Monday, August 6, 2012
Thursday, May 31, 2012
Steve warming up in the studio with some SRV
Steve in the studio warming up with Stevie Ray Vaughan's (SRV's) song "Lenny"
Thursday, May 24, 2012
Lemierre's Disease - My Near Death Experience
With all the news recently about the flesh eating bacteria that has cost a young mother her limbs and is threatening her life, I am reminded once again of my near death experience last year from a somewhat similar bacteria. I was asked to write about it back then, but I think I needed some time to really put everything in perspective.
Last year I came home from my honeymoon after enjoying a wonderful time with my wife. I felt healthy and energetic, however the night I got home I started feeling ill. It was obvious to me that I was coming down with some type of flu. I decided to tough it out at home for a few days hoping it would clear up (doctor's are always a last resort for me). After many days with no improvement, things seemed to be getting worse so I went into my local emergency clinic (it was the weekend and my doctor was unavailable). The physician there quickly diagnosed me as having strep throat. He gave me a shot, prescribed some medication and said that it would go away in a few days. I went home hoping to improve quickly.
Within a couple days it was evident that something was clearly wrong. I found myself vomiting blood. I knew this could not be simply strep throat. I went into the emergency room to get checked out. The physician checked me out but could only find the strep throat and said I would improve. I went back home, again hoping to improve.
Things continued to get worse at home. Finally I was hit with the most violent sets of chills and fever that I have ever experienced. The pain was incredibly intense. Unlike anything I had ever felt. My wife got scared and called an ambulance to have me taken to the hospital. Once I was there they checked me out but could not find anything additional wrong. The next thing that happened I later found out would save my life... the doctor ran a blood test, something not usually done for a typical emergency room case of strep throat. The blood test would take several days to come back, but they cared for me through the night and then sent me home without the results.
As I was checking out of the hospital I felt a slight tinge of discomfort in my foot. It was nothing serious so I dismissed it. I had no idea what was to come however...
Once I was back home, things grew worse. My strep throat cleared up, but over the next few days my foot swelled and turned an intense red color. I could not put any weight on it at all. In fact it became painful to even have it vertical if blood was rushing to it. I had to keep it elevated at all times. The pain grew worse and worse. I have some pain killers that I use when my back acts up, and I began to use them to try and deal with the pain of my foot. At first they helped, however soon they weren't enough to help with the pain at all. I cannot find the words to describe the pain to you. The best that I could do to try and describe it would be to say it was like someone putting your leg in a vice and clamping it with incredible force. It was horrific. Knowing that I needed stronger medication than pain pills, I finally relented to my wife's concerns and agreed to go to the hospital.
In the hospital they gave me Dilaudid, which was strong enough to help kill the pain. Over the next few days they tried many different antibiotics on me. None seemed to help. Every day the doctor and nurses would draw a line around the border of the infection and swelling on my foot. As the days went by I watched the border of the infection grow and grow.
We were frustrated and voiced it to the doctor. He was confused and could not come up with an answer for things. The doctor went back and reviewed my charts again. He noticed something that no one else had. The blood test that was given to me a week or longer before was now back and the results were in the file. He burst into the room. The first thing out of his mouth was "You're going to be in a medical journal!" I was shocked. What??? He went on to say how I had a very rare condition called Lemierre's Disease. He said that it was something he had never seen, in fact he had only heard about it in medical school. It was rare. Only 160 reported cases over the last 100 years. He said that even if it had been noticed by the lab technicians when it came back on the blood test, it would have been dismissed as an error because they wouldn't have know what it was. I now had a name for what I was dealing with, but I had no idea the danger I was in.
My family quickly did some research on it and found out just how dangerous it was. At first they did not share with my just how much my life was in jeopardy. They did not want to worry me. I was already in a constant state of numbness from the drugs required to keep the pain at bay so I didn't press them for information.
Even though this thing had a name, I was no closer to getting better. The infection continued to spread. Every day they drew more marks on my foot showing the spread of the infection. I began to worry about losing my leg, or maybe worse dying in that hospital. Never seeing my children again.
