Health Problems
- Thread starter Kuriin
- Start date
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Got my bill for an ambulance ride to the ER in the mail today. This was the week before July 4th. I was at my parents house and my girlfriend was visiting her brother who lives an hour away. In the poorest state in the union they came and picked me up, hauled me in the ambulance on a stretcher which was kinda way past what I needed but whatever. No bill yet on the corticosteroid infusion. I was the only person in the ER at 7a.m.
$75 part of the property taxes and my parents pay $2,500 or less a year.
$75 part of the property taxes and my parents pay $2,500 or less a year.
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Haus
I am Big Balls!
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So I am of two minds on this one...
- First, with as many times as finding my squirrely veins has been an adventure that ended up with me having multiple jabs, multiple locations, and a lot of pain I welcome an accurate technological solution.
- But on the other hand, will I trust this shit? Oh Hell No. At least not for the first 3-4 years while they iron out the glitches.
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Nope fuck that. I've been asked was I on chemo BEFORE I was on chemo as my veins are so bad. Baby needle and a lot of rooting around. Hell even the Oncologist clinic where they do that every day had a hard time.
Haus
I am Big Balls!
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For the most part I have hideously hard to find veins. Then for some reason every now and again I find some magical person and there like "tap tap tap... poke... done" and I always try to remember their names.
Control
Avatar of War Slayer
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Somehow robot vampires escaped the myriad apocalyptic scenarios I was considering. No longer!
Noodleface
A Mod Real Quick
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I feel like them letting us know up front it definitely won't hit an artery is sus
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Sheriff Cad
scientia potentia est
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This is just like self-driving cars to me. Is it as good as a true expert doing what they do? Clearly not.
Is it better than Shaniqua the 380 pound landwhale phlebotomist that doesn't give a fuck about you or anybody else and just stabs the fuck out of you even though you have veins protruding 1/2" out of your skin that a toddler could hit?
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jayrebb
Ssraeszha Raider
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This is just like self-driving cars to me. Is it as good as a true expert doing what they do? Clearly not.
Is it better than Shaniqua the 380 pound landwhale phlebotomist that doesn't give a fuck about you or anybody else and just stabs the fuck out of you even though you have veins protruding 1/2" out of your skin that a toddler could hit?
They got rid of the old "stinger" butterfly needle too apparently. It was a tiny X-shaped platform with a small half inch needle which fed into a hose to the collection. So the little butterfly platform just had to be placed in the right spot and the needle itself couldn't over-penetrate. The X sat on your forearm and supported the needle so no movement was possible, the phlebotomist could also use a finger to keep the X in place.
I thought I was going crazy when I asked for the butterfly recently about 10 years later and they took out this huge long needle (it was 2 gauges smaller than the usual blood draw needle, I later learned that's the new meaning of butterfly) attached to a hose, with no X platform or snub tip design. Just a huge ass super long needle. I was like "Well that's not the butterfly I remember" but the phlebotomist did a great job not transecting and just nudged it in a bit. The thing just free floats with 0 support like a straight pipe out of your arm, which I wasn't really pleased with because of the potential for movement and tissue damage) but she never pulled or moved the hose during the collection, so no tension happened, and no incident. I later asked an EMT friend what the fuck happened to the butterfly and how did it become this huge perversion of the concept. He said he doesn't know but he validated that he does remember the "stinger butterfly" but said he hasn't seen it since the 2000's. Basic medical care moving backwards, as usual.
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Noodleface
A Mod Real Quick
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My a1c has been going down, first sharply and now steadily thanks to mounjaro. Only on that and metformin now which is great and my sugar has been under super tight control. Still getting avastin eye injections but at the last appt he decided I could move from once a month (per eye) to once every 3 months. Seeing vast improvement and I finished my laser treatments as well. Praise Jesus.
One downside.. I had the dexcom G7 and it's been a godsend. Having real time data on exactly how certain foods affect me has been enlightening. Well... I got so much better that I removed one of the medications that was a qualifier for getting it (glimepiride) so insurance denied them going forward.
I know there are Stelo for $89/month or something but meh.. was fun while it lasted.
I went 235 -> 173 and focusing on building up some muscle again. My ass is completely deflated so hoping the squats start working
One downside.. I had the dexcom G7 and it's been a godsend. Having real time data on exactly how certain foods affect me has been enlightening. Well... I got so much better that I removed one of the medications that was a qualifier for getting it (glimepiride) so insurance denied them going forward.
I know there are Stelo for $89/month or something but meh.. was fun while it lasted.
I went 235 -> 173 and focusing on building up some muscle again. My ass is completely deflated so hoping the squats start working
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Izo
Tranny Chaser
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Nice. I'd love me a G7 for sugar/exercise, but it's 100€ pr sensor here. They last, what, 10 days?
Noodleface
A Mod Real Quick
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So im having open heart surgery this mon 5th Oct.
It all started about 3 yrs ago when I was going to work in the morning I almost passed out. Saw black but then I returned. Went to work and felt some weird shit in my chest. Like palpitations or some shit. Anyway that weekend after having chest pain I went to ER, thought I had a heart attack. But nope, they said I was good. Bit of high blood pressure but thats it. They ordered a stress test so that monday I went in and got it done and this is when they discovered I had Hypertrophic Cardio Myopathy. Its basically a genital defect where a part of my heart, inside on the septum grows thick. Mine was about 21mm at the time.
