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Week of Hell
Feb. 9th, 2012 03:26 pmThus far, it's been a week of hell...
First, my job is being eliminated and, though they're giving me another job, it's still a major change. Then yesterday, I had a bit of a medical emergency. Granted, not life-threatening, but just incredible amounts of pain. I woke up around 5AM with pain in my left lower back. At first, it felt like a muscle cramp, but then it ramped up and when I stood up to stretch, I started seeing stars. And then the pain got worse to where I was debating vomiting, crying, or passing out. Tried lying back down, which was only marginally better. Then another wave hit and I somehow managed to stumble into Mom's room and wake her up to take me to the ER. Got back into my room and managed to put on socks, pajama bottoms, a shirt, and slippers, then was overcome with pain and nausea. Crawled to the top of the steps with my wallet and cell phone. When I got there and didn't hear any movement from Mom's room, I used the cell phone to call her and wake her up. Then I proceeded to swing my feet around so I could crawl down the steps feet-first. Meanwhile, TomTom stayed with me, licking my head. Rocky beat the crap out of Mom's door. Then when I started to go downstairs, he smacked my head several times, probably thinking I was about to fall down the stairs, but when he saw what I was doing, he backed off, then ran downstairs, thinking he would catch me if I fell instead of flattening him, 30-pound cat or no. Got downstairs and waited about another 10 minutes for Mom. In all fairness, sher had a doctor appointment later in the morning, and she needed to make sure she had everything for that so she could go there right from the ER, if necessary. She left the house first to start the car, and I decided I didn't care if it was cold or not, and I stumbled out to the car. Fortunately, the hospital is less than five miles away, and it wasn't quite rush hour. The pain escalated to where I ended up taking off my seat belt and putting the seat all the way down so I could lie where the pain was only slightly more bearable. Got there, and there was only one person ahead of me, and they processed me pretty quickly. It didn't take too long from when they brought me back to a bed/gurney to when a nurse came in and started an IV, followed by a doc who first checked for any hernias then ordered dilaudid. Five minutes later, I started to feel like I didn't have a broadsword impaled in my lower back.
So, I apologized for being a little wuss and was told, "Don't worry about it; it's just classic kidney stone symptoms." I looked down and realized the ER/Hospital gown really did have moons and stars on it, and it wasn't just the ones in my head. Though at this point, my memory is a little fuzzy, as the dilaudid was putting me in a very good mood, bring a whole new concept of "being stoned." Mom had to leave for her appointment, and I told her I'd call if there was a problem or when I was done. Note: Mom also had an appointment for a nerve block in the afternoon. Yeah, I picked a real good day to throw a stone...
Anyway, they took me for a CAT scan and politely smiled when I mentioned that TomTom and Rocky had already given me one, explained who TomTom and Rocky are, but that I was all for nuclear imaging. After I got back from the electron portrait, the pain was starting to return. So, they hit me with more dilaudid, took a urine sample and a blood sample, and I think I took a nap.
A little while later, the ER doc woke me up and told me the results of the CAT scan. I had/have(?) a 3mm stone, likely calcium oxylate, at the bottom of my left ureter, poised to pass into my bladder, after which, it wouldn't be a problem anymore. The lab results showed nothing else unusual, save for a slight elevation in white blood cell count, so, they were sending me home with a script for Vicodin and an antibiotic. My brain almost gave the comment that I wouldn't be like Steve Austin anymore, but then another part of my brain slapped the first part and said, "Anti-biotic, not anti-bionic, you moron!" So instead, I just nodded and smiled and called Mom. She was otherwise occupied in her own medical adventures, but told me she'd called Eileen (friend of the family), and she could come bring me home, and she would call her and let her know that they were kicking me loose.
So, got my stuff, waited for my ride, and when Eileen was taking me home, I came to the realization that I didn not have a house key on me. Wallet and cell phone, yes, but no key. So, I called my car-less sister, discovered she was indeed home, and went there to borrow her house key, then came home. Between the dilaudid and the fatigue factor, I took a cautious nap. I wanted to get my scripts filled, but I wasn't yet up for driving, but I was a little scared to sleep in case I woke up in pain again and didn't have anything for it. I ended up sleeping anyway from sheer exhaustion.
Woke up later after Mom was home from her adventures, had some dinner, and felt of enough sound mind to go get my scripts filled. Managed to get there before the pharmacy closed, and the pharmacist and tech were both very, very kind in filling the meds right before closing.
Anyway, I took today off work to continue to convalesce. I think I've probably passed the stone, and may have passed it before I left the ER. In any event, I have meds to help if I'm wrong. But with a slight infection and being on an antibiotic, I rescheduled my blood donation appointment from tomorrow to next month.
Next week, I finish the old job and start the new job while trying to ignore Valentine's Day and remembering that Wednesday makes it 9 years since Dad died.
Thanks to all who have posted well-wishes on FB.
Next up: another grievous example of someone who wishes they could be a cool nerd and failing miserably...
Just...stay with your conformist, unimaginative, nerd-bashing little clique of common denominators until you're truly interested in learning how to distinguish between Imperial hardware and Cybertronian life-forms. Or even between a real and photoshopped picture...
