I have received a lot of inquiries as to my departure from work the last few weeks and I thank everyone for your concerns. It has been some time since I’ve posted, but for good reason, as our world was turned upside down with some health issues that Donnie is experiencing. I am posting this as a warning to others that life is fragile and you’re not immune to unexpected conditions that can pounce on anyone without notice.  

2024 did not start the way we wanted it too or expected.

 A couple of weeks ago Donnie and I made our way out to supper and after a few hours at home, Donnie was getting chills and didn’t feel well, so it was off to bed for her. I thought maybe it was a bad meal and maybe a touch of food poisoning. Come the morning, she still wasn’t herself and not eating. We chalked it up to a case of the flu bug as she didn’t have a fever…. yet. The second day I got scared because she was in a trance- like coma, with a case of shock/stupor and serious discomfort with labored breathing. Saturday morning there was no improvement, and she was still in her stupor-like condition this time with a fever. It was time for an 811 Public Health call followed up with a 911 dialing. Shout out to the EMS crew that picked her up and got her to emergency at the General. They were very gentle and efficient.

Donnie was admitted immediately to the emergency ward where the Nurses and Doctors started to administer blood work to find out what she was experiencing and how it was affecting her health. It came to be that she had the invasive Strain A Streptococcus virus that didn’t affect her throat but attacked and infected her blood system and joints. In very rare cases, Group A strep can cause necrotizing fasciitis, a flesh-eating disease; meningitis; cerebral spinal infection; toxic shock syndrome, which causes multi-organ failure; low blood pressure and kidney failure.  We had never seen anything like it. Dangerous and scary. I’ve been with my love for over 33 years this June and I know that she has a very high tolerance to pain, but when they used potassium in her drip to protect her from heart attacks, she said she screamed like never before because of the pain. It must be bad to make her scream in pain. Antibiotics are the only cure for this. Amputation is required for severe cases which fortunately Donnie has not needed.

This battle is long from being over as Donnie is recovering now at home and we are in a wait and see pattern to see if further steps need to be taken. She still has swelling in one foot and her elbow is also bothering her. The pain is still there in her joints, but time is what is needed right now. We are in the holding pattern for now.

On another note… I have been to the hospital on a few occasions myself and things went like clockwork. Unfortunately, that was not the case for Donnie. You would not believe the chaos going on at our hospitals unless you saw it for yourself. The best terminology would be “overwhelming”. The emergency rooms were packed along with the halls and waiting rooms. It was pure chaos with emergency personnel, police, correctional officers, and many patients. The Nurses, all of them, apart from one, were fantastic and very diligent and caring. Thank You Bonnie Bear for all you did for Donnie.

Also, to Randene and Anne for the comforting attention you gave to Donnie in a time of despair. You 3 went above and beyond the call of duty. We appreciate you. Thank You to our Harvard Media family for the beautiful flowers and kind words for Donnie.

I hope you or your loved ones don’t have to go to the emergency ward because on any given day there are no guarantees on what kind of care you’ll receive or the timeline you’ll be given. I don’t know what needs to be done with our health system, but this one is broken and that’s a topic for another day.