to expect and etcetera. Mom is almost her sassy self. She was to remain horizontal until Saturday and gradually be allowed to sit up. Just talked to Dad a little while ago and Mom was sitting up, they had removed her catheter and got her standing and walking a little bit this morning. Everything is progressing very nicely from my point of view. Wild guess, but I think Mom will be able to return home late next week or so. Mom, Dad and I all decided that I should probably get my butt back to work so I managed to grab a flight on Saturday. I spent the rest of the day with my Aunt Jeanette and Jeanelle (who had hip surgery on Wednesday) at UofM Hospital. I just got back home about an hour and a half ago. Again, thank you for all your prayers and thoughts. They were very much appreciated. Once again, I know without a doubt that I have the VERY BEST family and friends that a man could ever hope for. Love you all!!! Mikey 21:01 2 Kudos -------------------------------------- Wow, and I thought my situation was bad! Pleas let your mom know I am thinking of her... And tell dad not to worry too much... Let them both know how much I love them, and love you. I will place a blog for my circumsances because this is not the place for it. Posted by Andi on [17 Aug 2008 | Sunday] - 20:1Love you, Mike... Sonja -------------------------------------- Mikey, I had no clue but I am so glad your mom is ok. I will be praying for her and your family. Hang in there.. Love, Brenda Posted by BRENDA on [17 Aug 2008 | Sunday] - 21:19--------------------------------------- Mikey Posted by Duckstr on [17 Aug 2008 | Sunday] - 21:30So sorry to hear about your mom. I will say a prayer for her. I see her alot at Sunnybrook for the fundraiser events as of late. I hope she has a speedy recovery and is back to her "sassy" self as soon as possible. I will keep everyone in my thoughts. Wishing you and your mom the best. John |
Monday, June 15, 2009
Thank You All SO VERY MUCH!!!
My 40th Birthday...and My New House!
| Current mood: relievedCategory: Life First, let me apologize to everyone out there for not writing more lately, but if you're one of those that actually knows what's been going on, Bless you for understanding. If you're not...please read on with this one caveat: If you're approaching a milestone birthday, I got one word for you...Beware!
Lemmee tell you about my birthday…it wasn't exactly what I expected it to be. I don't know how I survived. Maybe good genes or a whole lot of patience. I dunno. I do know that I think a lesser person would've run down the street screaming like he was on fire and flung themselves in front of a semi. Believe me...I thought about it. Anyways...on with the story.
I took the day off from work to do my normal birthday stuff (go to the Secretary of State's, etc.). Other things on the docket that morning included getting my homeowner's insurance, a union grievance meeting at work at 2 pm and teaching the EMT class at work from 6-10 pm. I decided to get the easy stuff out of the way first. Off to the Secretary of State's office!
Well, it seemed all good at first glance. Nobody waiting in line. Cool! I'll be done in no time and I might actually have some time to sit around and do nothing for a little while today. I had no problem re-registering my truck, but I also had to renew my driver's license. Well, apparently, now they do a check on a national driver's database when you renew your license. And guess what…something came up. An incident in I call the contact number and then I remember what happened. I was involved in an accident back in 1988 in upstate NY. A couple of friends and I went up to I need a license. Secretary of State says they can't do squat until the incident in NY is cleared off of my record. I need a license so I can go to work, so I can work and also because I need a valid ID for that Friday because I'm closing on my house. I leave the SOS office and go home to tell my dad what's going on. I download the form and get it ready to mail. While I'm talking with my dad, I get a phone call from my soon-to-be roommate, telling me to get my ass over to my house (the one that I'm buying and closing on Friday). I jump in my truck and blaze over there (two miles away). My roommate meets me at the door, telling me this story: She came over to the house to finish painting her room and the first thing she sees is one of the builders there at the house. Just to back up a second; my dad owns the property (has the mortgage and the lien), and a real good friend of ours (Mark) along with a friend of his (Pete) did most of the rebuilding of the house. They went in on the deal together to basically try to make some money (buy a fix-it-upper, redo it and resell it for a profit). Well, the housing market went south and they couldn't sell. Dad basically begged me to buy the house from him to salvage whatever he could from the deal. He was losing over $2000 a month and was already $20,000 in the hole. The builders