My visit to the hospital! *very long*

[Yrrek]

Let's start out with the history. Friday 25th April, about noon I started getting severe stomach cramps and nausea, I figured I might be coming down with the stomach flu, and so I took a trip to my school nurse and she sent me home with my Dad. Wee, I'm at home, in pain, and I start throwing up, I threw up a few times that afternoon, but slept the night through. Saturday I wake up and I am feeling MUCH better, but still am a little weak etc. from the previous day. So I drink a SIP, a sip mind you, of Gatorade(Dad told me to!) to help get some of my strength back. I threw up again. I then ate some toast, and all was well.

After a while, my stomach started feeling fine, and I was glad, then my bladder area started in with some pressure, not too intense, just enough to let itself be known and annoy me. It wasn't that bad like I said, but it was hard standing completely straight. Sunday I am stil feeling like this, so my Dad asks if I think I need to visit the E.R., or if I can wait for a doctor appointment tomorrow. I said "Eh, let's go to the doctor, I think I just have a bladder infection." Boy was I wrong.

Monday morning at 10 I went to the doctor and after a little prodding said I possibly have Appendicitis, and that I should go to the hospital. Eek! I didn't think it was THAT bad. So I go to the E.R., and wait for an hour for the surgeon to get down from surgery. He comes down, pokes a bit and says I need to take out my Appendix. He also said I should be able to go home later that day, since I wasn't in very much pain. I was thinking, well, this isn't so bad.

I wake up a few hours later and they say my Appendix ruptured and I would have to stay for a couple days. This was a TOTAL shock. :ph34r: But thankfully, I'm stubborn and I got to go home Tuesday evening. The kicker? Tuesday was my 16th birthday! So now I have to wait even longer to get my liscence! :(

Wow, sorry for that being so long folks, I just thought it was a fairly interesting story, and I have nothing else to do at the moment. Post your own hospital stories if you want, or talk about other people, or even highjack! I don't mind. Just hoping to hear another tale of surprise operations! Haha. I would have gone into more detail(my nurses were VERY nice), but this was long enough. Sorry again for this being so long! Cheers!

EDIT: Never posted this long, but it isn't as bad as I thought!

[LavCat]

Yrrek, since you ask, I have a bladder story. Last fall I went into the hospital because of a blockage. It was supposed to be just over night. Unfortunately instead of going from the outside in as planned they had to go from the inside out, and I was in five days. My roommate assured me she had once been in the hospital for over a hundred days, so I guess I was more fortunate than I could have been.

Glad you are OK!

[Feryar]

One year ago I went to the doctor because my wrist was hurting after some snowboard accident. He told me "no, I don't think it is broken, you would have had much more pains if it was". I asked him "then what is it?" and he answer "I think it is muscular, probably an infection or something, take this magic balm and use it".

So I did.

Three weeks later and no improvement I return and ask him when this magic balm is supposed to start working. He tells me that maybe my wrist is just recovering, and that I should be careful with it for a while.

So I was (kinda).

After three months and still no improvement, I go see another doctor. "I don't think it is broken, there is no need to take an x-ray. I will give you these magic pills and once you have used them all start training your wrist again".

My faith in doctors where growing thin at this point, but I did what the man said.

Another three months and it still hurts like hell everytime I move it to far out of position. I gave up training with weights after a couple of weeks. I go to a third doctor and demand to get a x-ray. He says no and I tell him he can give me my x-ray or I'll walk out and not even bother paying him. That helped.
I get the x-ray, conclusion is: You have broken one of the wristbones, but it does not seem to have grown at all. Well d'oh...

Next week I'm supposed to go the the hospital to get an iron nail put into it, hopefully that will be a short stay, but I won't be surprised if I have another run-in with Dr. Incompetent and they cut off my hand and place me on 3 months observation or something.

edit: Spelling

[WarLocke]

This one was quite a shocker at the time.

When I was 13, my dad decided to send me off to summer camp. I, being the book-reading computer nerd I was, vehemently protested, but Dad was adamant. So, I was trucked off to North Carolina for a month.

What Dad had forgotten to mention to me though (or else I would have resorted to extreme measures to get out of it), was that this was not Summer Camp; this was X-treme Survival Mountain Hiking. There I was, my little chubby 13-year-old self expected to keep pace with in-shape 14-, 15- and 16-year-olds while carrying a 30-40 pound pack, for 15-20 miles a day.

The camp had a no-communication policy; we weren't allowed to write letters home, and communication from home was filtered through the councilors. This became a problem when I discovered that the hiking boots Dad had bought just for Summer Camp were a size too small for me.

I was nearly always the last person to reach the rest stops, which meant I got little to no breathers during a hike, which only made me arrive at the next stop later, and so on. It was by no means an enjoyable time.