( Comics! )Posted at LiveJournal and Dreamwidth
First, my job is being eliminated and, though they're giving me another job, it's still a major change. Then yesterday, I had a bit of a medical emergency. Granted, not life-threatening, but just incredible amounts of pain. I woke up around 5AM with pain in my left lower back. At first, it felt like a muscle cramp, but then it ramped up and when I stood up to stretch, I started seeing stars. And then the pain got worse to where I was debating vomiting, crying, or passing out. Tried lying back down, which was only marginally better. Then another wave hit and I somehow managed to stumble into Mom's room and wake her up to take me to the ER. Got back into my room and managed to put on socks, pajama bottoms, a shirt, and slippers, then was overcome with pain and nausea. Crawled to the top of the steps with my wallet and cell phone. When I got there and didn't hear any movement from Mom's room, I used the cell phone to call her and wake her up. Then I proceeded to swing my feet around so I could crawl down the steps feet-first. Meanwhile, TomTom stayed with me, licking my head. Rocky beat the crap out of Mom's door. Then when I started to go downstairs, he smacked my head several times, probably thinking I was about to fall down the stairs, but when he saw what I was doing, he backed off, then ran downstairs, thinking he would catch me if I fell instead of flattening him, 30-pound cat or no. Got downstairs and waited about another 10 minutes for Mom. In all fairness, sher had a doctor appointment later in the morning, and she needed to make sure she had everything for that so she could go there right from the ER, if necessary. She left the house first to start the car, and I decided I didn't care if it was cold or not, and I stumbled out to the car. Fortunately, the hospital is less than five miles away, and it wasn't quite rush hour. The pain escalated to where I ended up taking off my seat belt and putting the seat all the way down so I could lie where the pain was only slightly more bearable. Got there, and there was only one person ahead of me, and they processed me pretty quickly. It didn't take too long from when they brought me back to a bed/gurney to when a nurse came in and started an IV, followed by a doc who first checked for any hernias then ordered dilaudid. Five minutes later, I started to feel like I didn't have a broadsword impaled in my lower back.
So, I apologized for being a little wuss and was told, "Don't worry about it; it's just classic kidney stone symptoms." I looked down and realized the ER/Hospital gown really did have moons and stars on it, and it wasn't just the ones in my head. Though at this point, my memory is a little fuzzy, as the dilaudid was putting me in a very good mood, bring a whole new concept of "being stoned." Mom had to leave for her appointment, and I told her I'd call if there was a problem or when I was done. Note: Mom also had an appointment for a nerve block in the afternoon. Yeah, I picked a real good day to throw a stone...
Anyway, they took me for a CAT scan and politely smiled when I mentioned that TomTom and Rocky had already given me one, explained who TomTom and Rocky are, but that I was all for nuclear imaging. After I got back from the electron portrait, the pain was starting to return. So, they hit me with more dilaudid, took a urine sample and a blood sample, and I think I took a nap.
A little while later, the ER doc woke me up and told me the results of the CAT scan. I had/have(?) a 3mm stone, likely calcium oxylate, at the bottom of my left ureter, poised to pass into my bladder, after which, it wouldn't be a problem anymore. The lab results showed nothing else unusual, save for a slight elevation in white blood cell count, so, they were sending me home with a script for Vicodin and an antibiotic. My brain almost gave the comment that I wouldn't be like Steve Austin anymore, but then another part of my brain slapped the first part and said, "Anti-biotic, not anti-bionic, you moron!" So instead, I just nodded and smiled and called Mom. She was otherwise occupied in her own medical adventures, but told me she'd called Eileen (friend of the family), and she could come bring me home, and she would call her and let her know that they were kicking me loose.
So, got my stuff, waited for my ride, and when Eileen was taking me home, I came to the realization that I didn not have a house key on me. Wallet and cell phone, yes, but no key. So, I called my car-less sister, discovered she was indeed home, and went there to borrow her house key, then came home. Between the dilaudid and the fatigue factor, I took a cautious nap. I wanted to get my scripts filled, but I wasn't yet up for driving, but I was a little scared to sleep in case I woke up in pain again and didn't have anything for it. I ended up sleeping anyway from sheer exhaustion.
Woke up later after Mom was home from her adventures, had some dinner, and felt of enough sound mind to go get my scripts filled. Managed to get there before the pharmacy closed, and the pharmacist and tech were both very, very kind in filling the meds right before closing.
Anyway, I took today off work to continue to convalesce. I think I've probably passed the stone, and may have passed it before I left the ER. In any event, I have meds to help if I'm wrong. But with a slight infection and being on an antibiotic, I rescheduled my blood donation appointment from tomorrow to next month.
Next week, I finish the old job and start the new job while trying to ignore Valentine's Day and remembering that Wednesday makes it 9 years since Dad died.
Thanks to all who have posted well-wishes on FB.
Next up: another grievous example of someone who wishes they could be a cool nerd and failing miserably...
Just...stay with your conformist, unimaginative, nerd-bashing little clique of common denominators until you're truly interested in learning how to distinguish between Imperial hardware and Cybertronian life-forms. Or even between a real and photoshopped picture...
( Comics! )Posted at LiveJournal and Dreamwidth
