Fail: My sister went to the emergency room and it was discovered that she had an ovarian cyst, and her right ovary. Her right ovary had to be removed because the it was twisting around itself. Booyah: My sister came out well from surgery and I am kind of glad that this happened, if it would not have been detected then it would have been much worse, like necrosis or worse.
Ouch. Glad to hear your sister made it out okay. My wife had almost the same exact issue, only she lucked out that they caught it early enough that they could remove the cyst before the twisting did permanent damage to her ovary.
Thanks, I am just glad that she is at home now. It is crazy how stuff like this puts so many things into perspective. Live is precious and we take so many things for granted. It is silly that it takes to undergo experiences like this to understand it.
Thanks, I am just glad that she is at home now. It is crazy how stuff like this puts so many things into perspective. Live is precious and we take so many things for granted. It is silly that it takes to undergo experiences like this to understand it.
You're welcome... and yeah, I know exactly how you feel -- both with what happened with my wife and with myself a few years back when it looked like I was having a heart attack (turns out I wasn't -- it was a blood clot in my lung, but the symptoms are so close to a heart attack that they assumed the worst until a CT-scan showed the clot).
A pulmonary embolism is no laughing matter either.
No, it's not, but it's not quite as bad as a heart attack. If a heart attack is a 10 on a scale of badness, a P.E. is probably an 8 or 9, depending on age, general health outside the P.E., etc.
I am glad you are well Dragonmaster Lou, and I hope that doesn't happen again to you.
Thanks. As a result, I'm on blood thinners, probably for the rest of my life, so that should prevent it from happening again. I also converted my office desk to a stand-up workstation as I suspect sitting down a lot at work contributed to the PE.
How does somebody end up with a non-traumatic PE? I assume that's what it was.
Define "non-traumatic." I was in the hospital for 3 days and even had to go through an angioscopy while I was in there to rule out heart attack, so I consider that pretty traumatic, at least for me and my family. Oh, and I had a double PE (one for each lung, yay), not a single one, apparently...
As for why I was able to survive relatively unscathed, they pretty much summed it up to youth (I was only 31 at the time, but if I was like 81 or something I may not have survived) and early detection due to being more alert than the average person when it comes to if my cardiovascular system is out of whack (I had a rapid heartbeat problem when I was 17 or so, so I am pretty sensitive to when things in my chest are acting weird).
I also had to go back for various other tests after I left the hospital, including a colonoscopy and stomach endoscopy, to rule out cancer as a potential cause for the PE. None of that was particularly pleasant.
As far as the potential causes, it could've been everything ranging from a genetic defect resulting in overproduction of clotting factors in my blood (which I tested negative for, apparently -- long story why it may not be 100%), to various other blood protein issues (again, negative but the results were fuzzy for various reasons), to the so-called "economy class syndrome." This is the case where someone is flying in an overly small and constrictive airplane seat for way too long without stretching out, develops a clot in their legs (deep vein thrombosis), and said clot eventually finds its way up to your lungs. I actually know some people who take a baby aspirin right before a long flight to thin their blood slightly just as a precaution against this happening.
While we couldn't confirm this, we suspect this was the case. While I wasn't flying for long distances prior to the incident, I was under a lot of stress at work and was sitting down for long stretches of time in front of my computer to get a project done, thereby probably duplicating the "economy class syndrome" scenario.
Wow now I'm worried about a double PE myself. I wouldn't survive it, my body thinks it's 85. :-)
Easiest way to minimize the chances is just to regularly get up, walk around, stretch, etc. If you can swing it with your boss, ask if you can convert your desk to a standing desk like I did. Otherwise, just take stretch breaks, kind of like how people with carpal tunnel take breaks to rest their wrists. Oh, and taking a baby aspirin before any long flights (or even long drives if you're not planning on stopping and stretching every couple of hours) probably would be helpful too.
I could never stand for an entire shift if I tried. My bones are a wreck. Still pretty worried. :-)
I'm glad you recovered. That's some seriously scary shit. I've spent more than my share of time in hospitals but I've only had a few close calls and they were not as scary as yours.
I could never stand for an entire shift if I tried. My bones are a wreck. Still pretty worried. :-)
I'm glad you recovered. That's some seriously scary shit. I've spent more than my share of time in hospitals but I've only had a few close calls and they were not as scary as yours.
Neither can I. I also have a "drafting chair" that's tall enough for me to sit at while working at my standing desk. It's also uncomfortable enough that I don't want to sit on it for 8 hours either. I generally flip back and forth between standing and sitting as a result.
And thanks... I guess in retrospect it was scarier than I felt at the time. I mean, when they finally ruled out heart attack, I was so relieved that nothing else scared me other than the potential for cancer. Now, looking back at it, I realize just how scary it was.
Boo-yah: After several cold and cloudy it's finally sunny so I can use the solar heating to warm up my room Fail: My room is now 82 degrees. ME GO TOO FAR!!!!
Fail: Blew a tire literally a week after replacing one on my car. Boo-yah: It was just the rim that was messed up, got one at a junkyard and replaced it for about 50 bucks less than I expected to pay.
Boo-Yah: I just got offered a software development internship with Epic Systems for next summer!
Fail: At this point I'm more worried about failing one or more of my CS classes this semester and even that's not enough to make me feel like I'm in any way well-adjusted or competent.
Just turned down my first paid gig because I'm tired to playing in lame bars where many of my friends either can't go because they're underage or won't go because they don't like bars either.