weren't going to do much better. They were going to lose about $15,000 a piece. But, that's better than losing more than what they were already. Ok…back to the story. Pete is over at the house. The first thing my friend sees is his minivan and him shoveling stuff into it. My friend runs into the house to use the bathroom and discovers that the electricity isn't working (as was previously). She goes back out to talk to Pete and asks him about the electricity not working and he tells her that he'll look into it. Anyways, as soon as she turns her back, he jumps into his van and takes off like a bat outta hell. Then she goes back into the house, figures out why, and calls me. I walk into the house to discover that all of the kitchen cupboard drawers, the cupboard doors, the garbage disposal, the sink fixtures and the lighting fixtures (in the kitchen and the three baths) are all gone! I go downstairs and discover that the circuit breaker box for the electricity is gone! The electric garage door opener is gone (so I can't get into the garage)! I was too dumbfounded to be flaming pissed. WTF!!!! The first thing I did was call Dad up and let him know what was going on. As soon as I hang up with him, Dad's on the phone with Mark wondering what the hell is going on. I'm taking pictures of everything missing and making a list. My roomie comes back to the house and I get her and her friend (who also witnessed the incident with Pete) to write a statement, just in case. Meanwhile I'm still trying to figure out what to do about my driver's license. I had gotten online at the State of Also about the same time, I realize that there's just too much going on right now. I call up the boss and my union representative and tell them I have to cancel the grievance meeting. I also cancel my teaching stint, just in case. This day just got a whole lot longer. Dad finally calls back and said he finally got a hold of Mark and Mark called Pete and then Mark called Dad back. Basically, Pete wasn't happy with the deal he's gonna be getting by selling the house (apparently he wants to lose even more money), so apparently, we decide that this (stealing everything—and probably more if my roomie hadn't interrupted him) was his way of blackmailing my dad for a better deal. Dad finally makes it over to the house to see the damage and then we also find one of those flyers that has all the house information on it for potential sellers and the latest one has Pete as the seller-owner and he was the person that reduced the price of the house from $194,500 (my Dad's original asking price) to the present $180,000. So once again, Pete was the one that slit his own throat by lowering the price anyways. We're starting to conclude that Pete's not the sharpest tool in the shed. Anyways, Dad and I finally decided that it wouldn't hurt to call the police and at least get the ball rolling. Dad's already told Mark to tell Pete that there will be no negotiations until the house is back to it's original condition or he's going right to jail. Do not pass go, do not collect $200. In the midst of all this, I'm still freaking out about my license. So Dad and I decide that we need to call in the big guns. Boy, I'll tell you it is a good thing we got our noses in politics. We always try to help during the campaign seasons and we figure that our State Representative would be a good first choice. So I call up the office and talk to the legislative aide (who it turns out is a good friend of the family) and tell him my story. He takes my information and says it might take a bit of time (since it's now about 3 pm) but he'll get back to me. A police officer finally shows up and we tell him the story, but we decide that we'll hold off for now on the police report and if we need to do anything about it, just to bring the pictures, statements and everything down to the police station and they'll proceed. We went back to my parents, downloaded all the photos and then ran over to the post office to stand in line for a half-hour. I send the form next-day priority mail to New York DMV and then a trip over to Home Depot to buy some new locks. The last thing we did on my birthday was change the locks on all the doors of my new house, finishing up about 8 pm. The next day (Thursday) started just a little bit less hectic. Dad was already on the phone with Mark and Pete by the time I got rolling. He had scheduled a quick meeting with both of them already that morning. Basically, the same as before: Pete puts everything back by 5 pm or he's going to jail. No negotiating. Nothing. I'm off and running up to State Farm to get my homeowner's insurance, but first a quick stop at the house to let Mark and Pete into the house so they can start putting everything back. After I let them in, I'm off to State Farm. I get a call from Dad stating that the legislative aide from the State Representative's office just called and told me to go to the Secretary of State's office and have them call a