RAMONE & GOGO LOVERS — HELP PLEASE!!!

I need to go to the hospital for several weeks for heavy antibiotic treatment & major surgery. I am ready to go, except for…I need to make arrangements for my Beautiful Babies. I need someone with …a real love of and understanding of the bully breeds. who will let them sleep inside and give then tons of love, and who has a secure place that there is NO WAY they can get out of, as they will “come looking for me.” Prefer someone in LA-area so they can come visit me in the hospital. Please message me right away, or if you have my #, call me. THANK YOU.See More

So many of US post our personal stuff on FB. Guilty as charged! Sometimes, I look at posts and wonder “WHY in the world would someone post THAT?!?” What do they hope to achieve? What do they want? Prayers? Empathy? Love? Flowers and… a good bottle of Scotch? Guilty again.

So…this is it…

Tonight, I re-admit to Cedars-Sinai Hospital in Los Angeles. I will be there for at least a month. After a hellish Summer which included two major back surgeries, a minor back surgery and three serious infections accompanied by 45 days on a PICC line to administer depression and fatigue-inducing antibiotics, things have, well…uh…gotten worse.

New, more advanced and more aggressive infections are running rampant (pro wrestling verbiage!) in my spine. Upon checking back into the hospital, I will meet with “my team,” which includes my Neurologist and my Infectious Diseases Doctors to determine the best course of action. I do know at this juncture that the basic idea is to throw everything possible at the infections IN THE HOPES of shrinking them so that it I am “operable.” IF we are able to get to that point, THEN the goal is to open me up again, scrape out whatever infection is visible, and then…start removing vertebrae, and fuse my spine. IF that is “successful,” THEN…we have to hope that the infection if completely gone and not lurking only to reemerge later. Outlook? Cloudy, with a chance of meatballs. Or, in a favorite saying of mine when addressing something that is not altogether positive…”less-than-excellent.” I don’t mean to be or sound negative. I am a firm believer in gathering information, making an assessment and then a plan, and then applying a positive realism. This has always been how I’ve operated and I’m praying that I will treat THIS the same way.

Me being me, I’m going to try to turn all this into “something.” What I mean, is that providing I’m not completely whacked out of my mind on Dilaudid and Morphine, I am going to start chronicling all this through my social media, in a series I call “Rebuilding The Machine.” This would likely end up being my second Book. (wishing thinking? Perhaps. We shall see). I will also be doing my level best to complete the release of my first Book, “Been There, Done That” while in the hospital. Again, this will depend on my lucidity and a variety of other factors. Goals will include continuing to build my connections so that the release of my Book –IF I am fortunate enough to get to that point—will be as meaningful as possible. I am grateful for my social media team at Local Marketing 2.0 who are guiding me in these efforts. I know that I could not do this without them.

As you can see, there are A LOT of “ifs” here. Please throw me a prayer every now and then if you think of it. And please…come visit! Cedars-Sinai Hospital, Los Angeles. (BTW, I am NOT contagious). Your support will mean a great deal. A GREAT deal. At the end of the day though –as they say—we come into this world alone and we go out alone. That said, while YOU and my Doctors are very important, it’s going to come down to me. I have to decide how to “treat” this and how hard I want to fight. I’ve yet to come to terms with this, but expect to…NEED to…soon.

It’s been one hell of a day. In the moments when I’m not writhing on the floor, debilitated by pain –in the moments when the Oxy is kicking in—I’ve had heart-to-hearts with many close friends. Some have gone beautifully, and some less so. In those latter cases, I’m hopeful that the conversant on the other end of the line knows that feelings were expressed that I felt needed expressing, and that there was and is only good intention in them. I am now packed and just about to shave, shower and say “goodbye” to my beautiful oft residence in North Hollywood (thanks to my friends for moving me out while I’m at cedars so I don’t have to deal with this!). There is nothing more important in the world to me than my dogs, Ramone & GoGo. They are my babies and my true loves. Today is their birthday. I will take them out for a steak or a cheeseburger and a Scotch, and then bid them so long as they head to live by the beach in San Clemente (yay!). (No, the Scotch is not for them. Silly!)

Then to Cedars, to face this “thing” down.

Despite the outcome…it’s been one hell of a run. I’ve lived a life of adventure, love and fulfillment on many levels and will not have any (or many) regrets when that final bell rings. That said, there is still a lot I want to do in THIS life, so here’s to hoping for coming back stronger than ever before, putting Bill Goldberg’s big ass up for another airplane spin and writing yet another Chapter…

Love to you all,

Rick

At this moment in time, the hospital is my “home.” Perhaps my last home. But that doesn’t really matter though. Put aside the pain, the anguish, the frustration… the kind we find in the hospital AND IN EVERY DAY LIFE… yes, put it asi