Hello, and How This Got Started

Hi there! This blog is, for the moment, an activity to help stave off boredom while I spend 23 out of 24 hours a day in a hospital cot.

Two weeks ago, I was admitted to the emergency room at a local hospital in Washington, DC with excruciating chest pain and an insistent, bloody cough. After about 10 hours of examination, intensive pain medication, and transfer via helicopter to a larger facility, my suspicion was confirmed: I'd managed to tear open my esophagus the previous evening, causing an influx of blood and air into the surrounding tissue. I'd accomplished this injury during rehearsal for my first stage performance as Rex Libris, sword-swallower extraordinaire. Just a few hours after taking the stage for the first time in my adult life, I was a helpless trauma patient, strapped to a gurney and prepped for surgery to drain the contents of my swollen chest. I didn't realize it at the time, but this would be the start of a long, painful, tedious recovery process that would take away my ability to eat, drink, or move for days or months at a time.

Because I'm starting this blog two weeks into the ordeal, I'll have to jump around a bit, first by returning to the events leading up to my injury, and then describing the long intermediate period between my first trip to the ER and my current lodgings in the thoracic recovery ward. In any case, I hope you, whoever you are, find this to be an interesting read.