The big JH

Johns Hopkins. Those two words can leave people stunned. You can't get any better than Johns Hopkins. One of the top hospitals in the country and the world. No one can figure out what is going on, then go to Johns Hopkins. It doesn't say anything about those doctors being . . . human. When I say that, I mean not all knowing entities. They don't always have all the answers. It is a wonderful facility, amazing medical professionals, and provides truly exceptional care. That still leaves people, like myself, a little deflated when even they have no answers for the illness that has now plagued me for almost ten months. Intrigued?

I guess a brief synopsis is in order. It started in July with sudden chest pains that signified a heart attack. After two days in a wonderful hospital, the heart attack was ruled out. During the course of the next week, I began to weaken on my left side. It all culminated with what appeared to be a full out stroke. Not so fast! After three more days in the same facility, all test came back clean with no sign of a problem - unless you consider my whole left side giving out, slurred speech, and a cool half smile (and I don't mean in the Harrison Ford/ Indiana Jones sort of way) a problem. Prescription: Physical Therapy, Occupational Therapy, and the hope it was a one time event. Wait! I can almost hear you now. That's right! This one time event returned.

In September, after returning to school (I teach), I had a full blown relapse. My doctor pulled me out of work to get to the bottom of the problem. Little did any of us know that we were dealing with a bottomless pit. Anyway, fast forward two weeks and I am back in the hospital. This time I went through more MRIs, MRAs, and had the additional bonus of a spinal tap. And the answer was - - there was nothing physically wrong.

Let's jump ahead to this month, and I have been suffereing from symptoms since the end of March, and things are just going down hill. I recently returned from Johns Hopkins hospital with no more answers than I went with.

This is not a woe is me type thing though. I know there are people way worse than me out there. I have a lot of wonderful things in my life. I am married to an amazing woman, I have three fantastic children, I have fabulous parents, I love my in-laws (which a lot of people cannot say),and I am in a job I adore. But, if any of you have the number for one Dr. Gregory House, I would love to have it. I will even take the numbers for Dr. Cameron or Dr. Chase, I'm not picky. Come to think of it, if you could get me Hawkeye Pierce or Trapper John, I would take them too. And maybe any of those doctors from ER; they seem to have some free time on their hands recently.