How 'bout miserable medical stuff?

[Luddly Neddite]

I had an MRI today. No where near the worst medical thing I've ever had done but damn, they really are just miserable.

Two MRI's ago, I had a for real panic attack, screaming like a little girl, GET ME OUTTA HERE, my feet hit the floor and I was back in the waiting room before I even knew I wasn't in that gawd awful loud tunnel any more. I was shaking and sweating and thinking I was gonna throw up right there under fox news on the big screen tv. Yeah, that would be fitting as hell but I didn't much wanna do that.

I knew I had to have the MRI so I had to figure out how to get through it. I was taking a drug at the time that caused extreme dry mouth and dry eyes. I bought some special gum for dry mouth. I laid inside that horrible thing and munched gum. Each piece doesn't last for very long so I put each old piece in a paper towel and got about another piece. I think I went through about a half a pack of that crappy gum. Made it through and did the same thing today.

Worst thing - having my lower jaw and the bottom half of my face rebuilt when it was crushed. That was truly hell on earth. I used to eat aspirin like they were M&Ms.. Back then, no one knew that aspirin thins the blood so I was diagnosed as a "bleeder" because my blood wouldn't clot. All I did was ooze blood and get beat because I ruined my pillows and bedding. Ugh. Really bad memories from that time. But, I was very young and your mind has a way of lying to you about pain.

Recently, the worst was having my knee replaced. Some have told me they didn't think theirs was bad but I was almost three years between the injury and the surgery. Made a big difference. Stopped by to see my ortho surgeon today. He says he may have to aspirate fluid from my knee from the fall I took in Old San Juan. Oh lovely.

Okay, so what's the worstest medical thing you've had to go through? Spare no details. Bring on the blood and gore.

 

[Grandma]

I actually liked my MRI.

The machines created for medical science FASCINATE me. It was worth the noise to watch that amazing thing working.

I won't get into the grossest thing I've been through. I'll just say there's a 14-inch scar starting at the sternum and I have 3 bellybuttons now.

 

[daveman]

I had an MRI today. No where near the worst medical thing I've ever had done but damn, they really are just miserable.

Two MRI's ago, I had a for real panic attack, screaming like a little girl, GET ME OUTTA HERE, my feet hit the floor and I was back in the waiting room before I even knew I wasn't in that gawd awful loud tunnel any more. I was shaking and sweating and thinking I was gonna throw up right there under fox news on the big screen tv. Yeah, that would be fitting as hell but I didn't much wanna do that.

I knew I had to have the MRI so I had to figure out how to get through it. I was taking a drug at the time that caused extreme dry mouth and dry eyes. I bought some special gum for dry mouth. I laid inside that horrible thing and munched gum. Each piece doesn't last for very long so I put each old piece in a paper towel and got about another piece. I think I went through about a half a pack of that crappy gum. Made it through and did the same thing today.

Worst thing - having my lower jaw and the bottom half of my face rebuilt when it was crushed. That was truly hell on earth. I used to eat aspirin like they were M&Ms.. Back then, no one knew that aspirin thins the blood so I was diagnosed as a "bleeder" because my blood wouldn't clot. All I did was ooze blood and get beat because I ruined my pillows and bedding. Ugh. Really bad memories from that time. But, I was very young and your mind has a way of lying to you about pain.

Recently, the worst was having my knee replaced. Some have told me they didn't think theirs was bad but I was almost three years between the injury and the surgery. Made a big difference. Stopped by to see my ortho surgeon today. He says he may have to aspirate fluid from my knee from the fall I took in Old San Juan. Oh lovely.

Okay, so what's the worstest medical thing you've had to go through? Spare no details. Bring on the blood and gore.

Yikes. I can't top that, that's for sure.

My most unpleasant experience was post-op following a Uvulopalatopharyngoplasty and simultaneous deviated septum repair. As you can imagine, a lot of blood drained into my esophagus, which I swallowed. In the recovery room, still groggy, I told the tech I needed to pee, so he wheeled my IV stand and me to the bathroom...where I proceeded to vomit what looked like a gallon of blood all over the floor, 6 feet away from the toilet. Seriously, it looked like a Quentin Tarantino movie. I was very apologetic; he was very understanding.

Oddly, the recovery wasn't nearly as painful as the ENT surgeon told me it would be. And the results were quite successful.

 

[Gracie]

I would have to say my mastectomy. It isn't just getting the news you have breast cancer...it is also the missing breast. The surgery I didn't feel, of course. But I damn sure felt the needles in my nipple for the ink injections..and I felt the biopsy. That fucking HURT.