Both my wife and mother who were attending to me were both incredibly worried about the situation. We demanded that they bring in a specialist. Finally the hospital relented and one was brought in to help the doctor. This also saved my life. The specialist decided to switch me to only penicillin against the other doctor's recommendation. I did not see immediate improvement but I hoped for the best.
Days went by and things did not improve. The specialist had the bedside manner of a rock and was tough to put confidence in, but I trusted him and I prayed and prayed that God would heal me. Meanwhile my wife had done some research on the internet and found someone related to a family member who had survived Lemierre's Disease. He gave her some valuable information and passed my name on to his prayer chain. People all over the country were now praying for me.
I remember by bandmates and friends coming to visit me. Everything was a blur with all the medication I was on. I struggled to see them clearly and make out the words they said. I remember struggling to talk to them sometimes. The words did not want to come out.
We had almost lost hope. We were ready to switch hospitals and get a new set of experts. Then at the last moment, I began to see improvement. The penicillin fought off the infection enough for me to go home. I still could not put any weight on my foot, and I was in intense pain if my foot was not elevated. But I was happy to go home (though I would miss the stronger pain killers). The specialist said he did not want to mess around with this dangerous infection and put me on bed rest at home for a month on an IV.
I found out so much about my wife during this time. She had gone from newlywed to 100% caretaker in a matter of weeks. You learn the most about a person in times of crisis and I really learned what she was made of. I called her my "Nurse Wife" and she did everything for me. I had never been so helpless in my life. Literally relying on someone else for EVERYTHING. That's tough for an independent person like me who doesn't want to ever burden anyone else with things I am perfectly capable of doing myself.
I had lost 15 lbs within a week and had no energy but it felt so good to be home. For that month my wife changed my dressings and the bags on my IV. She dealt with all the home care nurses that would come in and check on me. So many things...
Eventually I got to the point that I improved enough to get around the house in a wheelchair. Ah...freedom. Soon I began to walk again, still fighting through the pain. But I will never forget the day they took the IV off of me and I was truly free. I knew after that day I would never take my health for granted again.
After that month at home they tested me and the infection was gone 100% from my system. Now a year has passed. I am completely healthy and my Lemierre's Disease is a fading memory. I laugh sometimes when I look down and try to remember whether the problem was in my left or right foot. This disease that almost killed me....so far away now.
For those of you that were wanting to know my story, here you have it. I mainly wanted to write this for anyone else out there with this rare disease. If your doctor is trying antibiotics and they are not working, please have the doctor try penicillin. It was the only one that worked for me. Oh and yes the best medicine of all....PRAYER!!!
And I also wanted to say this...you know your body better than anyone. If you feel that you have been misdiagnosed, trust yourself! Doctors are not always right and a second opinion is sometimes needed. In my case it saved my life. Most people that die from this disease die because they are misdiagnosed. They are told that they have strep throat (which usually precedes it) and if they never go back in to the hospital within about 10 days they are dead. If you believe what you have is more serious than strep please get checked out no matter what. Fortunately for me the infection went to my foot, but had it gone somewhere else my chances of surviving could also have been less. There is not much information on this disease online but some basic information can be found here.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lemierre's_syndrome
Last year I came home from my honeymoon after enjoying a wonderful time with my wife. I felt healthy and energetic, however the night I got home I started feeling ill. It was obvious to me that I was coming down with some type of flu. I decided to tough it out at home for a few days hoping it would clear up (doctor's are always a last resort for me). After many days with no improvement, things seemed to be getting worse so I went into my local emergency clinic (it was the weekend and my doctor was unavailable). The physician there quickly diagnosed me as having strep throat. He gave me a shot, prescribed some medication and said that it would go away in a few days. I went home hoping to improve quickly.
Within a couple days it was evident that something was clearly wrong. I found myself vomiting blood. I knew this could not be simply strep throat. I went into the emergency room to get checked out. The physician checked me out but could only find the strep throat and said I would improve. I went back home, again hoping to improve.