The cardio doc told me its basically a 1-500 people get this shit, but most never have symptoms. They live out their lives normal. But I guess I was the unlucky one. Anyway he gave me some meds and shit was fine for a few years after although the pain would start sooner when doing shit like walking or anything strenuous. Then this spring he ordered a ultrasound and told me the bad news a few days later. I would have to have surgery because the heart can no longer pump enough blood, its like a 60% obstruction or some shit. He told me that I could wait a year or so for the surgery, it was no rush, but sadly I started to feel like shit a few months ago, more pain, more discomfort in the chest, that palpitation thing. Its hard to describe but you can feel it and its fucked feeling. So I called the doc and he recommended a surgeon and off we went...
So at the meeting with surgeon, the dude explains what the procedure is, they basically hook me up to a heart and lung machine, cut me open about 6-8 inches, crack my chest open, go in through one of the major arteries and cut away the thick shit. All this time I thought this was on the outside of my heart, not inside, lol. Man for the last month my head has been spinning with shit.
But the good news is this dude is a superstar. He does like 200, yes 200 fucking open heart surgeries per year. He told me he does 12-15 of these specific HCM surgeries per year (rather rare). So I guess im in good hands. Still its hard to trust your life to someone else like this but I have to. I cant go on feeling like this any longer. They also did a cath test to see if I had any blockages so they can take care of all the shit at the same time and I did. I guess it wasnt bad yet but they are going to do a bypass too, lol. So if I come out of this Im going to be a new man.
Hospital stay is like 4-6 days depending on circumstances and recovery. The nurses I met with told me it sounds worse than what it really is. Most of the shit to deal with after is the chest being cut and split open. 6-12 weeks to heal up. They now screw in a titanium plate to both sides for stability rather than the wires they used before. And in the mean time I cant lift anything, pull anything, cant lift my hands above my shoulders, none of that good shit. Its going to be tough.
As for the prognosis, I guess its great. Life becomes normal again, no more pain, no more lightheadedness, no more chances of passing out, although that never happened to me. And I will feel no more fatigue like I have been. And this is basically a fix for the rest of my life. There might be a slight chance I get stuck with a pacemaker, he told me its like 5% chance. But I guess this is no big deal.
So wish me luck fellas.
It all started about 3 yrs ago when I was going to work in the morning I almost passed out. Saw black but then I returned. Went to work and felt some weird shit in my chest. Like palpitations or some shit. Anyway that weekend after having chest pain I went to ER, thought I had a heart attack. But nope, they said I was good. Bit of high blood pressure but thats it. They ordered a stress test so that monday I went in and got it done and this is when they discovered I had Hypertrophic Cardio Myopathy. Its basically a genital defect where a part of my heart, inside on the septum grows thick. Mine was about 21mm at the time.
The cardio doc told me its basically a 1-500 people get this shit, but most never have symptoms. They live out their lives normal. But I guess I was the unlucky one. Anyway he gave me some meds and shit was fine for a few years after although the pain would start sooner when doing shit like walking or anything strenuous. Then this spring he ordered a ultrasound and told me the bad news a few days later. I would have to have surgery because the heart can no longer pump enough blood, its like a 60% obstruction or some shit. He told me that I could wait a year or so for the surgery, it was no rush, but sadly I started to feel like shit a few months ago, more pain, more discomfort in the chest, that palpitation thing. Its hard to describe but you can feel it and its fucked feeling. So I called the doc and he recommended a surgeon and off we went...
So at the meeting with surgeon, the dude explains what the procedure is, they basically hook me up to a heart and lung machine, cut me open about 6-8 inches, crack my chest open, go in through one of the major arteries and cut away the thick shit. All this time I thought this was on the outside of my heart, not inside, lol. Man for the last month my head has been spinning with shit.
But the good news is this dude is a superstar. He does like 200, yes 200 fucking open heart surgeries per year. He told me he does 12-15 of these specific HCM surgeries per year (rather rare). So I guess im in good hands. Still its hard to trust your life to someone else like this but I have to. I cant go on feeling like this any longer. They also did a cath test to see if I had any blockages so they can take care of all the shit at the same time and I did. I guess it wasnt bad yet but they are going to do a bypass too, lol. So if I come out of this Im going to be a new man.
Hospital stay is like 4-6 days depending on circumstances and recovery. The nurses I met with told me it sounds worse than what it really is. Most of the shit to deal with after is the chest being cut and split open. 6-12 weeks to heal up. They now screw in a titanium plate to both sides for stability rather than the wires they used before. And in the mean time I cant lift anything, pull anything, cant lift my hands above my shoulders, none of that good shit. Its going to be tough.
As for the prognosis, I guess its great. Life becomes normal again, no more pain, no more lightheadedness, no more chances of passing out, although that never happened to me. And I will feel no more fatigue like I have been. And this is basically a fix for the rest of my life. There might be a slight chance I get stuck with a pacemaker, he told me its like 5% chance. But I guess this is no big deal.
So wish me luck fellas.
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Koushirou
Log Wizard
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Good luck, man. Sounds like scary shit, but hopefully those nurses were right and it sounds worse than it is.
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zzeris
The Real Benny Johnson
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Yeah I was in shock at first. The doc is like were sheduling this for Oct 5 while I was in the office, I thought I had more time, lol. I guess I went through the whole 5 steps of grief in the last month. And now im at the acceptance part. IT is what it is. Either way im fucked and this is the only way out.
Koushirou
Log Wizard
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Oh, almost forgot: if it doesn't work, can I have your stuff?
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Gavinmad
Mr. Poopybutthole
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Koushirou
Log Wizard
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I have the same thing but mine is milder. My figuring it out moment was when I had a cardiac arrest. I quoted that part because looking back it should have been obvious to the many medical professionals whom i had told about symptoms related to it in the past. Even as a teenager I remember mostly blacking out during those sprinting drills coaches ran at the end of practices. When you're a kid you just figure everyone feels the same.
Anyhow, good luck with the surgery. They'll have you on your feet very quickly most likely.
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