When "camp" let out and I returned home, I had lost 40 pounds and couldn't stand straight for nearly a week. Also, I had at some point contracted a staph infection in both of my feet (I suspect the boots were at least partially to blame -- 7 of my toenails fell off at camp, the soles of my feet were layered with blisters, and the constant wading through pools and streams, often trekking for a day with wet socks, couldn't have helped). While examining my feet, the doc also remarked that I had somehow broken a toe, and it had healed naturally. I was in so much pain, I never felt it.

The staph infections were clustered around the outside bones of my feet (sorry, can't remember the term), and I had to go into surgery to have them literally scrape it off of the bones. I then spent nearly three months in the hospital, with gauze packed into the holes in my feet so that the skin wouldn't heal over and leave a hollow inside my feet, the gauze being changed twice a day and my feet soaked in an antibacterial bath before/during each change. Even after being released, I had a special concoction I had to apply inside with a Q-tip-like thing twice a day until it finished healing.

I still have the scars from that surgery, 10 years later, and it resulted in me having to wear "wide" shoes since. However, I found out later that the prognosis at the time I went into surgery was not in my favor, and I would likely have had to have part of each foot amputated.

I've had my share of other accidents (plenty of stitches, rocks shoved 2 inches into my knee, wrenching my other knee 90 degrees the wrong way), but yeah, that one pretty much takes the cake.

- WL

Edit: Wrong state.

[Nicodemus Phaulkon]

If not, I volunteer.

Taking measures for your "child's own well-being" is one thing. Shoving them into an alien situation without a method for communication, much less support, is quite another. Then, as a topper, sending you into said "situation" without proper forewarning, equipment or preparation. Classy. Wonderful example of "because I said so" going horribly wrong.

I hope his guilt weighs heavily.

Secondly, I'd sue the ass off that "Xtreme Camp" for lack of knowledge, education and proper health maintenance of their attendees. For them to not ensure your proper equipment, much less a change of socks (Christ, even the US Army is better than this) is "Xtreme" negligence at best. You were 13, ferchrissakes!

Idiocy.

[[wcip]Angel]

My family and I were at my grandmother's house and
my elderly brother wanted to show our cousin how
tough I was.

He grabbed me by the legs, started spinning around
with me in mid-air. For some reason he decided to let
go, and I was flung head first into the wall. My head
wasn't damaged in the 'accident' but I ruptured my
collar bone. I don't know how they treated me. I
remember trying to blow inside some sort of balloon-
like device, passing out, and waking up in a hospital
bed with my mother by my side.

...

Don't think I've ever gotten an apology from my brother
for that..

[NiteFox]

Angel,May 1 2003, 02:17 PM] Don't think I've ever gotten an apology from my brother
for that..

Make sure he gets some earthworms with his spaghetti then...

[Count Duckula]

Why am I reading this post and wincing? Worse thing that ever happened to me: stepped on a toothpick and had to wear a baggie/shower cap on my foot for a few days. It's my other family members who sever their arteries, sprain their limbs, etc.

But you're in a good position to get strange and interesting foods, Yrrek. Vegetable crackers and chicken soup--if you can keep it down, that is. :(

[Occhidiangela]

Sent to a hiking camp with wrong sized shoes? The camp had no medical staff?

No one broke the code?

Or, was the assupmtion that anyone who went there would have their sh** together, as in, wearing the proper footwear, and thus no one ever considered that someone might just be improperly equipped?

*shakes head*

Sounds like a rather heavy price to pay for losing 40 pounds . . . there are better ways. Glad your luck turned slightly, and foot was not amputated. That would be just too effing horrible to contemplate.

[Walkiry]

Worst that has happened to me was last year when I got my tonsils removed. No big deal though, went to the hospital with very bad swollen throat, get antibiotics, get another antibiotic a week after, feel OK for another week, back to the doctor who decided to remove them right away (well, after another 2 days of intravenous antibiotics, whee!).

Lost 20 pounds in 2 weeks.

All this happened one month after starting my new job, way to go with a first impression ^_^

[Yrrek]

Oh man! I can't imagine how painful that would have been! I'm fairly athletic though so I am able to bounce back from my Appendix fairly quickly, earlier today I got the draining tube taken out. That was a surprise, I figured it would be maybe 2-3 inches long, at most. It was 10 inches long! It didn't hurt but just the thought of that inside my gut was amazing! :blink:

[Yrrek]

I broke my collarbone playing football in 7th grade, so that would have been just over 3 years ago. Luckily that's one of the 2 things I've broken. I also broke my right HAND playing basketball, don't ask how, I'm not sure how it happened. But he threw you into the wall?? I haven't done anything THAT bad to my brother, but I did break his nose playing basketball...

[Yrrek]

Sounds like my school trainer. All he does is wrap it up and tell you to suck it up. Pff.

[Roland]

...I punched a sword an inch or so into my hand. Wee, that was fun! :D Almost tried for a chick's number in the E.R. waiting room, too, but figured it might have been a bad time. :)

My favorite part, aside from that, was arguing with the pharmaceutical guy at CVS (at 1 AM, mind you) that I was fine, I just needed some gauze and medical tape, and that I did not need to go to the hospital. After about 15 or so minutes of this, I caved, and went. Reluctantly. I'm glad I did. ;)

Hope ya feel better soon. :) And let this be a lesson: waiting can be dangerous. :P

[Baylan]

I'm fortunate enough to have a *great* athletic trainer at my school - I've put up with various injuries this season, my first in high school as a frosh.