The other thing was probably the colonoscopy. The twilight was a bit shy of the twi...cuz I woke up during it.

 

[Wolfsister77]

The birth of my daughter. 14 hours of labor, an emergency c-section, I had to go under general anesthesia because the medicine they gave me to numb the nerves did not work!! They were poking me, expecting me to be numb and I could still feel it. I also puked 3 times before the surgery. Then I needed oxygen during the surgery. After all that, my daughter had to stay an extra week in the hospital and I got a wound infection that made walking painful for days.

 

[mamooth]

I wish to announce my liver hurts. It's very odd.

No, I haven't been drinking, using drugs, eating strange wild plants or sharing needles. And I don't look yellow.

I went for a run, started getting a side stitch that wouldn't go away. Came home, it kept getting worse. Next morning, it hurt even to breathe deeply. Stabbing pain on the right side under the ribs, mild fever and nausea.

Next day, much improved. If it hadn't improved, I would have sought treatment.

It's just very odd, having one's liver swell up briefly for no apparent reason. I can find no medical explanation. All the liver or gall bladder conditions they list don't suddenly get better. I'm going to declare I was running too much (10 miles every other day) and bouncing my liver around excessively. At least that gives me an excuse to run less.

 

[Mr. H.]

Epididymitis. Pass-out level pain. It still hurts now and then, over 30 years on. Right nut swelled up to golf-ball size and I was in bed for a month. Now there's just a nib of scar tissue where Mr. Rightie used to be. BUT - I fathered three kids since then, so I still got what it takes.

Last year I started seeing a chiropractor for some back ailments. We'd been driving quite a bit, visiting the kid at school and sleeping on crappy hotel beds. Anyhow, I noticed an unexpected benefit of those chiro sessions... voila! Nut-pain free for the first time in decades.

Nevertheless- I feel pretty damn blessed after reading the OP and others.

 

[daveman]

I wish to announce my liver hurts. It's very odd.

No, I haven't been drinking, using drugs, eating strange wild plants or sharing needles. And I don't look yellow.

I went for a run, started getting a side stitch that wouldn't go away. Came home, it kept getting worse. Next morning, it hurt even to breathe deeply. Stabbing pain on the right side under the ribs, mild fever and nausea.

Next day, much improved. If it hadn't improved, I would have sought treatment.

It's just very odd, having one's liver swell up briefly for no apparent reason. I can find no medical explanation. All the liver or gall bladder conditions they list don't suddenly get better. I'm going to declare I was running too much (10 miles every other day) and bouncing my liver around excessively. At least that gives me an excuse to run less.

About 12 years ago, I felt like I had the flu. Went to my doctor and he gave me the usual flu stuff. Then some time later, I went to give blood. Red Cross sent me a letter saying I had hepatitis, and to never come near them again. I took the letter to my doctor, who ran loads of tests, which all came back negative for hepatitis. They didn't know what it was, but they knew what it wasn't. I've never tried to give blood since; I'm on the Red Cross' shit list.

And any excuse to run less is a good one.

 

[daveman]

Epididymitis. Pass-out level pain. It still hurts now and then, over 30 years on. Right nut swelled up to golf-ball size and I was in bed for a month. Now there's just a nib of scar tissue where Mr. Rightie used to be. BUT - I fathered three kids since then, so I still got what it takes.

Last year I started seeing a chiropractor for some back ailments. We'd been driving quite a bit, visiting the kid at school and sleeping on crappy hotel beds. Anyhow, I noticed an unexpected benefit of those chiro sessions... voila! Nut-pain free for the first time in decades.

Nevertheless- I feel pretty damn blessed after reading the OP and others.

I've got something similar, though it produces only a mild, nagging ache that comes and goes: Varicocele. Warning: Do NOT Google Image Search. The results are NSFL...Not Safe For Lunch.

 

[Mr. H.]

About 25 years ago after giving blood, I got a letter mentioning elevated liver enzymes (or something like that). Red Cross said "don't come back". I was fucking crushed. Told my doc about it and he said it could have been caused by drinking the night before. MOI?

So I called Red Cross about every 5 years hence and was eventually told that their testing (at that time) wasn't sophisticated enough to differentiate between the actual cause of those elevated readings. Finally I was eventually sent a letter giving me the all clear. I just about cried. Giving blood is important to me.

 

[Mr. H.]

Epididymitis. Pass-out level pain. It still hurts now and then, over 30 years on. Right nut swelled up to golf-ball size and I was in bed for a month. Now there's just a nib of scar tissue where Mr. Rightie used to be. BUT - I fathered three kids since then, so I still got what it takes.