Things continued to get worse at home. Finally I was hit with the most violent sets of chills and fever that I have ever experienced. The pain was incredibly intense. Unlike anything I had ever felt. My wife got scared and called an ambulance to have me taken to the hospital. Once I was there they checked me out but could not find anything additional wrong. The next thing that happened I later found out would save my life... the doctor ran a blood test, something not usually done for a typical emergency room case of strep throat. The blood test would take several days to come back, but they cared for me through the night and then sent me home without the results.
As I was checking out of the hospital I felt a slight tinge of discomfort in my foot. It was nothing serious so I dismissed it. I had no idea what was to come however...
Once I was back home, things grew worse. My strep throat cleared up, but over the next few days my foot swelled and turned an intense red color. I could not put any weight on it at all. In fact it became painful to even have it vertical if blood was rushing to it. I had to keep it elevated at all times. The pain grew worse and worse. I have some pain killers that I use when my back acts up, and I began to use them to try and deal with the pain of my foot. At first they helped, however soon they weren't enough to help with the pain at all. I cannot find the words to describe the pain to you. The best that I could do to try and describe it would be to say it was like someone putting your leg in a vice and clamping it with incredible force. It was horrific. Knowing that I needed stronger medication than pain pills, I finally relented to my wife's concerns and agreed to go to the hospital.
In the hospital they gave me Dilaudid, which was strong enough to help kill the pain. Over the next few days they tried many different antibiotics on me. None seemed to help. Every day the doctor and nurses would draw a line around the border of the infection and swelling on my foot. As the days went by I watched the border of the infection grow and grow.
We were frustrated and voiced it to the doctor. He was confused and could not come up with an answer for things. The doctor went back and reviewed my charts again. He noticed something that no one else had. The blood test that was given to me a week or longer before was now back and the results were in the file. He burst into the room. The first thing out of his mouth was "You're going to be in a medical journal!" I was shocked. What??? He went on to say how I had a very rare condition called Lemierre's Disease. He said that it was something he had never seen, in fact he had only heard about it in medical school. It was rare. Only 160 reported cases over the last 100 years. He said that even if it had been noticed by the lab technicians when it came back on the blood test, it would have been dismissed as an error because they wouldn't have know what it was. I now had a name for what I was dealing with, but I had no idea the danger I was in.
My family quickly did some research on it and found out just how dangerous it was. At first they did not share with my just how much my life was in jeopardy. They did not want to worry me. I was already in a constant state of numbness from the drugs required to keep the pain at bay so I didn't press them for information.
Even though this thing had a name, I was no closer to getting better. The infection continued to spread. Every day they drew more marks on my foot showing the spread of the infection. I began to worry about losing my leg, or maybe worse dying in that hospital. Never seeing my children again.
Both my wife and mother who were attending to me were both incredibly worried about the situation. We demanded that they bring in a specialist. Finally the hospital relented and one was brought in to help the doctor. This also saved my life. The specialist decided to switch me to only penicillin against the other doctor's recommendation. I did not see immediate improvement but I hoped for the best.
Days went by and things did not improve. The specialist had the bedside manner of a rock and was tough to put confidence in, but I trusted him and I prayed and prayed that God would heal me. Meanwhile my wife had done some research on the internet and found someone related to a family member who had survived Lemierre's Disease. He gave her some valuable information and passed my name on to his prayer chain. People all over the country were now praying for me.
I remember by bandmates and friends coming to visit me. Everything was a blur with all the medication I was on. I struggled to see them clearly and make out the words they said. I remember struggling to talk to them sometimes. The words did not want to come out.
We had almost lost hope. We were ready to switch hospitals and get a new set of experts. Then at the last moment, I began to see improvement. The penicillin fought off the infection enough for me to go home. I still could not put any weight on my foot, and I was in intense pain if my foot was not elevated. But I was happy to go home (though I would miss the stronger pain killers). The specialist said he did not want to mess around with this dangerous infection and put me on bed rest at home for a month on an IV.