phone number (that he provided) and talk to a lady at the other end. So, ok, everything's starting to look up. I get to the State Farm office; find out my agent is gone to lunch. So I take the time to run to downtown During all these goings-ons I'm keeping Nicole updated and we decide to meet up for lunch. She's at the doctor's office (down in my neck of the woods) and I'm up in her territory. We decide to meet up at Applebee's up near her house. While I'm waiting for her I decide to do a little window shopping while I'm waiting. I run over to the furniture store (Art Van's) to do a little browsing. I walk thru the door and suddenly wish I had a million dollars. I just about fell in love with the set sitting right in front of me right inside the doors. Just a gorgeous four-poster bedroom set with kitchen and sofa sets to match! All told probably 6-7 grand. Obviously, I can't afford it right now so I do some asking and get a brochure on the set so hopefully one day I'll be able to get it. I wish I would've gotten some pictures of the set. Modern with an antique feel to it. Fit me to a tee. Off to Applebee's. Get there a little early and get myself a beer. Finally! Didn't have any Guinness so I have to settle for a Killian's tall. Nicole finally arrives and gives me my birthday card. What a hoot! Star Wars themed…you know the opening lines: "A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away…." Open the card to hear the Star Wars theme in music and the punch line…"You were born!" Best card I've ever gotten from her! Got a good laugh from that one. Anyways we both had a great lunch with good conversation and good food. After that, I ran back towards my house to find that Mark and Pete had finished putting everything back. Well, mostly, anyways. Missing a couple of light bulbs and the sink leaked a little bit. After that, back to Medstar to teach the paramedic class for the evening. Friday morning found myself back at Medstar to teach the 800 MHz radio operator class for the latest group of new-hires. Then off to sign on my house. At 3:56, I was a new homeowner and my Mom and Dad were ecstatic that the gorilla was finally off their back. Me? I guess my first thought was…"Wow!" As soon as I signed the papers, I was off again to the city offices to file my paperwork and then off to teach again that evening. My students got their (rather amusing) explanation of why I couldn't teach on Wednesday. I think I was forgiven. Epilogue: That's my story and I'm sticking to it! Sorry for the verbosity. I get crazy like that sometimes.
It's now been a month to the day that I signed on my house and moved my butt into my house. The place looks like a demilitarized zone on a daily basis, but I'm slowly getting my stuff unpacked and stowed away. My first meal was spaghetti with homemade sauce. No I don't have a recipe…It's on the spot, but it was damn good! Actually, most of my meals are home cooked…I'm not much of a TV dinner guy. I got Mom and Dad to thank for that. All those years of spending time in the kitchen are finally starting to pay off. No offense to anyone else (especially my cousin who's the personal chef of Mr. Joe Dumars) but, I got dibs on the best cook on the planet! Learned how to cook from Mom and how to bake from Dad (not that Mom can't bake, mind you…she can bake like Betty Crocker!), but Dad can get the job done too! I'll say this much about being a new homeowner. It's a different ride. Not that I was Mr. Irresponsibility by any stretch of the imagination, but now it's a bit more; sometimes it feels like I bit off more than I can chew (and obviously, I can chew a lot!). Anyways, you guys have been clamoring for pictures of my house. So, don't say I didn't warn you….without further ado…my house!
Me signing my life away. At least it was for a good cause!
Mom and Dad were especially happy!!! Look at them! All serious!
My lil' ol' house! Probably can't see the weeds in the flowerbeds...rest assured, they're there!
The back deck. Not much to look at but it's a deck!
One view of the kitchen
God Bless "Me...you...everybody! Everybody!" Mikey 20:32 ---------------------------------------- Only you Mikey!!! The house looks great. Whats for dinner Drew and I are hungry? Love ya nicole Posted by Nicole on [02 Jun 2007 | Saturday] - 00:28-------------------------------------------- congrats on the house...Let me know well ahead of time about the house warming so that I can send you a gift Posted by Andi on [02 Jun 2007 | Saturday] - 20:48------------------------------------------ Mikey! Posted by Duckstr on [13 Jun 2007 | Wednesday] - 18:55Congratulations on your new purchase! Welcome to the debtors club!!!! What a feelin! Hey also, by the way, happy 40th you old man! Glad you were first....it was cool to see your parents in the pics too. I haven't seen them in years! They look great. Anyhow, where is this purchase at? Is it in our wonderful St. Clair Shores? All the best! john |
Have a Blessed Thanksgiving!
