David Gould's hospital stay and home recovery during 'The Cure' post-production
Four years ago I almost died in hospital when the staff diagnosed me with a burst appendix but waited 13 hours before operating. It had by then become septic and my fevers increased to the point where I blacked out. I was then rushed into surgery.
I then spent the next 6 weeks in hospital. It was excruciating as I had intense fevers every couple of hours. I was on high doses of morphine for the pain and couldn't think or function. Nothing was working so they put me on more and more powerful antibiotics. I recall after weeks of deliberation that they started to closely monitor my blood before they gave me one particular antibiotic. I researched it on the internet. If given too much of this powerful antibiotic it could leave me permanently deaf and have I'd balance problems for life.
I was in a ward with a lot of elderly people who I knew may not be going home. It was very sobering. I recall being so weak that it took me a half hour to walk 15 meters to the window overlooking the car park. Far down below I could see everyone going about their lives. I wanted desperately to be down there.
I knew that one day as an elderly person I would be back in this same hospital just like my fellow companions. This is going to be inevitable for all of us.
When I was discharged I stood on the street and looked back up to the window I had been looking down from all those weeks. I promised myself that between that day and the day of my inevitable return to that window that I would live everyday to the maximum. I would follow my dreams.
Even at home I still needed strong intravenous antibiotics for weeks so I asked that they show me how I could do it and a learned the procedure. I hooked up the antibiotics and continued working on the edit and visual effects of my first feature film THE CURE. All efforts to raise post production funding had failed so rather than have all the footage we'd shot sit collecting dust I started editing it myself.
The antibiotics were very strong so I could only work about four hours per day before they knocked me flat. I then slept for six hours then repeated.
Two other people handled the sound and music and I did the rest: edit, visual effects, grading, legals, deliverables, etc. With just a team of three people we completed the entire post production for a feature film.
It was very tough and many months of work but I just repeated the same words I repeated when the waves of fever and pain would hit me in hospital. I would grit my teeth and say "I can do this. I AM doing this."
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