over the past 40 days when i was billoted at three hospitals in the albany area i received emails, cards, calls and visits from a number of cdmsbl players wishing me well. the notes were often penned with brief good wishes from wives and/or girlfriends i've known from the games.

i can't tell you how much that meant to me and how much that lifted my spirits. (a month of hospital food is enough to put you on jimmy stewart's bridge.)

in those notes, too, more than one writer said many others he talked to around the league were cheering me on.

believe it or not, i felt it. it was a lift in itself and it struck me, as i awaited another round of daily pills and shots, as a great example of what my san antonio msbl friend skip bradley calls "dugout therapy"

by that, skip meant the game we play is more than the game itself. it's guys, who as they get on and play on in years, also do something unusual for aging men. they make new friends, secure old ones, and at times befriend them, give them a hand.

you did that for me and i'd like to return the favor here if i can.

first a quick update.

i came home wednesday (5/5) exactly 40 days after being diagnosed with MRSA (pronounced "mersa"), which is a bacterial infection that gets into the bloodstream, has only three known antigens, and likes to attack the vital organs such as the heart, the brain, the lungs, the kidneys, the spine. it's fast-acting and it killed 18,000 people in the U.S. last year.

mrsa went after my lower spine. but i was lucky: speed's the key in detecting and beating what's called the "super bug." i had a team of doctors who came together two infectious disease specialists, a cardiologist and a spine expert who found what i had in two days.

dr. james lawrence, a spine specialist at the bone & jone center, determined i needed surgery so i had two spine operations, taking 12 hours total, in the space of a week. after the second, he said, "we got it." i said, yes? he said, "sure. we got it." exhale.

he took out my staples, 30 in all, yesterday. (i can't tell you how glad i am this guy didn't skip classes in college.)

i took my first free steps - without a walker - about 10 days ago and now am aiming at the modest goal of being able to stand and walk for 20 minutes at a time this week. (i'm at 10 now.) i'm also trying to get weight back: i lost 35 pounds (down to 165 from 200) in the 40 days. if i could dance and had a top hat, i'd be fred astaire.

no one knows how i got it which is consistent with the bug's sly approach. the research suggests that MRSA likes to hang out in hospitals (which is one reason hospital administrators try to get patients home fast) and gymnasiums. also, dirt is a fertile ground for it. so's sweat.

if i had to guess? i spent 151 days working out this past off-season and most of them were at one of three Y's - albany, e. greenbush and, mostly, at guilderland. i can imagine that a carrier opened a door just before me, i touched it next, and then i wiped sweat off my brow or touched my eyes or nose. that's all it would take.

so what about the dugout therapy i talked about?

the last thing the in the world i'd want to have happen is for anyone in the league to go through what i went through. so these several ideas are my offering:

1. wash your hands often. if you're somewhere where can't wash them often, then keep a bottle of hand sanitizer nearby and use it regularly.

2. wear pads on your hips and elbows and batting gloves on your hands when running bases. if you cut yourself sliding into a bag - and especially if dirt gets in - then clean yourself with water, hand sanitizer and antibiotic gel as fast as you can;

3. keep your batting gloves on after games when you high-five the other team's players. forget to do that? then wash your hands as soon as you can. a carrier whose hands are sweaty creates an electric wire for mrsa.

4. get your own bat and batting helmet. don't share yours with others; don't use team bats and helmets. if you do, wipe them down with sanitizer before you use them.

5. if you work in or around dirt, wear gloves.

that's it everyone. i hope this note doesn't seem too teacherly, but i'd like to do what i can to help you all stay a good distance from a bug nobody knew anything about 25 years ago, and yet, according to wikipedia, infected 278,000 people in 2005.

as for my return to the game? i'd like to say i'll be back this season, if only for one at-bat to help me make it through the winter, but i really don't know. the odds are probably against it but yesterday dr. lawrence said, "watch and see how fast you start to improve."

so we'll see. meanwhile, i can talk cdmsbl baseball and would be happy to if anyone wants to give me a buzz and let me know how teams and players are doing. home phone: 459-6854.

i also plan to watch a lot of baseball: i like both ny teams and cheered when swisher and barajas homered in the yanks and mets wins last night.

thanks again everyone. you helped a geezer get through and out of the hospital. your thoughtfulness will stay with me.

-mike
















-- Edited by mhart on Saturday 8th of May 2010 11:31:41 AM

-- Edited by mhart on Saturday 8th of May 2010 11:33:02 AM

-- Edited by mhart on Saturday 8th of May 2010 11:34:07 AM

-- Edited by mhart on Saturday 8th of May 2010 11:38:31 AM