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Open letter continued, part 2

7/21/2014

3 Comments

 
Part One

I have no memory of several months after my death but I do remember dying.  I'm going to keep most of it to myself.  What I do remember was not unpleasant, peaceful.

I have reconstructed this part of the story with the help of friends.  I found later I had suffered a "bleed" or Brain Aneurysm in my Brain Stem, probably caused by hypertension, if you look it up it almost always causes death.  
On the day this occurred EMS took me to a hospital close by.  I think, but don't know for sure, the EMS team brought me back.  That hospital decided they couldn't treat me and called for University of Michigan hospital's helicopter to transport me to Ann Arbor.  Due to bad weather, the helicopter couldn't fly and I was transported to U OF M by ambulance.  During 7-10 hours of surgery, they opened up the back of my head evacuated the blood, sealed off the bleed and inserted drainage tubes.  Once that was over, they placed me in ICU where I remained in a coma for the next five to six weeks.  The question I'm asked most often is "what's it like being in a coma"?  No clue is my answer.  I do remember emerging from coma, I was very confused and hallucinating.  I'm told I was very violent during the coma, attacking hospital staff, breaking equipment, and yanking out all my tubes.  I'm led to believe that this kind of behavior is not uncommon with a brain injury or as my friend Steve told me later "man you were doing some real Linda Blair shit".  I had to be restrained and have the scars to prove it.  I thought I was in a house with people in white coats trying to murder me, the hallucinations were intense and continued even after I had been moved to a surgical unit.  A tube had been inserted in my throat so communication was almost impossible.  I do know there were friends who sat with me during these times and I can't imagine how bored they must have been.  Here's a tip for anyone who has a loved one with a brain injury,  keep repeating where they are and what happened.  It wasn't until I left the hospital that I knew I was at U OF M,  I thought I was in St. Joe's.  My friend Craig would come by and bring his family,  they are baseball fans and Craig would turn a Tigers game for me and his family to watch.  During the game I kept thinking, they changed baseball, I could not figure out what was going on.
There were things that came back to me right away and other things I had to relearn, brushing my teeth for example.  I had lost my balance so any movement caused severe nausea. Still does.
After seven weeks I was released.

Part Three

3 Comments
Renee
7/21/2014 02:29:28 am

Jeff.. Thank you for sharing.

Reply
Derek link
7/21/2014 03:26:59 am

Thanx, Jeff. When we've seen each other recently, it's been difficult to grasp in those moments what you actually had gone through. This is definitely clarifying for me and I'm definitely interested in your take and your recollections. I hope it provides pieces of clarity for you.

Reply
unome2L
7/21/2014 04:12:55 am

Just when I think I can imagine something like this, I realize that I can't. It's your blog, Jeff...keep it as real as you want. It is interesting, the things as you remember them. The part where you were aggressive'/violent was also your injured brain on the not-so-delicate balance of drugs they gave you. Trying to get the tubes out and trying to get up and leave (while not logical given the circumstances) is the response of the health and life still in you, I think.

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    Vertical asked me to join his blog as a guest expert on "Nuggets" era music... Psychedelic, Garage and Fuzz.  Are there others more qualified?  You bet, but they weren't asked. He's also letting me write about anything I want…  We'll see.

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