In Bloomington, Illinois, I awoke one morning with groin pain that caused me to crumple when I got out of bed. I located a Urologist in the community and he saw me in the afternoon. Asking me to drop my slacks and underwear, he did not touch me and he stated that I had epididymitis (testicle infection), and to take the antibiotic he prescribed.
By the next morning, I had a high fever and my testicles were turning blue. I called Dr. Fernando Ojea in Chicago and he instructed me to pack my groin in ice and immediately drive to Methodist Hospital in Chicago. When I arrived four hours later a sonogram was administered and I was rushed to a Persian urologist, Dr. Emil Totonchi, and he operated on me that late afternoon. When I awakened, Dr. Totonchi was at my bedside and told me that he had saved my life.
My problem was testicular torsion in both testicles and he had stabilized each one with three wires so this would not happen again. How it happened originally is still a mystery as the night before I crumpled getting out of bed had been spent at my computer for a time of about 6 hours. This was in the time of autumn 2007.
My recovery in Chicago took place in the home of Timothy Glisson. It was a 12 days odyssey of being packed in Ice and resting on the living room couch. Finally being able to drive my car that had been saved by Barry Johnson and parked in his garage I visited the Dr. to learn of when I could return to Bloomington packed in ice.
During this recovery time, Tim christened me with a new name – and I became Autta Mae Bea Gawzballs which was also spelled Gawz-Bohls. The Autta Mae Bea was taken form an expression i had used in Texas Slang – “Ought to maybe”. The Gawzballs stuck due to being wrapped in gauze and packed in ice.
Some time later, I received a box of 30 engraved note cards gifted by Timothy Glisson that were Lavender with a silver embossed name – Autta Mae Bea Gawz-Balls, esq
I used all of these note cards until there were none. The great humor was the recipients who did not connect with from where they were sent or me as the sender. Autta Mae Bea had struck again with her dry and dark humor.
Several months later I visited the Urologist in Bloomington. After explaining to him what had happened and that his diagnosis was not accurate he just stared at me in silence. Then he picked up a pear, took a bite, spit it out, and said, “Well aren’t you lucky that you had a Doctor in Chicago who saved your life.”
Cold
Calculated
Arrogant
and he never apologized…
another life lesson lived by Autta Mae Bea
many times we OUTTA MAYBE
Entry – October 17, 2018
