A year ago today I was admitted to a hospital in Seattle while on an extended road trip for a still-unidentified illness. Lots of people go through much worse much more often but for me, this was a scary time and sort of a benchmark for my life thus far.
The hospitalization itself taught me that:
Despite my history of a seemingly tough immune system, I shouldn't take my overall health for granted.
That I have an amazing friend in Seattle that will put his life on hold when my planned three-day visit turns into two weeks, take me into his home and rush me to seek medical attention whenever things get to be too much (even though we had only previously spent two weeks in the same town).
That my family will spend countless hours on the phone with me listening to deliriously babble about pain and hallucinations while carefully transcribing every single thing I say in order to track my condition.
And that the hospital is a really crappy place to try to get some sleep. Though, the medication certainly helps.
And as if those lessons weren't enough to ponder over and be grateful for, over the year since I have:
Made a full recovery, eventually gaining back all 25 of the pounds I lost during those two weeks in Seattle. (Yay?)
Watched my little stepsister get married and remembered at the reception that-- given the right circumstances-- I quite like to cut a rug.
Watched my oldest niece turn 16 (Yikes!), not to mention my other nieces and nephew turn 12, 12, 6 and 5-- I am officially feeling old.
Attended my 10-year high school reunion. Much less awkward than you might expect. I actually had a blast seeing everyone and hanging out.
Spent my first summer away from Medora, North Dakota since the age of 19 and attempted to launch a solo music career.
It seems appropriate that my first full band performance as a solo artist comes a year after my brief hospitalization. It serves as a nice bookend to a wild year.
The remainder of last year's road trip provided a vast array of experiences and memories despite my weakened state. Skip the photos and explanations below if you don't want to join me on a little trip down Memory Lane.
Before reaching Seattle, things were pretty glorious. I was just taking in the views and enjoying the drive.
My esteemed Seattle host, Matt, attempted to keep me busy and we saw some of the sights.
But eventually, it was too much and I landed in the hospital (the one from Grey's Anatomy even! Oh Em Gee!) I tried to keep it light while in recovery but the doctors and nurses didn't think I was very funny. C'est la vie.
After being released from the hospital (FREE AT LAST!) I made the long, arduous drive down to see some dear friends in San Francisco-- made longer and more arduous by the fact that I could no longer drive more than 3-4 hours at a time before being done for the day. It was in San Francisco that I began to regain my appetite, thanks to a Nashville friend who happened to be in town and his insistence that we all eat at PPQ Dungeness Island, mmmmmmm....
Best buddy Jacob in a park in SF.
I then got to hang with my uncle and cousin for a brief stay in central California. Just enough time for dinner and to watch the football game with the other Bengals fan in my family! Woo!
It just so happened that my good friend Vince was in LA the same time as I arrived. A visit with him to do some ocean swimming and to see a taping of the Ellen show did a TON to help my spirit and recovery.
I got to Vegas just in time to catch a flight to Boston for shows with my incredible friends in Goli. I could barely sing, but I managed to eek out performances in Boston, Worcester and NYC.
I made it back to Vegas in one piece and needed a day to crash. I slept most of the day away, but I did get to walk around the Strip a little bit before another early departure.
I thought it was pretty cool that I was in NYC for real and the New York, New York Casino within 24 hours of each other.
As a big giant nerd, seeing Meteor Crater in Arizona was also a huge highlight for me.
I made it to Albuquerque to hang with my cousin for a day. We ended up randomly going to see Passion Pit downtown, which was pretty darn cool. (No pictures, sorry.)
The rest of the trip back to Nashville was a slog. I still maxed out at around 5 hours of driving per day, so it took a good four days to get all of the way back. And about 40 miles outside of Nashville, this happened:
This story in and of itself would be an entire blog post but suffice to say: it was a tough day. Taking all of my stuff out of the middle of the van (remember, I still had ALL my stuff packed from a summer in ND) and putting on the spare on a narrow shoulder of a busy highway in a cold drizzle while still at about 40% strength was a challenge. Tack on to that a busted spare 10 minutes later, a hitched ride with a semi driver and a tow truck driver who couldn't find my van and I was ready to sleep for about a week straight.
Funny thing: a year later, and I wouldn't change a thing.