Last year I started seeing a chiropractor for some back ailments. We'd been driving quite a bit, visiting the kid at school and sleeping on crappy hotel beds. Anyhow, I noticed an unexpected benefit of those chiro sessions... voila! Nut-pain free for the first time in decades.

Nevertheless- I feel pretty damn blessed after reading the OP and others.

I've got something similar, though it produces only a mild, nagging ache that comes and goes: Varicocele. Warning: Do NOT Google Image Search. The results are NSFL...Not Safe For Lunch.

Have you been to a chiropractor? Maybe I have that too. Occasional dull pain that comes in waves. I haven't been to my chiro in a while. Got too pricey.

 

[daveman]

About 25 years ago after giving blood, I got a letter mentioning elevated liver enzymes (or something like that). Red Cross said "don't come back". I was fucking crushed. Told my doc about it and he said it could have been caused by drinking the night before. MOI?

So I called Red Cross about every 5 years hence and was eventually told that their testing (at that time) wasn't sophisticated enough to differentiate between the actual cause of those elevated readings. Finally I was eventually sent a letter giving me the all clear. I just about cried. Giving blood is important to me.

Glad you got cleared! I ought to go see them again, although my liver enzymes are sometimes slightly elevated due to the blood pressure meds I take.

 

[daveman]

Epididymitis. Pass-out level pain. It still hurts now and then, over 30 years on. Right nut swelled up to golf-ball size and I was in bed for a month. Now there's just a nib of scar tissue where Mr. Rightie used to be. BUT - I fathered three kids since then, so I still got what it takes.

Last year I started seeing a chiropractor for some back ailments. We'd been driving quite a bit, visiting the kid at school and sleeping on crappy hotel beds. Anyhow, I noticed an unexpected benefit of those chiro sessions... voila! Nut-pain free for the first time in decades.

Nevertheless- I feel pretty damn blessed after reading the OP and others.

I've got something similar, though it produces only a mild, nagging ache that comes and goes: Varicocele. Warning: Do NOT Google Image Search. The results are NSFL...Not Safe For Lunch.

Have you been to a chiropractor? Maybe I have that too. Occasional dull pain that comes in waves. I haven't been to my chiro in a while. Got too pricey.

Went once for some finger numbness, 12 or 13 years ago. One adjustment and it went away, and didn't come back until I was packing up the house to move on my retirement from the AF. Went to the VA, and they diagnosed degenerative disc disease. I found that popping my neck by rolling it side to side relieves the pressure on the affected nerves, so my fingers don't get numb.

 

[daveman]

Ain't we all just falling apart.

 

[Mr. H.]

This was no biggie but it scared the bejeebers out of me. Two of my lymph glands (left armpit and left elbow area) got real hot and swelled up. They took a biopsy and all was ok. A drain was put in my elbow to run out the abscessed shit. But on my visits to the doctor's office I couldn't help but wonder about the others in the waiting room. What they must have been going through. It was my first big wake-up call on the horrors of cancer. I mentioned something about it to the doctor and he suddenly got a real sad look on his face and just slowly shook his head. The C is some fucked up shit.

 

[Mr. H.]

I've got something similar, though it produces only a mild, nagging ache that comes and goes: Varicocele. Warning: Do NOT Google Image Search. The results are NSFL...Not Safe For Lunch.

Have you been to a chiropractor? Maybe I have that too. Occasional dull pain that comes in waves. I haven't been to my chiro in a while. Got too pricey.

Went once for some finger numbness, 12 or 13 years ago. One adjustment and it went away, and didn't come back until I was packing up the house to move on my retirement from the AF. Went to the VA, and they diagnosed degenerative disc disease. I found that popping my neck by rolling it side to side relieves the pressure on the affected nerves, so my fingers don't get numb.

I had only been to a chiro once before, years ago. For a single adjustment (which did the trick BTW). I was still a bit skeptical. This new guy came recommended by city personnel and I was hurting pretty bad.

The first thing I said to him was "I'm deathly afraid of you and I don't want to be here".

And I was emphatic about him NOT swinging my head/neck around. And he obliged. Damn I wish I could afford it. Oh - it IS covered under my newly-minted ACA-compliant health policy. But the deductibles/co-pays/out of pockets? FERGEDDABOUDIT.

 

[Mr. H.]

I had an MRI today. No where near the worst medical thing I've ever had done but damn, they really are just miserable.

