how time stands still or slows down when someone you love is ailing. It's almost as if one's attention is drawn down to the molecular level. When we got the call from Tommy that his chest hurt and that he couldn't breathe, our focus became his lungs. Being that we're not doctors we didn't have a lot of material to work with as we tried to imagine what was going on with him. I knew that it was worthy of a trip to the emergency room, but I was over ruled. He rested, inhaled some albuterol, and then took BART to the Fire and Art Festival at the Crucible in Oakland Sat. night. We saw him on Sunday after I called 911 and had the Oakland Fire Dept. go to his apartment to find him dripping wet from a shower and apparently fine. Moments before, he had called home and after a strange conversation, we lost phone connection. After four unsuccessful attempts to reach him on his phone, I had called the paramedics. Monday he saw his dr. in SF and she said he had a collapsed lung and that he needed to go to the emergency rm. He took BART home and his roommate drove him to Alta Bates hospital, (indeed, 100% collapsed) where he's been for four days. He's had several surgeries there which in the end resulted in a chest tube, an inflated lung,the removal of a bleb, some weight loss, and a temporary dependence on legal drugs. He had great care while in the hospital. Now, we get to take care of him. As much as he'll let us. It's been less than a week since Tommy's lung collapsed, but it feels like we've been living in an alternate universe. We will be in recovery along with him as we return to life as we knew it, which will take some time.
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