My apologies for my extended absence · 7:37pm Aug 7th, 2013
Good evening to you all! To those who have kept up with OPD&T I owe you all an apology and an explanation. The truth is I have started on the next chapter; however, I have only made it a few thousand words into it. And that it not be choice, but rather unfortunate circumstances. To elaborate on the matter, several weeks ago I was at the gym and I began to notice a tremor in my right arm extending down into my hand. I though very little of it at the time; however, I should have apparently been a bit more proactive about it. The next day, I wasn't feeling 100%, though not bad enough to warrant missing a workout, or work itself for that matter. I went to the gym, and about half way through I found that I could hold weight in my R hand for extended periods of time. My grip would fail only after a few seconds, and the tremors were much worse. I also found that coordinating my lifts was becoming more and more difficult. I went to work that evening, and had a bit of trouble navigating through streets that I've known like the back of my hand for several years. Literally, I could get anyone through my city to anywhere they want to go without so much as a cardinal direction of travel. My partner noticed this and called us out of service. He took me to the ER and fortunately a physician I'm good friends with agreed to see me on the spot. It started with a routine exam (squeeze my fingers, look at the light, vital signs, walk a straight line). When my grip strength wasn't equal and I could not coordinate my steps to walk straight, it turned to blood work. My WBC count was greatly elevated as were my Lymphocytes. Well, blood work turned to CT, which turned to MRI, which turned to a stay over night. The next morning, I apparently wasn't responsive. I was told that I tried to talk and get out of bed, that I couldn't coordinate my legs to move together, and that my speech was slurred and garbled. They assumed I had a CVA and took me for another CT which did not reveal a bleed; but, it did reveal fluid around my brain. After more tests, I was diagnosed with Acute Disseminated Encephalomyelitis, or swelling within my brain resulting from a bacterial infection. I've been out of sorts for quite some time, and was apparently unresponsive for around the first week or so. The next few weeks were spent trying to keep the swelling from returning, as well as removing the bacterial infection that caused it in the first place. It took quite some time; however, I'm finally starting to return to normal. I've been back at work for the last two weeks, and finally have the capacity for abstract thought again (lol). The medications they've had me on have just made me so worn out that I just haven't had it in me to write as of late. But, I hope to change all that soon!
Holy Shit!
This was definitely not what I expected to see when I decided to check in on the 'incomplete but hasn't updated in forever' fics in my favourites list! I would make an attempt at putting something sympathetic, but I haven't experienced anything similar to what you have described. I'm sorry you got sick, and I wish you a speedy recovery!