I found out so much about my wife during this time. She had gone from newlywed to 100% caretaker in a matter of weeks. You learn the most about a person in times of crisis and I really learned what she was made of. I called her my "Nurse Wife" and she did everything for me. I had never been so helpless in my life. Literally relying on someone else for EVERYTHING. That's tough for an independent person like me who doesn't want to ever burden anyone else with things I am perfectly capable of doing myself.
I had lost 15 lbs within a week and had no energy but it felt so good to be home. For that month my wife changed my dressings and the bags on my IV. She dealt with all the home care nurses that would come in and check on me. So many things...
Eventually I got to the point that I improved enough to get around the house in a wheelchair. Ah...freedom. Soon I began to walk again, still fighting through the pain. But I will never forget the day they took the IV off of me and I was truly free. I knew after that day I would never take my health for granted again.
After that month at home they tested me and the infection was gone 100% from my system. Now a year has passed. I am completely healthy and my Lemierre's Disease is a fading memory. I laugh sometimes when I look down and try to remember whether the problem was in my left or right foot. This disease that almost killed me....so far away now.
For those of you that were wanting to know my story, here you have it. I mainly wanted to write this for anyone else out there with this rare disease. If your doctor is trying antibiotics and they are not working, please have the doctor try penicillin. It was the only one that worked for me. Oh and yes the best medicine of all....PRAYER!!!
And I also wanted to say this...you know your body better than anyone. If you feel that you have been misdiagnosed, trust yourself! Doctors are not always right and a second opinion is sometimes needed. In my case it saved my life. Most people that die from this disease die because they are misdiagnosed. They are told that they have strep throat (which usually precedes it) and if they never go back in to the hospital within about 10 days they are dead. If you believe what you have is more serious than strep please get checked out no matter what. Fortunately for me the infection went to my foot, but had it gone somewhere else my chances of surviving could also have been less. There is not much information on this disease online but some basic information can be found here.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lemierre's_syndrome
Feeling better and ready to head home with my Nurse Wife
Saturday, February 25, 2012
Angels Among Us - My Burning Bush
Things were pretty hard for me recently. I had been dealing with some difficult family and legal issues and was wondering when the Lord would speak to me again concerning things. One day feeling overly burdened, I told my wife that I needed to go to my favorite spot to pray and so I headed there for the evening. Alone with God I expressed my heart to Him. I prayed for His intervention in the challenges I was facing. I asked for His direction, I submitted myself to His will even if it wasn't what I wanted. I asked that He would help me to maintain my integrity in an unfair situation that tempted me to fight back with likewise ruthlessness. And then I waited....and waited...and waited. And He spoke to me with that peace inside that let me know that I needed to really allow Him to handle things. To put my complete faith in Him regardless of what I was facing. That it would be alright.
Even though I felt confident that I had a peace in knowing how to handle things, I must stay I still felt unsure. I had that questioning in the back of my mind that we all get as Christians. Was this really God speaking to me or just my own thoughts? What if I trust Him and He doesn't come through? Won't I look like a fool?
And then a day came that changed everything...
My oldest daughter and I were in the bank. As we waited in the long line to see a teller, I noticed out of the corner of my eye that a woman in the line was looking at me. I didn't look at her directly and didn't want to think too much of it. Then a minute or so later she turned around and spoke. She said, "Excuse me, but I feel that the Lord is putting something on my heart so strongly. God wants you to know that even though you are going through a tough time, He is there and everything will be fine." She then looked at my oldest daughter. "Are you his daughter?" My daughter nodded her head yes. She looked back at me and said "I feel that you are gentle man, and (as she turned back to my daughter) you should stay close to your dad, through him you are going to see the love of the father. So many girls don't have a good father in their life. Stay close to your dad." My daughter nodded her head in agreement. This complete stranger spoke to me with a confidence and urgency that sounded like God Himself was reaching down from Heaven to speak to my situation.
