Been a crazy couple of days.
A lifelong friend, I'll call him D, who I met when he was in kindergarten (I was best friends with his older brother in 4th grade) is in the ICU.
D has battled drinking and smoking his whole adult life, and his consumption did not wane 4 1/2 years ago when he eventually lost his parents and both brothers (including my childhood best friend) over the next 3 1/2 years.
He's been using a walker for a year or so now (he's only in his mid 50s) and probably consumes anywhere from 3 - 6 double shots of vodka a day.
So I left him Wednesday afternoon after I sold some of his silver coins and brought him the cash for a deposit we were going to make on Friday.
He took a fall, probably Wed. night, and another friend of his called the police to do a wellness check on him Thursday morning, when D hadn't gotten back to him. The police found him barely conscious and took him to the ER at St Jospeh's Hospital in Burbank, a top-notch facility. When D didn't return my calls on Thurs, I went to his house to find his dog, wallet, phone, and keys there, but no D.
I assumed he was at St. Joe's but their ER said, "No record of him being admitted". and that's all they would say. Hipaa laws, you know.
So I called LAPD. They told me all they could tell me was he went to St. Joe's ER. They told me if he wasn't admitted there, he was most likely transferred somewhere else, maybe County, or a Kaiser-Permanente facility that specializes in the liver. I went back to the St. Joe's ER (now it's 1am) to, as calmly as I could, give them a piece of my mind. I let them know that they could have told me he HAD been there and maybe pointed me in the right direction. They apologized and said that their dept. was telling me all they could tell me, and maybe Medical Records could tell me more, but they wished me luck and once again confirmed he had NOT been admitted....
Spent all Friday morning calling a dozen hospitals, to no avail, and finally went back to St. Joe's to talk to Med Records, but the front desk took pity on me, checked all their sources, and said he UPSTAIRS IN THE ICU! They apologized for their co worker in the ER and said their computer updates (for admitting) was slow.
So I got to sit with D and talk to him. He has 6 IVs and has been intubated. He looks like he's sleeping (and is on sleep meds while he recovers and heals). Much better to go through the DTs unconscious I would imagine. I called my mom and brother to give them the update. D's late mother was a best friend to my mom. A number of texts followed with friends of D, including the ex girlfriend who may want the dog back, that'll would be a problem. and I later went back to the house to sit with the dog - another friend of D's had sat with the dog twice already. I grabbed the cash (glad the ex and her drug dealing boyfriend didn't find it) and his bank card - yes, he gave me his PIN. and went home, and later caught Gutfeld!
THANK YOU FOR ALL THE WELL WISHES in re Ask Greg & the Panel, I will respond to them momentarily.
Today was a trip to the hospital to see D, still asleep with a breathing tube, but learned they hope to take him off the meds on Monday and he should wake up soon after. Fingers crossed. I then went to the bank, made the deposit, took the receipt and card back to his house and sat with the dog.
Now waiting to hear from the niece - daughter of D's oldest brother who died just over a year ago. I saw that brother last in LA when he came in when the middle brother (my childhood best friend) passed away 3 1/2 years ago.
Now waiting to meet the niece and see what she needs from me. Wait til she sees the dozen guns in the house. Only some are in the safe. Yes, I can open the safe.
Sorry to ramble, not my usual fare.