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#1 2008-09-09 11:55 am
I hurt
For those of you who don't know - I'm epileptic, but hadn't had a seizure in many many years.
Yesterday afternoon, I had one, while outside pulling weeds.
I guess I'm grateful that the neighbor called 911 - but the ambulance stated when they got there, I was just lying in the gravel - no one was standing by me or near me to make sure I was breathing etc.
Anyway - so the hospital keeps me until around 9:30 - but I didn't have my wallet. I was not sure if it was at home or if the ambulance company had it - that's happened before, more than once. Didn't have my cell phone either.
It seems someone put them inside on my washing machine.
Way to go genius - without my cell phone, I didn't have any numbers to call for a ride home. I don't know if you are aware, but after a seizure, you don't exactly remember things like phone numbers. Without my wallet, I couldn't call a cab - and the smurfing ER doesn't have a taxi voucher program (most do).
Since I wasn't released after the buses stopped running, that means I had a little bit over an hours walk ahead of me just to get home. In a post seizure condition where all my muscles were hurting.
It really is bad this morning, the pain killer they gave me at the hospital has worn off - my back is extremely soar, as is my right knee, both elbows, and my left eye. I look like I got the smurf kicked out of me.
I'm glad I'm OK - but I would never call 911 and leave the scene, I would remain until the ambulance was there. And I'm contacting the mayor about making sure the ERs have a Taxi voucher program in the future - it's just plain stupid that they don't.
Anyway - off I go, gotta get some allieve or something.
In her right hand Jenny held the Bible of her mother
Jenny had a pistol in the other
-- Steve Taylor
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#2 2008-09-09 12:03 pm
- zeitgeist
- Current Status: FUD
- Registered: 2008-08-10
- Posts: 637
Re: I hurt
Sucks about the phone and wallet, but I'm glad to hear that you came out ok (if sore) at the end of it.
"We regard as false the choice between our safety and our ideals."
- President Barack Obama, Inaugural Address
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#3 2008-09-09 12:16 pm
Re: I hurt
Wow, I'm surprised the hospital let you walk home in that condition. Shouldn't someone have helped you call a ride? What if you'd had another seizure on the way home? Then the hospital would have been liable...
"I'd rather be told, 'