Help Glen heal

Hi all.

I really hated to do this since I did one of these 4-5 months ago. I was astounded at your generosity in helping get me back up and riding again and of course I'm very appreciative.

Many of you know me well enough in real life or on social media(which is pretty much real life these days I think) to know that about 3 weeks after I got the new bike, I got very sick.

During the first week of June I rode 254 miles and was feeling great and healthy, then on June 8th I woke up in the middle of the night doubled over in pain with fever, chills and nausea. I've always been a super healthy, super energetic person, so I knew I was pretty sick this time but of course, I thought I'd be better in a few days. I figured it was just a bad case of the flu or food poisoning. A few days stretched into a week with brief periods of feeling better but finally on day 10 I went to the hospital...pretty much near death(I was to find out later). Luckily they diagnosed me correctly right away and determined I had Severe Sepsis, Acute Renal Failure, Blood Infection, Kidney Infection, Kidney Stones and Bladder Stones and was in Liver Shock. That led to a 4-day hospital stay.

It took a while but after a few procedures with my urologist on July 6th and again on the 26th, I felt like I was well on my way back to normal. In fact, the last few weeks before my latest surgery, I pretty much felt like myself again—tons of energy and raring to go.

I had my latest surgery on August 31st to remove the large stones in my left Kidney. The procedure was to happen via a few incisions in my back and it seemed to be a total success. My doctor got 95% of the stones and was very pleased and I was feeling great(almost too great) later that afternoon and the following morning. They discharged me before noon since all seemed well and I appeared to be just about done. However, it wasn't long after I got home that I began feeling sick again but I dismissed it as after-effects from the surgery just 24 hours earlier. About an hour or two into this episode I once again began shaking violently, had a high-grade fever and I knew it wasn't normal. Time to head back to where I just left.

By the time I got back to the hospital at 4:30pm my fever had shot up to 104.1...so I clearly made the right call(for once). That led to additional four days in the hospital that weren't in the original playbook but it looks like they got me on track again. Ultimately it turns out I still had a mild infection that went crazy during or shortly after surgery that turned into Sepsis and another Kidney and Blood Infection. On Friday night I was every bit as sick as I was in mid-June...so of course I was pretty bummed out.

The good news is that they released me on today and while I'm far from my old self, I don't feel sick...just worn out from 5 days of the fun stuff. They have me on the right antibiotic based on the lab reports and they expect a full recovery with no lingering effects. The down-side is that it sets my recovery back at least another month than I was planning. I have one more procedure in a week to remove a stent from my kidney to my bladder...then I should be all done with the good times. Doctor wants me doing no strenuous activity for another....gasp...two months, when I have my final follow-up on November 10th. Pretty hard to type the word November, knowing that I basically missed the entire summer.

So anyways, financially I knew I would be cutting things pretty close if things worked out okay(I haven't been able to do anything strenuous for nearly three months) but with the setback I could sure use some help to allow me to fully rest and not worry about finances for a while. I have some "paying" things lined up to do when I get better, so I have zero concerns about my long-term stability. I'm not much of a worrier anyways, things always work out the way they are supposed to but if you have a few bucks to spare, it would be greatly appreciated and I will surely pass it along when I'm able to do so.

If you made it this far(I know it got pretty long), I appreciate you big time.

Much love,

Glen