Hey guys.
Sorry for the disappearance. Its true what all the other veterans say -- after a while you want to move on and forget about this once and for all. In my case, the hardest memories still lingered for a while. My story had quite of a significant repercussion, but it had a good outcome. Long story short is that one of the people responsible for helping on that morning became a terrific friend, and asked me if he could post about it. The reasoning for the post is that he wanted to tell people the benefits of taking CPR classes. He would avoid any mentioning of names, but at that point, I wasn't ashamed of publicly acknowledging that I went through this cardiac arrest caused by bad medication interaction.
His post got tens or hundreds of shares, and many people reacted positively to it, signing up for CPR classes. Since this forum is public and what I described here matches what he shared, some people identified me and messaged asking if I was fallen774 and if I would be willing to meet up to tell a little bit more about the journey, which I gladly did. I'm more than happy to help people in any way I can, even if just by sharing my journey. The preparation phase, the first few weeks of unbearable pain, the unforeseeable stumbling blocks which may appear in the way, the help you will need from others, and the discipline required for a smooth recovery.
Early in September, I had my last follow-up with Dr. M. I flew to Burbank and took the last set of X-Rays. My bones are fully consolidated, and I'm about to schedule the removal of the rods. He wants to do it in January, but I'll probably postpone it to March — my family will be visiting me, and I want to align things with their visit so that when they leave, my mom will stay and help me out with this last phase. She's very insistent in wanting to be here to help.
After that last visit, I stopped my PT sessions, and am slowly going back to the gym. I don't feel any pain for quite a few months now, I recovered almost all of the sensation on my lower left leg, and I'm able to run and do exercises without any limitation. But quite frankly, I'm trying to prioritize other things in my life right now, so I haven't gotten back to my previous weight. For the first time in my life, I'm just fine with my body. I go to work or go out to dance, and I just don't get overwhelmed with the thoughts of others judging me or thinking less of me anymore. I don't think this is a result of the surgery itself, but of the mental (and possibly spiritual) maturity that you will gain after going through this, even if you believe you already are mature enough. After going through so much, you finally learn to give the proper importance to things in life. And no, I'm not saying that because "it's easy to say after I already gained a few inches.". I'm now more skinny than ever and would have the same motives to keep thinking others are judging me by my lack of muscles, but these distorted thoughts don't cross my mind anymore.
I'm thrilled with how I am, and I'm in no hurry to change, and if I ever do want to change anything again, it'll be for me, not others. You are probably tired of reading this on veterans diaries, but its the pure truth: only do this if it's for yourself. If you do it for others, you might still be unhappy when you realize that not much changes in how others treat you. But if you do it for yourself, you'll treat yourself better, and this will have a significant impact on your social life as well. It all boils down to giving the proper value to yourself, and only then you can expect others to value you too. But it's a tough journey. Think carefully. Ask the right questions. Don't feel ashamed of asking for help, because you will need it.
Enough with motivational phrases. I want to thank everyone here for all the words of support and also this forum for the fantastic people it enabled me to connect with, both online and in real-life, such as LAGrowin, short2tall, OverrideYourGenetics and others who I met through private messages. This community is incredible, and this forum is a fantastic source of information, so take the most out of it. As I'm moving on with my life, this story will slowly fade away for me but will lie here so others can benefit from it. I'm focusing on other things in my life now, and will probably show up very rarely, but feel free to PM me whenever you want, since I get notified via e-mail, and I'll be more than willing to answer any questions you may have. I'll probably post an update in about six months, after my rods removal surgery. Until then, I wish an incredible journey to all of you who will go through it.
I'll end this post answering the question that I most get asked: do I regret? No, I don't, not a single part of it, not even the wrong things I did. I don't regret it because I sincerely believe the outcomes of it went beyond the judgments to an actionable follow-up by many people that might, indirectly, have saved and will save lives. Take CPR classes :-)
And as promised, here's a before/after comparison pic with a friend of mine who's 5'7:
https://imgur.com/a/RC9IasCOver and out.