Mick McKellar Update -- Day +2684

Want to be an Ambulance

I was watching a cute video this afternoon, a dog listened to an ambulance passing his place, and then he began to howl and to imitate the ambulance sound -- not very well, but after all -- he IS a dog! The video was titled: When I Grow Up, I Want to be an Ambulance.  After staring at his fuzzy, earnest face doing his best to be an ambulance, my heart went out to the fellow and I suddenly felt a strange sort of empathy for his plight. He wants to help, and he does his best with his limited tool set.

Recently, I had several opportunities to feel the need to be an ambulance myself. First, was the night of the storm. I could tell that terrible things were happening outside, after all, it just doesn't rain like that around here very often. We were lucky that our house is up here in Florida Location, well above any flood plains and far above any ravines opening on the hills down to Lake Linden below us. The nearby wetland area absorbed most of the water falling on our hill and only about two inches of it ended up in our old basement -- just enough to shut off the water heater and ruin a few stored boards and boxes. Nothing we could not afford to lose out of laziness -- they were supposed to be on blocks or pallets.

I wanted to be an ambulance -- to run out the door with my lights flashing and my siren roaring so that I could be a first-responder and help my neighbors down the hill. But, no. Instead, I went into the hospital myself with an organizing pneumonia and after an apparent TIA (Transient Ischemic Attack) -- a mini-stroke that left me coughing and babbling the word "brain" over and over for the balance of the day. Two and a half days, I remained in Intensive Care as my system slowly inched its way toward normalcy. My SPO2 was down around 80% (dangerously low) and my CO2 level was a bit too high -- probably causing the TIA.

I'm home again and just finished a course of very strong antibiotics to kill the pneumonia. Home oxygen is once again part of my life. I am still chaffing to be an ambulance and help folks with their recovery, but my efforts all exist within the confines of my oxygen tube and nasal cannula. If I want to roam a bit, I have to suit up with my fancy oxygen tank and sporty short cannula, and take my tank for a walk. Some ambulance, eh?

Maybe I should just howl a bit. I'm certain Dante would join me, and we can be ambulances together...

Mick