and I didn't even get any morphine! rabblerabblerabble....

[StruckingFuggle]

I had plans, certainly, for these past few days, and for the New Year's. People to talk to. Games to update. Political goings on to comment on (like Saddam's execution)... Arguments to have. Drinks to drink. Parties to either serve wine at for monies, or get buzzed and hang out with friends to watch Metalocalypse and rock in the new year. Rib Roasts to roast!

None of this was done! Oh no, of course not.

Rather, I was in the hospital. Feeding from an IV. Going out of my mind in boredom. Did I mention they couldn't manage to pin down a vein in my right hand, so I spent the whole time with the needle in the back of my dominant hand? Motherdouchebags. The nurses were nice, though.

What, you say? Indeed, I say! Let us go back in time to the night of the 27th. Stomachache. I didn't really think much of it, just figured dinner (frozen dinner and all) wasn't sitting well with me. The next day, my whole abdomen aches, it's like someone's digging their knee into the pit of my stomach and into my right kidney, with someone pummeling the rest of my abdomen.

At first I think it's just my spine or something. I screwed up my back the previous night, so I go by my chiro, and it doesn't help. Get home, and then call my doctor - they're full but because the pain is around my kidney, they fit me in where they can, and so he prods me and questions me and guesses it's probably viral. "there's a virus like that going around".

The next day, it's mostly abated, but he still has me come in for a checkup. And he's a good doc. He's got a gut instinct - which I wouldn't quite call it, I'd say more he's got a knack for medical thinslicing. He sends me off to get a CAT Scan. I stop by Jimmy John's afterwards and get a good sub, some chips, and a glass of lemonade.

I get home, and my dad's on the phone. "Did you eat already?" "Yeah." "I'll be surprised if you keep it down, and get some stuff - you'll be spending a few days in the hospital." "GAH!" "Yeah. The CAT people called Dr. Byrd, and said 'he's got a raging case of pancreatitis'."

... argh.

The treatment for which? Spending some time in the hospital, hooked up to an IV. No food. In a hospital bed. Thankfully I had my DS. Sorta. I mean, I had it. And Phoenix Wright - except I quickly got stuck. And FF3 - except I got to a point and didn't know where to go. And Dragon Quest Heroes - Rocket Slime. Which is actually a lot of fun. And actually kept me rather amused, so whee. I also had a couple books, but couldn't seem to be. Unfortunately, my mp3 player was on the fritz, so I had no music. And couldn't really shower. And argh. But eh, I survived. The nursestaff was mostly nice, thankfully. Even if they did wake me up at like 7:30 to check my vitals and draw some blood to test.

My right arm looks like that of a junkie. Lots of little red dots by the veins.

But of course they couldn't get the IV into my right hand. Nooo. So I spend about eighty hours or so with an IV in the back of my dominant hand, which I use reflexively to adjust myself (in bed, I mean!) or gesture with, or various things, oiii... it's still sore, from the insertion point to halfway down my forearm. But it'll fade. And I'm still in a good goddamn mood for being free. I'm out and thankfully eating food again, though I'm on a low-fat diet now for three or four weeks. Oh well. IT'S GOOD TO BE FREE.



SO! How was YOUR new year's?





Oh yeah, re: the title. So yeah, it was just mild. Discomfort, but not enough for it to be real pain. So not only spending three plus days in the hospital, but! Doing so while NOT drugged out of my mind. What a gyp.

[Koeniou]

That kinda sucks.

Good to see that you're out though.

[Blaze]

According to wocket, the only reason you didn't get drugs is 'cause you REFUSED them.

[StruckingFuggle]

I didn't refuse them, I didn't ask for them. Because I didn't need them.

[wocket]

[quote="Blaze";p="707665"]According to wocket, the only reason you didn't get drugs is 'cause you REFUSED them. [/quote]
Nope. I passed along what Nukin told me, which was "he's not even taking pain meds".

[Yira Heerai]

Glad to see you're getting better.

[Tigger]

I'm glad you're out - sucks on the diet, but I think you'll find that low-fat isn't that difficult to do. I've apparently been doing it without noticing for a long time!

[Martin Blank]

[quote="StruckingFuggle";p="707658"]The nursestaff was mostly nice, thankfully. Even if they did wake me up at like 7:30 to check my vitals and draw some blood to test.[/quote]
When I was about 13, I stayed overnight in the hospital for a growth hormone check. (This was back when human growth hormone was just finishing trials, and cost about $40K per year.) Because of how they were graphing the results, the nurses had to draw blood from me every 20 minutes from 8pm to 8am. I had a catheter in my arm for that... and it sucked. Eventually, they had to move it to my left arm (where I used to have very poorly visible vessels) because my body started to fight it. I got very poor sleep that night.

Still, it was only one night, and not for concerns over one of my internal organs. You've got me beat on that one.

[Blaze]

Been there, MB, when I was on an experimental drug for my NF2. My body fought the catheter, and started to clog around it. Hurt like crazy. They decided to blast the clot out of the way by injecting a bunch of warm saline.

Boy, and I thought the clot ITSELF hurt like crazy.

[StruckingFuggle]

Yeah ... they took MY IV off last afternoon, but left the needle in, "in case they needed to hook me up again"... and to keep the body from rejecting it, shot me up with a lot of saline. Big needle body, about half full, like two tablespoons of saline! And MAN did that hurt.

I think that's the real reason my hand is still so tender... ow.


They took it out about five hours later when it looked like I was bleeding into it. o.o

[wocket]

I remember when I was 12, I was in the hospital with an IV fluid-drip in my left arm. Except they needed to draw blood every few hours, so they did that from my right arm. I came out looking like a junkie.

However, I still think I have you beat from when I was hit by a car. "Digital rectal examination", indeed.

[Tigger]

We shouldn't go into car incidents. I'll get Aaron to come back and he can tell you about the 2 times he's been clinically dead and spontaneously come back to life...and they both involved cars.

The worst that's happened to me was at my gallbladder surgery. The IV was in my left arm, which was sitting beside me on the bed. The bed was against the right wall, so Aaron was sitting in a chair to my left. He, not thinking, pushed on the bed to push himself upright in his chair - and succeeded in pushing right on my IV full force to do so. HURT like a sonofabitch too!

[HTRN]

Fuggle, I spent 10 days in the Hospital both drugged out of my mind, and in semiagony.

It's no damn fun even with the painkillers.


HTRN

[NKryptiD]

I've never gotten any fun painkillers for anything...
am I lucky or not that I haven't needed any surgery?

[JudgeMental]

I would take only the absolute minimum of painkillers. Just enough to take the edge away. I really, REALLY hate it when my mind is fogged up, slowed down, gummed up, or shut down by anything, for any reason. It's even why I won't drink socially.