Injuries/Illnesses

Ha, call me Illness Overflow. That is, if the Overflow meme were still going...

Anyway, I've had a number of health problems over the past year. At the beginning of August last year, I landed in the hospital and had to have an emergency surgery on my right lung. I had had some breathing problems since the beginning of July, and doctors had sent me for xrays and such, but my family doctor kept saying 'No, it's not pneumonia--you don't have a fever.' ...So in the end, the scan they did at emerge that night in August showed that my lung was pretty much full. The xray of that side was almost solid white. There was a pneumonia that had hardened, plus a NEW pneumonia on top of that, and a whole bunch of other stuff. They ended up sticking this huge needle in my back to try and drain it, but they said it was too thick/hard to draw out. Ouch. Anyway, they ended up doing a surgery and cleaned it all out, and apparently had to remove part of the lung, too. They told my grandma [who brought me into emerge] later that "If you would have waited another day, he would've died." Lucky me.

Since then, I also ended up spending a week in the hospital in September, October, and a month from November to December. They determined that my stomach wasn't working properly, and took way longer to digest food than normal. So I'd be okay for a couple weeks, and I guess I'd slowly 'fill up' to the point where I'd end up puking for a week--and spend said week in the hospital on an IV. The visit in November though, it just wouldn't go away. They suggested trying a feeding tube. I was wary, but decided it was for the better, anyway. So they stuck this long hose down my nose [worst feeling EVER] through my stomach, to the small intestine. And basically it worked like an IV tube, but it just stuck out my nose, and I'd plug this other hose/machine that pumped Glucerna into my body. The nose-tube was incredibly annoying, but was basically just a 'test' to see if I could tolerate such a treatment. In December, they did another surgery to insert a more 'permanent' [it can still come out if need be] tube into my stomach. So now it sticks out near my belly button. It's less annoying, but I hate it. Mostly because I can't take baths or go swimming. I can shower or whatever though.

As for injuries... This past Christmas [about a week after the tube-surgery] after I came home... Well, Christmas Eve to be exact--I was taking a shower. We got a shower chair/seat thing from my grandma for me to use until I was feeling stronger, so I was using that. After the shower though, I stood up to grab my towel hanging over the shower curtain rod, and got really light-headed and sorta fainted. I grabbed the towel and curtain, and fell over the side of the tub. And ripped the shower curtain, heh. Needless to say, it hurt like a bitch. Fast forward three days, after all the Christmas shenanigans with family... It still hurt. Plus my nurse [that was being sent to me for a few visits after the surgery to make sure the surgery site was doing okay and whatnot] was taking my blood pressure... and apparently I DIDN'T HAVE ONE. She tried several times, and my pulse and pressure were so weak that she decided to call an ambulance. I ended up in emerge AGAIN. Only for a few hours, though. The doctor determined that a new medication I had started was making my blood pressure drop. And that I had broken a rib or two when I fell in the tub. Grar. So he just sent me home with a bunch of percocets.

Worst part? The percs didn't even help.

Holy crap, that was longer than I expected.

Jam it back in, in the dark.