TGGEEKS.COM – Current and Future

Well, 2023 has already been a wild ride, and this is only March. We visited Oklahoma for Christmas and managed to come back with something that wasn’t cold or flu but just a pernicious non-productive cough. It was annoying. Ben can take cough medicine, but it really wasn’t much help. On the other hand, I cannot take most conventional cough medicines because I am allergic to Dextromethorphan.

We suffered through January with that. As my cough was completely gone, I developed what appeared to be flu symptoms: nausea, diarrhea, and loss of appetite, but no vomiting. And when I say a loss of appetite, I mean no appetite, no desire to eat anything. After a couple of days, we went to several urgent care clinics (looking for one that would take my insurance…). Found one, and they diagnosed me with the flu and gave me Tamiflu. After several days, I was getting worse; I couldn’t stand by myself, still had not eaten, and had a feeling of general crappiness. Then it happened; I knew I had to eat something, I took one bite of cereal, and immediately it came back up. My temperature was in excess of 100 degrees. Off to the ER.

Ben wheeled me in, and they took my info and vitals and immediately rushed me back. By this time, I was delirious and starting to talk all kinds of craziness. The staff in the ER were amazing at getting me calmed down and somewhat stabilized.

They moved me from an ER bed to what is referred to as a tele bed so they could track me and not tie up a much-needed ER bed. It was really a holding bed so they could prepare a room for me.

They got me up to a floor and settled in a room, and then all IV and needle sticks for labwork began.
Without going into much more detail, I was in the hospital for 13 days, several of which they did not know if I would make it. After six or so days, “I think,” I was pretty much out of the woods. Still getting IV antibiotics (everyone known to medicine, it would seem), and the most horrible thing… Potassium infused for dehydration and extremely low potassium levels. Anybody that has been in a hospital and had Potassium infused, you know that it burns (think of the line Coco Peru delivers in the movie “Trick”). I didn’t get one bag that takes almost two hours to infuse; I got 10. Oi!

At some point, I was able to start getting around and taking care of myself, getting up and sitting on the bedside commode and taking care of that by myself. I had some PT to use a walker and ambulate around the room.

After badgering the Doctor for days to discharge me to rehab ( yes, I had to reconcile and make peace with that), they discharged me on the 13th day.

Rehab was a different experience; they started some wound care on my feet (a whole different story), PT, and OT to build some strength. I was pushing myself to exceed what they wanted me to do to get out of there before the two weeks+ they had scheduled. They started to get my back pain under control, and I was finally able to go home.

I am now home learning what the new normal is for the moment, and I am okay with that. I get frustrated occasionally and snap at Ben (mainly because he can’t read my mind). So, life moves on, and we search for balance and peace.

About TGGEEKS

We have talked at length about what we want to do going forward with TGGEEKS. This hospital stay was a life-threatening and life-changing experience that has, for me at least, caused me to reassess my life and priorities. I have determined that there are things that aren’t as important as they used to be, and they don’t have the same priority they once had.

Speaking specifically about TG Geeks Webcast, we have spent 8 (almost 9) years publishing 414 episodes, and most of those in the last seven years, where we published an episode every single Monday, even when we were out of the country. Unfortunately, that will no longer be the driving force behind our episodes. Instead, we will publish an episode when we have a guest or interesting content. We cannot keep up the pace of publishing every week, where it is Saturday morning (our normal record time), and we have nothing to talk about, so we wind up talking about a pencil eraser for 25 minutes and hopefully make it interesting.

So, episodes will be published when we publish them.

Other content on the website will continue with our regular items, like Hamish Downie’s many incarnations on Friday. Tommy Cannon’s Nerdy ChupaCabras on Sunday and Andrea’s Angle on Thursdays if there is a current release at other times for various screenings. On the other days, we will publish press releases, editorials, or whatever trips our trigger at the moment. If we have nothing, we don’t have anything.

We do not plan to kill ourselves anymore.

As for SciFi Radio, I am trying to figure out a way to republish episodes, so Gene has regular content. Stay tuned for that.

Thank you all for listening to us, interacting with us, and becoming our friends and family… We hope you understand and continue to be there with us.

One last thing, not to be a martyr, but we gave up long ago on making any money at this or even getting any donations ($22 in 9 years – THIS IS NOT AN ASK) and decided that we were in it really to support and promote those making art whatever that art may be. It is a passion project, and we still feel that way. We always say in each episode we are supporters of independent creators of all kinds and the LGBTQ+ community.

And we Always, Always shout out to the Trevor Project, Trans Lifeline, Mathew Shepard Foundation, and Mulligan’s Manor. Everyone deserves love, and there is always hope and another way.

Stay Strong, Be Safe, live your authentic life, and be kind always.

Peace.