If you are looking for a golf story, time to move on.

Last year we had a dead tree taken down. I asked the tree guys to cut the trunk into moveable chunks.  I subsequently chain-sawed them into log-size pieces.  In early December I started splitting the large pieces into usable logs for our fireplace with a wedge and 10-pound sledgehammer. After a few days of intermittent wood-splitting I noticed I had a persistent headache and/or a stiff & sore neck.  I began popping 2 ibuprofens every 6 hours.

On December 19, I got out of bed later than usual.  I went downstairs and sat on a stool.  My wife asked me if I was okay and I told her “Just give me a minute.”  After a bit she told me she was calling 911. I told her not to do that.  She ignored me.

Around 6:00pm I woke up in a hospital bed.  I had no memory of all the activity earlier in the day.  I did not even know where I was but had deduced I was in a hospital because of the bed and “décor”.  My hands were “handcuffed” (soft restraints as the hospital referred to them) to the bed near my waist.  With nothing better to do, I began to work on the restraints.  After a while a nurse came in and said, “Oh, you are awake.”  Shortly thereafter my wife arrived and told me the rest of the story.

That morning I had been transported via ambulance to St. Joseph Mercy Hospital.  The EMS crew had determined I as not suffering from a stroke or heart attack but agreed with my spouse that I should go to the hospital.

Once there, a CT scan revealed that I was bleeding inside my skull at two points.  A brain surgeon performed an emergency craniotomy to remove the blood and stop the bleeding.  Ordinarily, ”brain bleeds” result from a fall where one hits their head.  Since I had no falls, the cause of the bleeding is not known, although I think the unusual exertion (and spike in blood pressure every time I hit the wedge) may have been the source.  My delay in getting treatment almost killed me.  My wife’s insistence on calling 911 saved me.

I am still fuzzy about some of the details.  Christmas evening my wife says the hospital gave each of us a meal and we had Christmas dinner together in my hospital room.  I have no memory of that.  Fortunately, my long-term memory is fine as are my motor skills.  I have resumed my 2-day a week part-time job and look forward to the start of the 2021 golf season in the Mitten.  Hopefully, I did not forget how to play.

Check out eBay for a great deal on a 10-pound sledgehammer and wedge. 😉