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Part 3 - "The Rise and Fall of Dean"
I was working for a Fortune 500 company in Scottsdale, AZ. I had finally found the job for me - Assistant to the President and Events Planner. This position took me places I never thought I would go.
My main responsibility was planning events for the company's executives. I would plan events with budgets starting at $350K. The good thing about planning major events, you get to participate not only in the event, but all of the pre-planning activities as well.
I've played rounds of golf at the world famous Pebble Beach, CA and The Links at Spanish Bay, driven the coast of California in a convertible Lexus (courtesy of Pebble Beach), eaten in the finest restaurants and my personal favorite, attending every Phoenix Suns home game seated in my company's suite. We had suites in all of the major venues in Phoenix. I was in heaven!
I was still coming off my high from spending that last week in Pebble Beach - and counting my blessings. It was October 12, 2005. I was sitting in my office when it felt like I had been hit in my side with a sledge hammer. I hit the floor, where I laid for at least 5 minutes. The pain subsided and I immediately called my doctor's office. I spent most of that day and night in the ER.
For the next month I spent most of my time being poked, prodded, dyed, fried - you name it! They all came to the same conclusion - nothing was wrong with me. They told me that it was probably in my head. Mind you, at this point, I was staying with my best friend in Phoenix, Benetta and her husband Bobby because the pain had become so severe, I couldn't manage on my own.
I had to make a decision - quick! Even though my health insurance didn�t cover it, I decided to go to one of the best hospitals in the world - The Mayo Clinic. I moved back to my house since Mayo was only 5 minutes from my front door.
After another month of test, the head of Oncology Surgery decided to do exploratory surgery on me. They knew something was going on, but couldn't identify it unless they opened me up. He told me the procedure should only take an hour and I would leave the hospital the same day. Ten hours later, I began to wake up in the recovery room. When my friend Benetta came into my room, I could tell by the look on her face that it wasn't good. She was so upset she couldn't remember everything the doctor had told her.
The next few days were pretty much a blur since my morphine pump was my new best friend. I did however know the whole story. I was discharged 6 days later and Nurse Benetta took care of me for the next month. I came back to Rochester to be with family and friends for the remainder of my recovery period.
The doctor told me that I could have died if I had waited any longer. He asked me to sign a release so he could write a medical journal article about my case because it was so unique. The doctor said that even though the horseback riding accident was a contributing factor to my condition, it was probably the thing that brought the other issue to the light - shook things up a bit. I will be eternally grateful to Dr. M. and the entire staff at the Mayo Clinic.
Its funny - the same people that saved my life, kind of took it way again.
Tomorrow - Part 4 - "I Wasn't Supposed To Be Here"
Write the Dean's List at: thedeanslist1@gmail.com
