well, as most have seen on the news, Vancouver and the entire coast of BC has been under pretty heavy fire from a tropical rainstorm that managed to sweep it's way high enough to hit and soak us. Soak us to the point of washouts all over the place. One house in North Vancouver was washed down the hillside when the ground beneath it gave out. And, as the news reported last night, it was pointed out in report released in 1980 that severe rain would / could cause the ground to give way in that specific area if nothing was done to fix the ground. the report even specified an address --2175 was the house address. the very house that fell down the hill and killed it's occupant two days ago. is 25 years worth of advanced notice not enough??! yowza. Just awsful stuff In any case, this is not the point of today's episode. while the world was being washed away by the great flood, I was busy being sick and spending my time in the hospital instead.
I spent monday morning thinking I had some bad gas or something ( hot stuff, I know). I did eat a big 'ol chicken dinner the night before after all, so who knew. But by the time I got out of class at nine in the evening, I was a hurtin' unit. my abdomen was killing me. excrutiating pain! and feverish chills to boot. though offered a ride, I foolishly took the bus. I just SO love our dear environment, y'know? The ride wasn't too bad, but the 7 blocks I walked from the bus stop darn near killed me! I must have looked like an old geezer, doubled over as I was for most of the way, shuffling along.
Kate was kind enough to forego a night of sleep in order to get me into the hospital. It was a pretty steady night at the ER. not too many obvious external injuries, with exception of a girl with a broken nose (whose neck already had some pretty nasty looking burns scars on it... not a lucky person, I guess), and a hockey player in full uniform... this guy was obviously on the losing end of a fight. his face was messed up nicely.
So, with those people and others, it was about 1:30 or so before I got a room. they took some blood work, made me pee in a cup, the usuals. the IV went in, as did the sweet, sweet morphine... aaahhhhh. Most of the day, I had thought something may be wrong with the old appendix, as did much of the staff that saw me, but by about 3:30 in the morning, most suspected something else, so they ordered a CT scan for me. that was in the works by arouund 5:30 in the morning. What an odd experience that thing is!
"here you go sir, just lie on this moving bed with your arms about your head while this giant thing whirs around you and we put a course of hot, radiated goo into your viens".
Not at all unnerving.
from that, they found that I had some swollen lymph nodes n my abdomen. basically a sore throat in my bowel or something. they discharged me at 9:30 or so in the morning, and told me to come back if I experienced persistent or increased pain.
24 hours later, I was back with persistent and increased pain. But not in my abdomen this time, in my chest. more so my diaphragm ( does anyone else think words should be spelled like they sound?), and if I breathed deeply, my whole chest. plus my head was killing me--headaches the likes of which `i haven't had for five or so years when I worked at the sawmill in Kamloops. lovely, pounding muscle tension aches that squeeze my head painfully.
so it was another day in the ER, and Kate once again sacrificed her day to help me out. (part of me thinks she just wanted to skip a few classes, but mostly I'm glad she was along... her mother is, after all, the deputy minister of health here in BC. If you're gonna be sick, she's a damn good ticket through the hospital doors!!). There was more blood work, more pissing in cups, more blessed morhpine. Some X-rays, too.
At the end of it all, there were some conlusions drawn. or not. it may be related to the viral infectioon that created the swelling of my lymph nodes, or it may not. it may be that I have some sort of an ulcer, but then again, it may not. As for the fever, we can't explain that. it's just there. ( all this time I was running at temp of 38.8). The headaches weren't addressed at all, particularly. It may be that I eat too much, and eat too fast. In any case, I am on a few days bed rest--which has made me miss my first two shifts at work (good impression for the boss, eh?)--and a month's worth of meds that will stop my stomach ffrom producing so much acid, if that is in fact the issue at all. I have to go back to the doctor's clinic next week to get a camera stuffed down my throat and into my stomach to see exactly what might be going on in myh esophogus (sp?) and stomach. Can't wait for that!
In any case, My roommate is never around, so I am staying at kate's house for a couple days where I have three people to help me out, and Kate's mum can check in on me as well. A word of advice, get docotr friends. they're very useful.
Next week is bound to be better!!
"in a hospital, they'll throw you out on the sreet when you're only half cured, but in a nursing home, they'll lock you in until you're dead." --George Bernard Shaw