Good news is that we're only a few weeks away from launching our Kickstarter fundraiser for a new all-ages venue in LA.
Booyah: My mom made me a German chocolate cake, with homemade whip cream for my birthday and it's amazing Fail: It made me food coma ill for several hours yesterday. So much so that when I cut a slice this morning my body just completely rejected the idea. Stomach: "I was hungry but ain't no way I'm doing that thing again!"
Booh-Yah: My dad has lots of expensive whiskeys that he doesn't drink. I saw Skyfall and came home to the Macallan 15, and then had a couple measures of Basil Hayden 8 over the course of around four hours of listening to music. It was a nice night.
Fail: Horrifying gut pain as a result of SSRI/alcohol interaction this morning.
1. Usually IE testing and bugfixes take forever, especially for a huge website. This time, though, I finished all of my crossbrowser testing (for a big client's site) in two days. I cleared out all the remaining tickets, and am ready to launch a week ahead of schedule. I feel pretty awesome.
2. I finally finished 1Q84. It's really not as good as some of his other work, but it's not nearly bad enough to put down. I had started the book when it came out, then proceeded to read a bunch of other, more interesting things, so it has taken way too long to finish.
3. Unfortunately, my girlfriend left today for DC and family stuff, so I'm celebrating along. :-/
Booh-Yah: My dad has lots of expensive whiskeys that he doesn't drink. I saw Skyfall and came home to the Macallan 15, and then had a couple measures of Basil Hayden 8 over the course of around four hours of listening to music. It was a nice night.
Fail: Horrifying gut pain as a result of SSRI/alcohol interaction this morning.
Skyfall also motivated me to start drinking Scotch, it is pretty awesome
In February 2010 I wrote about a fail and boo yah. Apparently, later that year I told the story drunkenly at a bachelorette party. Well, today I found they all still think I'm awesome and that's a boo yah, but it was the "Shit at the Ska Show" story that made that happen and that's a bit fail.
Fail: Can't get an AnimeMusicVideos.org account because my ISP doesn't fight spammers. Boo-Yah: We were already getting a new one. I just need to wait until Wednesday.
Comments
It is silly that it takes to undergo experiences like this to understand it.
As for why I was able to survive relatively unscathed, they pretty much summed it up to youth (I was only 31 at the time, but if I was like 81 or something I may not have survived) and early detection due to being more alert than the average person when it comes to if my cardiovascular system is out of whack (I had a rapid heartbeat problem when I was 17 or so, so I am pretty sensitive to when things in my chest are acting weird).
I also had to go back for various other tests after I left the hospital, including a colonoscopy and stomach endoscopy, to rule out cancer as a potential cause for the PE. None of that was particularly pleasant.
As far as the potential causes, it could've been everything ranging from a genetic defect resulting in overproduction of clotting factors in my blood (which I tested negative for, apparently -- long story why it may not be 100%), to various other blood protein issues (again, negative but the results were fuzzy for various reasons), to the so-called "economy class syndrome." This is the case where someone is flying in an overly small and constrictive airplane seat for way too long without stretching out, develops a clot in their legs (deep vein thrombosis), and said clot eventually finds its way up to your lungs. I actually know some people who take a baby aspirin right before a long flight to thin their blood slightly just as a precaution against this happening.
While we couldn't confirm this, we suspect this was the case. While I wasn't flying for long distances prior to the incident, I was under a lot of stress at work and was sitting down for long stretches of time in front of my computer to get a project done, thereby probably duplicating the "economy class syndrome" scenario.
I'm glad you recovered. That's some seriously scary shit. I've spent more than my share of time in hospitals but I've only had a few close calls and they were not as scary as yours.
And thanks... I guess in retrospect it was scarier than I felt at the time. I mean, when they finally ruled out heart attack, I was so relieved that nothing else scared me other than the potential for cancer. Now, looking back at it, I realize just how scary it was.
Fail: My room is now 82 degrees. ME GO TOO FAR!!!!
Boo-yah: It was just the rim that was messed up, got one at a junkyard and replaced it for about 50 bucks less than I expected to pay.
Fail: At this point I'm more worried about failing one or more of my CS classes this semester and even that's not enough to make me feel like I'm in any way well-adjusted or competent.
Good news is that we're only a few weeks away from launching our Kickstarter fundraiser for a new all-ages venue in LA.
Fail: I fucked up my foot in the process, and now walking hurts like a bitch.
Booh-yah: Still lost another inch off my waist, so whatever!
Fail: It made me food coma ill for several hours yesterday. So much so that when I cut a slice this morning my body just completely rejected the idea. Stomach: "I was hungry but ain't no way I'm doing that thing again!"
Fail: Horrifying gut pain as a result of SSRI/alcohol interaction this morning.
1. Usually IE testing and bugfixes take forever, especially for a huge website. This time, though, I finished all of my crossbrowser testing (for a big client's site) in two days. I cleared out all the remaining tickets, and am ready to launch a week ahead of schedule. I feel pretty awesome.
2. I finally finished 1Q84. It's really not as good as some of his other work, but it's not nearly bad enough to put down. I had started the book when it came out, then proceeded to read a bunch of other, more interesting things, so it has taken way too long to finish.
3. Unfortunately, my girlfriend left today for DC and family stuff, so I'm celebrating along. :-/
Booh-Yah: But really, who needs a friend who doesn't understand depression?
Boo-Yah: We were already getting a new one. I just need to wait until Wednesday.