I could feel the water well up in the back of my eyes. I honestly wanted to cry. It was like God had personally put His hand on my shoulder and told me to just trust Him. That He was going to handle things, regardless of what opposition I would face. I know that moment was meant to speak to my daughter's soul deeply as well.
This week as I was listening to the radio, I heard someone speaking about Moses going to face Pharaoh. Risking his life to go and speak words of judgement against a man that had the power to have him killed. Where did Moses get this confidence? Because he had seen God in the burning bush. He had seen and felt God's power in such a real and powerful way that he now had no doubt that he had the Lord on his side.
This woman was my burning bush. I have a confidence in my situation now unlike anytime before. God new that I needed a powerful sign to face the challenges ahead of me, and He gave it to me in the most unlikely of ways. If God is for us, who can be against us?
Praise be to God.
Steve
Hello 2012!
Hello 2012! I must admit that I am sorely behind in keeping you all up to date on the goings on in my life. 2011 was a year that I will never forget. I got married again to an amazing woman, almost died from an incredibly rare infection in my foot, and continued my challenges with personal family issues. And yet somehow through all of this I was able to keep making music (a subject for another post). I have been asked repeatedly to write about some of these things, and I am going to address them. I like to keep family issues private and respectful, but at the same time I think we can share encouraging things to others without beating anybody else up in the process. I will have a long post to share about my experience with almost dying last year which can also hopefully help anyone else facing the same type of infection.
Anyways, the bottom line is that I refuse to go down this easily. LOL The good Lord intends to keep me around for awhile to fulfill some other things He is doing, and so like a good servant I will heed the Master's call. I want to end this post with 3 keys to Godly wisdom which my Uncle (Pastor Larry Riddle) shared with me. They got me through some tough times when I wasn't sure why God wasn't stepping in and handling things. I hope they minister to you.
Principle #1
God is Sovereign
Principle #2
God's timing is always perfect.
Principle #3
I am God's child to do with as He pleases.
I just wanted to write a little about what they have meant to me as I have repeated them to myself in stressful situations.
God is sovereign. If you are wondering whether He can step into your situation at anytime and change things, He can. He may not choose to at the moment, but He is more than capable of handling our requests when we bring them to Him. And it doesn't matter how bleak the situation may look. God specializes in the impossible. In all things pray.
God's timing is always perfect. Sometimes He says yes to our request, sometimes no, and sometimes not now. Not now is not a no, it just means that He needs some other events to take place before He will act. There are many examples of this in the Bible. God is a master of strategy, and also long-suffering with us. I remember the story of Esther and Haman. Haman had secretly built a gallows to hang the jews from since he hated them, and he had a plan to set them up to be killed by royal decree by tricking the king. God patiently waited for Haman to build his machine of death, and during that time it looked as though he was going to get away with setting up the jews to die by his wicked plans. God however was not caught by surprise, and Haman's plan was exposed and the king had him hung from the same gallows that he had built to execute the innocent jews on. Just because you have not seen results does not mean God is not working in the background, aligning things for His purpose.
I am God's child to do with as He pleases. This is the toughest one. We all like being a child a of God. Having our Dad there to be so good to us. But like any good parent, He wants us to be holy more than He wants us to be happy. And He usually has purposes for our lives that don't always consist of easy things. So what if what He pleases to do with us is difficult, maybe seeming even unfair or unjust? This is where Christian maturity must take hold. To those whom much is given, much is required. He never gives us more than we can handle, but you can bet that if He gives us a lot He will expect us to handle it because He has given us the strength to do so. So if you are going through something unfair right now, remember that God's purposes for the events in your life may not be about your comfort and happiness. Maybe you are meant to minister to others who are facing similar challenges, maybe you are meant to grow into deeper levels of faith and trust in Him. Don't fight the storm. Know that there is purpose in it. Let the storm take you where it must. God has a plan for you in the midst of it and right in the place and time you will be at when it ends. There is purpose in everything we endure.
I hope this ministers to you.
Steve
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