Wednesday, 2 September, 2009

[JonPorobil]

I woke up at 2:15am from searing pain in my right eye. The pain didn't respond whether my eye was open or closed, in dark or light, and it didn't respond to an ibuprofen. It was some of the worst pain I've ever felt, and after a good half hour of stumbling around my apartment trying to figure out what to do, I finally opened up my laptop to look up WebMD. The light from the computer woke my wife, who insisted we go to the emergency room.

I'd never been to an ER, and I expected the worst, but it was pretty empty, and I was seen to at once. Nurses gave me some helpful medications, and then the doctor came in. After hearing me describe the symptoms, he expressed concern that it might be a rare type of aneurysm, so gave me an MRI. Another first for me. The MRI makes some very strange noises, and I spent the whole half-hour inside that machine with my head restrained and my ears plugged. I was in a state somewhere between being awake and asleep, and I was occasionally provoked to reaction by something in my "dream," only to realize just in time that moving can screw up an MRI reading.

In the end, the MRI came back clean and they sent me home (about 6am), though nobody could determine the cause of my pain. It seems to have gone away now, but I called in sick today, mainly because I woke up a half hour before my shift and wasn't sure how my body would respond to food (among other symptoms, I vomited twice last night).

Question of the Day: Have you ever been to a hospital as a patient? When was the most recent occasion, and what for?

[rone rivendale]

QotD: The last time I was there as a patient was when I was mowing the yard about 5-6 years ago and I got this really bad allergic reaction to a bush I had brushed up against. My hands swelled up like balloons so we went to the ER and all they fricken did was hand me a Benydrl.

I've never been fond of hospitals. I don't think I've ever been there for my own sake and thought the experience to be positive. I broke my arm when I was around 8 or 9 and they put a cast on it for a few weeks and ever since then my elbow bends both ways. I was in a car accident when I was 12 and they had me in a room for 4 hours even though all I had was bruising on my chest and one of my legs.

Bleh.

[Bjam]

That's no fun, Jon. Hopefully everything stays good and healthy for you.

I had a seminar today by CeCe Winans, who's apparently a big gospel star. Pretty cool talk. Next month we have a seminar from Scott Hamilton, the olympic skater. And if I was a senior I could've taken a class taught by Wynonna Judd this semester. My school is cool

QotD: I have a medical thing where I faint all the time. Last time I was in the hospital it was because I fainted and hit my head. Usually I just faint and wait it out and feel better after a few hours, but since the back of my head went straight into the corner of the counter, the whole family and I got in the car and drove to the ER. Tons of fun. I had just come from a party so I got the "Now, did you take anything tonight?" talk from about 10 different people.

Last time I should have gone to the hospital was a year ago when I got a 2-3 ft long metal lawn dart from the 70s thrown into my back. That was fun.

[king_arthur]

Last time for me was in 1979, I think... I was at band practice and didn't quite collapse, but felt like I was about to, so I wound up in the E.R. Basically just burning the candle at too many ends and left with instructions to eat better, drink more water, rest more, all that stuff.

And before that it was in 1952... when I was born, I had a tumor in my intestine that basically wouldn't let food through... "pyloric stenosis" I guess they call it. They did surgery and I've been fine ever since, but according to my grandmother, it was pretty new surgery at the time and was rather risky. So in a way, it's all been one big bonus round for me ever since the first week or so.

Have probably been in a hospital building for EKGs or something a time or two, but I think those are the only two times I was really "in the hospital."

Of course, even clean living catches up with you eventually... I remember a couple years ago I took one of those "when will you die?" internet quizzes, and although it was already 2006, I was told that I would probably be dead by December 2004...

Charles (KA)

[jack]

i had an emergency appendectomy done while i was in college. it was crazy. i went to the school clinic with a stomach ache and hours later was getting a sponge bath and shaved for surgery. i remember the call home went something like this... "hey mom. i'm in the hospital. i'm about to have surgery. my appendix is about to burst. gotta go. call you later..."

for the past few days, i've been nursing a very painful shoulder that i tweeked boogie boarding last weekend, and got body slammed into the ocean floor by about an 8 foot wave. at first i thought i dislocated it as it hurt so bad, but i knew once i could move it that wasn't the case. today is better than yesterday though, but it's still very sore and painful to move around.

[Paco Del Stinko]

Hope you're all right, Jon. Aw, you're alright in my book, pal! I hope we all stay healthy, for that matter. (knocking on wood)

I've escorted psychotic people to the ER more than I've ever been, that's always fun. I may be nutty, but not psychotic. I got a nosebleed when I was a kid that wouldn't stop bleeding so off I went. They cauterized the source, but I remember it as them putting a BB pellet in my nose that never came out! Still there, I thought for a long, long time. Dope.

[jimtyrrell]

Hope you're all right Jon!

My last visit to the ER was this past February, with pain in my lower back. It got real bad once I was at the hospital, and they doped me up and told me I had a kidney stone. I went home and waited it out for two very uncomfortable weeks, and then passed it. Wanna see? http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=2 ... =506318273

[Billy's Little Trip]

I got this really bad allergic reaction to a bush I had brushed up against

I'm not sure whether to say:
A. How ironic. (your last name is Bush)
OR
B. Maybe you're just gay.

So just pick one and laugh till you pee.

[jb]

Last time I should have gone to the hospital was a year ago when I got a 2-3 ft long metal lawn dart from the 70s thrown into my back. That was fun.

Textbook.

[fluffy]

Jon, do you ever experience migraines? Usually when I get a migraine, it feels like someone is holding my left eye in a vise grip.

The last time I was at a hospital as a patient was in mid-2005, when I had some severe coughing problems due to all the dust and mold at my grandpa's home and my mom constantly nagged me to go see a doctor because she thought I might be having a major asthma problem. Of course that wasn't the case at all, and it cost me several hundred dollars just to get some cough syrup. Meh.

A Frenchman, a German, and a Jewish mother are stranded in the desert for a week. The Frenchman said, "I am tired! I am thirsty! I must have wine!" The German said, "I am tired! I am thirsty! I must have beer!" The Jewish mother said, "I am tired! I am thirsty! I must have diabetes!"

[HeuristicsInc]

no, but i spent a lot of time there recently for the birth of young sir... does that count?
-bill

[Billy's Little Trip]

A Frenchman, a German, and a Jewish mother are stranded in the desert for a week. The Frenchman said, "I am tired! I am thirsty! I must have wine!" The German said, "I am tired! I am thirsty! I must have beer!" The Jewish mother said, "I am tired! I am thirsty! I must have diabetes!"

That made me lollerpoop

Last time I went to the doctor was after I was hit by a car while riding my motorcycle. She was up ahead of me heading in the same direction that I was, on a four lane street (two lanes in both directions). She was in the right lane and I was in the left (center) lane. She decided to pull to the far right and almost stop, then suddenly make a U-turn in a random spot on this four lane street just as I was passing her and BLAMO, right in the pooper! A flew through the air with the greatest of ease. Luckily I always wear a helmet, but I broke my collar bone and got a few scrapes and cuts that required stitches.