What Put Kekeluv In Intensive Care Over the Weekend
I've tried to stay away from hospitals since my dad passed years ago. That place is just too much of a reminder of what happens after injuries or when death comes knocking on your door.
That all changed when I met my now wife. Add her woes, health mysteries, my son’s complications and it’s been a whirlwind.
I’m not saying my family has a messed up health history. Rather, most of the photos and videos I’ve shared over the past two years have all been of other people sitting in that hospital bed. Thursday night, May 3, that all changed. I was now the target.
It’s Thursday afternoon and I’d already put in a 12-hour day. My wife was coming home from visiting family on Friday and I wanted to get off to make sure things were perfect.
* Disclaimer: People are so weird about what you share when it comes to personal life. I’ve been on-air in Boise for almost 11 years and I guess I feel that comfortable to share my life. I’m not embarrassed. I’m about to share a life moment that could have ended in tragedy. I’m more sharing so you know what to do or someone close to you does.
I’m starting to get things packed up as I feel a gas feeling that gave no warning. Very subtle. I thought to myself, “that’s odd.” Then I could feel something wasn’t right as then I went to a kind of embarrassing moment, “Did I just sh!t my pants?!” That’s a ha-ha moment right? Maybe? The problem is that it was blood. There was A LOT of blood. I panicked.
I took my white sweatshirt off and cleaned myself up and panicked even more with each red blot I saw. I immediately thought, “Damn. Cancer.” Excuse me if I’m ignorant but that’s the only thing that came to mind. Then I started to think, “I did just have a red energy shot. Was that blood or did it just unsettle my stomach?”
I went home and had four more bowel movements that filled my toilet bowl with blood. “Ring-Ring” Lucky the DJ was down the street and called me to bring some extra Boise Music Festival tickets. I cleaned up, changed and rushed down to the Albertsons to give out some free tickets stickering 10 cars while I was there.
30 minutes later I left for the house where one more potty break was coming. I rushed to the toilet and boooom. The toilet bowl was filled with a bright red substance. I’m sorry to say that the smell gave me a PTSD moment. I know that smell because I opened a bloody diaper one December morning after our son Lennox had a ruptured ulcer.
I didn’t waste any time and rushed down to urgent care who called ahead booking me a visit at St. Luke’s in Meridian. The worst part of this entire ordeal was calling my fragile, pregnant wife. I hated that call because I knew it would devastate her and there was no easy way of making light of the situation no matter how hard I tried. My wife would be up all night worrying about me and we would meet up on Friday.
I arrived at St. Luke’s in Meridian around 8:00 p.m. and immediately was admitted. Thanks to one amazing brother-in-law who also happens to be a nurse at the VA, I was in great hands. I only chose Meridian because it was so much closer and I was by myself. I was really worried that I’d already lost so much blood that I might pass out on the drive.
Oh, my. If I already didn’t have the biggest soft spot for the first responders and the medical community it would only grow stronger over the next few days. Let’s get back to my issues.
Sidenote: I gotta say this was really cool. They linked us to a doctor/surgeon via webcam to keep an eye on me overnight. There was a television with a digital monitor like a home security cam. This was in Intensive Care Unit.
Let’s fast forward through my first ever CAT scan, the man who said, “sorry bro, gotta shave ya real quick.” Yes, that happened, the Iodine that ran through my body like a damn snow globe you get at Roaring Springs, to the Men In Black moment of forgetting everything.
I spent the weekend in ICU with the best of the best. I’m so impressed with the professionalism. I adore our men and women who wear the scrubs. Everything was textbook. No Cancer. My body actually fixed itself and I was fortunate enough (insert sarcasm) to endure my first Colonoscopy. I’m healthy and they removed some things that could cause issues down the road. I have to get another one in five years 🙏
I’m currently feeling so dragged down, sluggish and just out of it. I lost a lot of blood, took on I don’t know how many bags of fluid and received a blood transfusion. It’s gonna take a bit, but I’m good. I'm lucky.
It goes without saying that you see who your friends are, what kind of company you work for, and life perspective in a matter of moments. My phone blew up, people stopped what they were doing to be there to make me laugh, listeners immediately responded with well wishes, my company said to come back when I was ready, and it further stamps that we waste our time on things that just don’t matter.
I drove to the hospital last week in a pool of blood thinking to myself thinking what was next. I just thought of my family. I never thought of a better promotion I could of come up with or an amazing topic that would have been hilarious to discuss on the radio. I didn’t respond to typical, ridiculous, and immature social media slams that people feel it’s okay to do on the daily. I also didn't join the digital keyboard cowards on dissing others.
This weekend was a reminder that life is great. Perspective is ours and we control the rest of our lives. We can choose to waste our happiness on everyone else’s false narrative or we can make the decision to look into our own lives. Life is what you make it. My wife and family aren't just "rocks", I'd say more like "MOUNTAINS." There is no comparison and I'd be in a good place no matter what happened. I mean, look at that face!