| Current mood: thankfulCategory: Life Just wanted to wish all a very Blessed Thanksgiving! Every day I am appreciative and give thanks for what I have, the family and friends that I love, the job that I have and especially love, the community that I live in and the country that allows me to do everything I want to do. Thanksgiving is but once a year, a reflection of everything that all of us should be thankful for not just in the past year, but for every day of our lives. I am. Your presence in my life is a blessing. Just wanted all of you to know. God Bless! 13:39 |
You Never Know Who You'll Meet
| Current mood:  contemplative Category: Jobs, Work, Careers Crazy story. I had to come all the way back home just to write this (well, not really...I had to teach, too). Anyways, I was up north (Barton City) like I said I was going to do. My parents and most of my aunts and uncles all had a swell time talking and reminiscing about the old days when they were growing up. Anyways, mid-Sunday, they all headed back home, leaving my Uncle Paul and I to fend for ourselves for the day. First day of the NFL football season, seemed pretty easy to fend for. After the Lion's game, we headed to Mikado, where we had gone to church earlier that day, but also because there also happened to be an American Legion Post there. My uncle is prior Navy as well, and we figured to grab a few beers. We walked in, there is about ten people huddled around the bar with only two seats left, way back in the far corner of the bar. We sat down at the bar and ordered a couple beers. The guy next to me introduces himself as Dennis, and then proceeds to introduce us to everybody else at the bar. Really friendly fellow, exactly what you'd expect in a one-horse town like Mikado. Dennis owns a local business up there and lives up there all year round. He mentioned that he was prior Navy as well, and we started chatting like we had known each other for years. I somehow mentioned that I was a paramedic and Dennis finally launched into "my story". I won't be able to do it justice, but it's something I just had to tell. Dennis said he started his Navy career (10 years all told) at boot camp in San Diego way back in the late 50's. After that he went to Corpsman school, where he obviously became a corpsman (read: military paramedic for those of you that don't know). After that, his first duty station was to be a submarine, the USS Thresher, one of the first nuclear submarines ever built. Due to a flight scheduling problem with TWA, he made it to Maine to join the crew just a tad late. Good thing too, because the Thresher, after going out on sea trials without Dennis, never came back. It was one of two US Navy nuclear submarines that went down with all hands aboard. The Scorpion was the other submarine that was lost. Both went down relatively around the same time in the early 60's. The US Navy, after both disasters, revamped a couple of major programs that they believe was the cause of both sinkings. The US Navy has not had a problem since then and has since not lost a nuclear ship or submarine. It also just so happens that my Uncle Paul was on one of the ships that was sent out to look for the Thresher after it went down. Weird coincidence! Dennis was reassigned (he never got on a submarine the rest of his career) to a Marine unit and saw duty as a corpsman/medic in Vietnam. He was doing helivacs, riding the side baskets of helicopters, caring for his injured. He gave me a unique perspective to really think about. Anybody in our line of work knows how amazed some of these docs and nurses are when we bring a patient after we intubated the patient in a snowbank in the middle of the night or lying in vomit (or worse) or having gotten large bore IV's while driving pell-mell through the streets. Some of these nurses have a hard enough time getting a 20 or a 22 gage IV in an AC. Some of these docs can't or couldn't intubate in a nice clean and sterile ER (with lots of lights). We do the impossible. Well, I think Dennis did it one better. He used to do all that, including surgical airways and other field surgeries, while hanging in a patient's helo basket while flying through the air! Perspective is everything! He eventually got out and came back to Michigan where he became a police officer in Detroit. He then joined Detroit FD as a firefighter and when Detroit EMS split off from FD, he became an EMT and a paramedic. He was one of the first paramedics in the State of Michigan. He also described a CPR assist device designed by himself and a few other EMT's/medics that basically incorporated a belt that alternately tightened and loosened (compressing the chest) using a Briggs and Stratton 1 1/2 HP gasoline motor that sat on top of the patient during CPR. He said it worked pretty good except for the (obvious) carbon monoxide poisoning that some of them got. It became fairly obvious to me over the course of our