In The Navy (FT “C” School), Part 4

So I was placed back in my room at the Hospital. I don’t remember anything about the trip back, I was mostly unconscious. I felt sicker than usual for at least another full day from the barium. Then, back at the Navy Hospital, a smiling Doctor came in to tell me what they had found.

They had found an abscess attached to my right Kidney. If you are keen on medical terminology, read this and see how deadly these things are. In short, it's a big lump of infection.
http://www.emedicine.com/MED/topic2844.htm.

I was scheduled for surgery a few days later to remove it. In the mean time, I was escalated from a star to the president of the patients in the Hospital. I had Doctors and attendees strolling in to just prod me, for the most part, about every 30 minutes. They were bringing in medical staff from other bases just to “feel” me, which I said before, hurt like hell. I figured it might help someone else down the road, so I didn’t complain too much. That was until some dumb ass oaf came in and dug his hands so hard into my side that I smacked him on the face, more of a closed fist slap. He left in a hurry, not saying a damn word after he looked at my face. I would have killed him on the spot had he tried to touch me again. I actually sat up on my own for the first time in at least a week, an adrenalin rush can do wonders.

I found out from my Doc that they only see one or two of these in a whole year on average, so it was really rare. He explained how it starts as an infection in the blood stream, from some foreign source and then as the kidney filters the blood, the infected stuff builds up around the area. He told me a typical cause is a wound like a puncture, which had me thinking about the beach.

We would often be running around barefoot on the beach and sometimes step on a buried fish rib bone, which could easily puncture the foot. He agreed that could definitely be the cause. Since then I always keep rubber sandals on at the beach, at a minimum.

My friends were very supportive at this point and if any of them ever read this, I love and miss you guys soooo much! Making the effort to visit a slobbering medicated twiggy looking guy who could barely talk was a wonderful gesture.