In this last football season I've had the following injuries

• Sprained back
  <>
  
• Knee injury/Speared by a player while playing scrub offense
  <>
  
• Fractured nose<>
  [st]
  For the back, we were doing drills on a sled. I got a little *too low* and well, welcome to a new stretch!
  
  For the knee, I was speared while the team was practicing goalline offence. Put me on crutches for a day and a limp for a week - I was ready to play in our game the next day.
  
  The nose, the nose is a slightly more complex story. I was playing linebacker and got stiff armed by one of our bigger backs. I call to a backup to come in for me, walk to the sideline and take off my helmet. When I touch my nose I notice I'm bleeding and tell the coach "Hey, I'm bleeding pretty bad... should I go to the trainer?"
  
  "Sure, why not?"
  
  All I can say is the rest of the team refused to stop touching my nose for the rest of the season. *punch team*
  
  My worst injury however, would most definately be the time I stood a little too close to someone swinging a golf club when I was 7. Seven stitches and a whole lot of pain later, I was fine! :-) Right now I am battling with shin splints though, in track - quite the viscious injury if left untreated.

[Mithrandir]

My most entertaining trip to the hospital? Hmm...

On a Thursday I came down with a pretty nasty upper-respiratory cold. I was coughing a lot, fever, sore muscles, etc. I'm, for better or worse, a very "Leave me alone, I'm fine" guy and so I didn't do anything about it. Friday it gets worse. Saturday it gets even worse, reaching the point that I'm beginning to have serious trouble breathing. I get driven to the ER, they give me some extremely large doses of Albuterol, take some x-rays, and come back to tell me that I have a hole in my lung. They make me stay overnight and it was resoundingly one of the most boring experiences of my life.

The worst part was that I was taken in at 5:00 PM but hadn't had lunch and only a marginal breakfast at about 8:00 AM. It was 2:00 AM (on Sunday :) ) before they finally took me out of the ER, gave me a room, and got me some food... meaning I was pushing 18 hours without eating anything. That sucked :angry:

[BobThePumpkin]

My history teacher has had a bout of bad medical luck lately. About a month ago, he passed a kidney stone, and last weekend he found out that he has a stomach ulcer. He's keeping a good attitude about all of it, and had some fun stories about the incredibly powerful painkillers they have nowdays :D

[kandrathe]

Note to self as father of two boys -- never send son off incommunicato to summer camp... Sheesh! I bet your dad felt awful, and angry with the camp. That borders on child abuse.

[Bun-Bun]

My history teacher has had a bout of bad medical luck lately. About a month ago, he passed a kidney stone.

What's the problem? Did the stone not know the material?

[kandrathe]

Hope you are feeling better. :D

I've been hospitalized for extended stays 4 times. The first I can hardly remember, but I almost died of influenza when I was 5. The next three times were when I was 15 or 16, were within a year of each other, and related to accidents with training horses.

#1 -- I had received a new saddle as a present for my birthday, and it had a "bucking strap" besides having a cinch. When I was done riding that day, I forgot to undo the bucking strap when I tried to pull off the saddle. It snagged on his belly hairs near his hoohoo and needless to say the horse promptly turned and delivered both rear feet to my sternum. I was unable to breathe for about 5 minutes, and later at the hospital found out I had four broken ribs. I remember I was most upset as the new saddle got pretty trashed too...

#2 -- I was just out in my training ring with a different horse, one that was pretty unpredictable. I remembered a neighbor leaving the house, and getting in his car. But, then next thing I remembered was waking up in a hospital bed still smelling of horse dung. Evidently the horse bolted when the neighber started his car, I was kicked in the head whilst falling into a large pile of manure. The hospital didn't want to move me until I regained conciousness so they had to cut me out of most of my stinky clothes. Sheesh, I had the worst headache...

#3 -- I was over at a neighbors getting lessons in Dressage. I had loaded my horse into our trailer, ready to take him back home. The horse had grabbed something from the tack area, so I had to go into the trailer to get it from him. These are tame horses so you climb all over/under them all the time. Well, this time I was in the trailer, and the horse moved somehow and tripped me. I fell onto my back, right under him. He freaked out, and started stomping, and champing in the trailer, until someone heard my sister screaming and let the horse out of the trailer. Luckily I was still wearing my hard hat (same kind jockeys wear), shin guards, and boots. The helmet had two or three 1 inch deep gashes in it. I had a broken femur on one leg, and a broken tibia on the other. But, considering what I had been through it could have been much worse. After they pulled me out, I remember my sister looking at me and she asked "Are you alright?", then she saw my leg bent wrong and quickly added, "Oh, no, your not!!"