Ok guys, we can thank Dr. J* for this post, because if it wasn't for him I'd be updating my will about now instead of updating this Ride Report.
Synopsis: Infected root canal when I started this trip led to a sinus and possibly bone infection that spread through my skull. I was treated, it came back, treated again, etc. A day after finishing two different 'solutions' in Dec., things got a little complicated.
New Years Day, not so bad:
2 days later:
At this point, Dr. J, who had inquired about how it was going (and who sensed that the level of my concern was probably not appropriate) responded with explicit clarity:
30 min. later my ass was out the door and a knife was in my anesthetic-free eye (it's quicker, builds character); an outpouring of relief followed and flowed.
Immediate problem solved, but the possibility of the infection spreading (or already having spread) to behind eye and into brain needed attention. (Loss of vision and life soon follow.)
Couple sleepless nights like this:
And then....
I woke up in the morning able to actually open my eye and see in three dimensions. I'll never again underestimate the benefits and pleasures of stereoscopic vision. Was discharged tonight. Six weeks of treatment, still will probably need surgery. Oh and my olfactory nerve didn't survive the attack. No more smell of petrol in the afternoon, or napalm in the morning, for me: my sense of smell will, in all likelihood, has been abolished (so they say).
*For those who haven't been introduced to Dr. J [from page 44 of my
Coast to Coast Ride Report]:
Been here in NY now for a week. And it's been a long week, too, sometime time dilates because of boredom and anticipation (think of how slowly minutes pass while waiting to get out of a plane) but sometimes time slows because life is good, really good. The hero of the New York chapter has been, is--and always will be--a man I call Dr. J. The guy is a complete oxymoron, a combination of seemingly disparate, contradictory and exclusionary qualities all wrapped into one. He's got musculature that puts him in a category of the Incredible Hulk, an intellect that puts him well into Professor X/genius territory, has enough dare-devil and risk-taking stories to last a lifetime (including racing in Grand Am), but also, oh, happens to be a surgeon"¦.you name it and he's done it. And if you've lusted after it he's probably owned it, too (including a boss GT3 RS). But god damn if he also isn't the humblest, nicest, most sincere, and unaffected guy you've ever met (contrasts nicely with a NY accent that could easily land him in a role of baritone mob boss in a Coppola Mafia Trilogy). In short, he's the kind of guy who could destroy competitors as easily on a track (or in a fight) as easily as he could dispatch contenders on Jeopardy. If there was a zombie apocalypse or a hostile alien invasion or WWIII, he's the guy I'd call first.
