Blog Fever

Well, it looks like I lost the blog fever as quick as I got it! :(

Bad eye days

Well, I've had eye problems for the past several days, so it's time to describe what's up with me.

On 04 Nov 2002 I came down with Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis (also known as Stevens-Johnson Syndrome) as a result of taking Zithromax (an anitbiotic). This was the second time I'd taken this medicine - it seems that the first time sets you up and the second time gives you the syndrome :(

I went to the Army hospital the day before complaining of an allergic reaction - they gave me drugs and sent me home. The next morning I was talking with my wife (then my girlfriend) with the webcam and she said that I needed to go back to the ER. I went back just to humor her (leaving my TV and computer on).

All that I remember is waiting in the ER, my wife calling me there, her calling me at the burn unit, and a couple of hallucinations. I woke up a couple of weeks later in tne Burn Unit at the Army hospital in San Antonio, TX.

It turns out that I was admitted to the hospital in El Paso and then the next day was flown to the hospital in San Antonio. There I was intubated for 8 days, and unconcious for several more. I spent about a week recovering (my time sense was skewed) and was discharged.

This syndrome is like a burn, but it involves all skin tissue. It invaded my mouth, lungs, and eyes. I was scrubbed by the nurses several times a day and had to wear a silver nitrate jacket to help the burns heal. I lost about 50% of my skin and found out later that I was lucky that I had survived. The burns involved the surface of my eyeballs and the inside of my eyelids. While in the hospital my eyes were kept lubricated all the time, so I had no clue about the depth of damage to my eyes. I was on multiple heavy duty narcotics at the time, so I felt virtually no pain. My rapid recovery was attributed to my physical fitness.

As it turns out, the scarring of my eyes was pretty severe. The surface of my eyeballs looked like it had been sandblasted. And the scarring of my lids completed the damage. So, I have no tears - it's like facing into the wind 24 hours a day. Tears are composed of 3 layers (basically) - the mucin, aqueous, and lipid layers. All of these are generated by structures near the surface - and were affected by the scarring. Also, the scarring made my eyelids no meet correctly - so I'm gonna have to have surgery to fix that. My opthalmologist in Miami is doing research to start the tears again - he's the world's expert on TENs/SJS. Oh, and my fingernails are still scarred from it also - none have grown back completely and those that did grow back are ragged and thin.

Well enough for today, the eyes hurt and I'm gonna rest them. See ya later!

What usasma means

usasma stands for:

United
States
Army
Sergeants
Major
Academy

It's the last place I served while on active duty in the US Army. I retired from the Army on 01 August 2003.

I spent 5 years in the US Navy as a Hospital Corpsman. My duty stations included the Naval Regional Medical Center in Portsmouth, VA and the 8th Marine Regiment at Camp LeJeune, NC. I was a Petty Officer First Class (HM1) when I got out in 1980.

I joined the Army in 1984 and served with A Co, 7th Engineer Battalion (Combat) (Mechanized), 5th Infandry Division (Mechanized) at Ft. Polk, LA, the 2nd Engineer Battalion (Combat), 2nd Infantry Division at Camp Castle, Korea. From there I was transferred to the 27th Engineer Battalion (Combat) (Airborne), 20th Engineer Brigade, Ft. Bragg, NC. While at Ft. Bragg I was also assigned to the XVIII Airborne Corps NCO Academy and the 37th Engineer Battalion (Combat) (Airborne). From there I was transferred to the 16th Engineer Battalion (Combat) (Mechanized) at Camp Bedrock, Bosnia-Herzegovina. Upon redeployment to Bamberg, Germany the battalion was reflagged to the 54th Engineer Battalion (Combat) (Mechanized). I was selected for promotion to Sergeant Major and to attend the Sergeant Majors Academy at Ft. Bliss, TX. While a student at the Academy I was selected to remain and train future Sergeants Major from the Army, other services, and foreign military.

While teaching at the academy I started (on the web) a correspondence with a lady from Connecticut. I decided to retire so that I could move to CT and be with her. While waiting for my retirement I came down with Toxic Epidermal Necrolysis (aka Stevens-Johnson Syndrome) and nearly died from it (more about this later). I still have scarring in my eyes and haven't regrown normal fingernails.

We were married on 21 June 2003 and are very happy living in SouthEastern CT. More to follow....

It's addictive

Yep, I'm struck with the blog habit! We'll see how long it lasts tho' - I tend to bounce from one project to another as the whim hits me!

? A New Beginning ?

Well, to start this off, I'm 52 years old and broke my wrist - so the typing will be kinda slow. Combine this with my bad vision (long story for later) and I think, in retrospect, that this wasn't the best time to start blogging.

First Blog Post

So, this is a blog? Looks funny to me, but I'll see how it works over time. Since nobody knows about it, nobody's read it.