Two MRI's ago, I had a for real panic attack, screaming like a little girl, GET ME OUTTA HERE, my feet hit the floor and I was back in the waiting room before I even knew I wasn't in that gawd awful loud tunnel any more. I was shaking and sweating and thinking I was gonna throw up right there under fox news on the big screen tv. Yeah, that would be fitting as hell but I didn't much wanna do that.

I knew I had to have the MRI so I had to figure out how to get through it. I was taking a drug at the time that caused extreme dry mouth and dry eyes. I bought some special gum for dry mouth. I laid inside that horrible thing and munched gum. Each piece doesn't last for very long so I put each old piece in a paper towel and got about another piece. I think I went through about a half a pack of that crappy gum. Made it through and did the same thing today.

Worst thing - having my lower jaw and the bottom half of my face rebuilt when it was crushed. That was truly hell on earth. I used to eat aspirin like they were M&Ms.. Back then, no one knew that aspirin thins the blood so I was diagnosed as a "bleeder" because my blood wouldn't clot. All I did was ooze blood and get beat because I ruined my pillows and bedding. Ugh. Really bad memories from that time. But, I was very young and your mind has a way of lying to you about pain.

Recently, the worst was having my knee replaced. Some have told me they didn't think theirs was bad but I was almost three years between the injury and the surgery. Made a big difference. Stopped by to see my ortho surgeon today. He says he may have to aspirate fluid from my knee from the fall I took in Old San Juan. Oh lovely.

Okay, so what's the worstest medical thing you've had to go through? Spare no details. Bring on the blood and gore.

I seem to remember you mentioning the face rebuild in another thread. That just plain sucks.

LN, you need to learn how to go to your "happy place" in these situations.

Get your zen on.

 

[daveman]

This was no biggie but it scared the bejeebers out of me. Two of my lymph glands (left armpit and left elbow area) got real hot and swelled up. They took a biopsy and all was ok. A drain was put in my elbow to run out the abscessed shit. But on my visits to the doctor's office I couldn't help but wonder about the others in the waiting room. What they must have been going through. It was my first big wake-up call on the horrors of cancer. I mentioned something about it to the doctor and he suddenly got a real sad look on his face and just slowly shook his head. The C is some fucked up shit.

Indeed. My family has been lucky...Mom's a 20-year colon cancer survivor, my oldest brother survived prostate cancer, another brother survived pancreatic cancer. They even left enough pancreas that he isn't diabetic.

My wife's family...not so much. For as long as anyone can remember, breast or ovarian cancer has killed every woman in the family.

Fucked-up shit indeed.

 

[daveman]

Have you been to a chiropractor? Maybe I have that too. Occasional dull pain that comes in waves. I haven't been to my chiro in a while. Got too pricey.

Went once for some finger numbness, 12 or 13 years ago. One adjustment and it went away, and didn't come back until I was packing up the house to move on my retirement from the AF. Went to the VA, and they diagnosed degenerative disc disease. I found that popping my neck by rolling it side to side relieves the pressure on the affected nerves, so my fingers don't get numb.

I had only been to a chiro once before, years ago. For a single adjustment (which did the trick BTW). I was still a bit skeptical. This new guy came recommended by city personnel and I was hurting pretty bad.

The first thing I said to him was "I'm deathly afraid of you and I don't want to be here".

And I was emphatic about him NOT swinging my head/neck around. And he obliged. Damn I wish I could afford it. Oh - it IS covered under my newly-minted ACA-compliant health policy. But the deductibles/co-pays/out of pockets? FERGEDDABOUDIT.

That's why I always hated getting my hair cut in the Middle East and Korea. The barbers always wanted to pop your neck.

I was tempted several times to let them do it, then scream, "MY GOD! I can't feel my legs!"

 

[strollingbones]

About 25 years ago after giving blood, I got a letter mentioning elevated liver enzymes (or something like that). Red Cross said "don't come back". I was fucking crushed. Told my doc about it and he said it could have been caused by drinking the night before. MOI?

So I called Red Cross about every 5 years hence and was eventually told that their testing (at that time) wasn't sophisticated enough to differentiate between the actual cause of those elevated readings. Finally I was eventually sent a letter giving me the all clear. I just about cried. Giving blood is important to me.

i gave blood....(b neg) i would do doubles...etc.....they wont take me now...seems skin cancer was okay.....bladder cancer not so much....

wow the bladder thing was horrible..not so much the pain thing but damn i feel like everyone in one county over has seen the sum sum....laying there letting people look at the catheter was the worst part....i just didnt want that invasion of privacy...but like one nurse told me..."let it go" no use to worry about it....having my hubby take care of me for a week or so after and then me getting upset and telling him ...to take the catheter out.....o joy....he did ...it went fine....