The moral of the story is to stay hydrated and make sure to eat when working hard or exercising, especially in the heat. After another stay at Winter Park Memorial Hospital, this time for 48 hours, I was finally diagnosed with rhabdomyolosis.
When I went in the first time on Sunday the 10th, my left side was numb and I had elevated and irregular heartbeat. Of course the first thing they check is the heart. It was fine. They gave me some fluids and an anti-inflammatory and ... sent me home. I took it easy around the house and played a couple of gigs, which I now know I had no business doing. I hadn't had a chance to follow up with my doctor because they were without power. On Tuesday afternoon, I felt awful after trying to practice a little. I took my blood pressure and my heart rate and BP were really high. After calling Michele, I went to the neighbor and he drove me to the fire station. They took me to the hospital. The first thing the ER focused on was my heart. While I was in the hospital I had a chest x-ray, MRI, echo cardiogram, CT scan and CT angiography. I can say without a doubt that my heart and coronary arteries are healthy. This time they did a blood test for creatine kinase. Anything over 1000 is bad, mine was 5000, which means that it was probably extremely high a week ago. Why did they miss this test the first time? I attribute it to medical culture. The heart is usually the culprit. My kidneys have been working overtime and I urinate about every 20 minutes. Thanks to my wife semi formal occasion outfits for juniors teenager Michele Venturini for being awesome and thanks to the staff at WPMH for working hard to heal sick people. I am home drinking fluids and peeing a lot. I have learned my lesson.