two hour conversation that he was particularly proud to have done what he did over the course of his life. He has no regrets and he made the most out of the life he was given. To really give it perspective, imagine if TWA hadn't screwed up his flight plans and he had gotten on board the Thresher. Nobody would've been there hanging from a helicoptor saving a fellow soldier's life as he did. Nobody would've been there to pull trapped people out of burning buildings or destroyed cars as he did. Nobody would've been there to help deliver the children he helped deliver. Nobody would've been there to administer CPR, intubate, defibrillate and administer drugs to the people he gave a new lease on life to, and nobody would've driven the ambulance to the hospital because he wouldn't have been there. I'm not a big believer in fate or destiny, but it appears to me that there was a reason there were only two seats left at the back of the bar, next to a certain kindly gentleman in a small town called Mikado..... Dennis, may the wind be at your back and the sun in your face! Respectfully, Mikey |
My Cuppa Coffee II - Grandfathers and families
| Current mood: contemplative Category: Life So strange to see a bulletin from Sarah about the loss of her grandfather today. I truly feel her loss as I was also particularly close to my Grandpa Ulrich (who I was named after). I can still vividly recall many "special moments" even though it's been over 20 years since they departed. Sarah, I hope you have many vivid memories of your Grandpa many years down the road. I also transported a friend's grandfather to MCRMC ER earlier today at their specific request. I have known her family for the past ten years and her grandfather and I have had a few beers and chatted over the years. She was particularly emotional. At first, as I saw her as we approached her grandfather's house, she was tired, scared, and upset. She felt very relieved that someone who she trusted implicitly would be caring for her grandfather. She doesn't trust too many people, but she trusts me to make sure that her family is well taken care of. Crazy as all this seems, my Uncle Paul, spending the summer with us, asked me about my Grandpa's briefcase tonight. My Dad and his brothers and sisters (Uncle Paul is his older brother) try to get together once a month for dinner and to catch up. Well, apparently one of the siblings asked about the briefcase. Grandpa's briefcase holds his life's work. The family tree. I've had the briefcase for several years (probably going on ten, now that I think about it). I had inherited my grandfather's quest to trace the family tree and received it (I'd say inherited since I'm named after Grandpa and none of my other 28 cousins wanted to do it). I did a little bit of work on it way back when, but it has been sitting in my closet for the better part of those ten years, mainly because life happened and priorities changed. So, for the better part of the last couple of hours, we've been reminiscing about Grandpa and Grandma and wondering about the whole family tree thing. Those vivid memories came flooding back. They were very welcome. Cosmic forces aligning or coincidence, it just doesn't really matter. What I do find (probably so not) amazing is that those of us in our profession have such a connection with our extended families and those of our friends. Unless I'm just unique in that respect, which I sincerely doubt. It seems (to me anyways) that I have some sort of need to not only know my friends, but to know their family as well. I guess I would categorize it as a desire or a need or requirement or something to that effect. I don't know all of my friends families, but those I do know, I consider to be an extension of my friend(s) and therefore it is almost an obligation (on my part) to get to know them as well. And I've done my best to do that, partly because of that obligation, partly because I just want to. Having been summarily "adopted" by Nicole's family, Kimmy's family, and John's family (see my history); I feel particularly blessed and honored. "Uncle Mikey" to so many friend's children is a honorary I feel particularly proud of. And I'll be damned to have it any other way. If I were to have a legacy that I'd be proud of passing on to my children and to history, it wouldn't be necessarily that I was a paramedic and I touched many lives being a paramedic, but that I touched so many lives and I was a part of those lives, regardless of the reason. I also sometimes wonder whether I'm setting myself up for much sadness and grief when those friends and their family members pass away. I guess I might. But I also know that that would only be an excuse. My life is much more enjoyable and fulfilling to be a part of their lives and if that's all that it means then I want to be that person. To "make a difference" whether it's as a paramedic or as "Uncle Mikey." God Bless you all, Uncle Mikey |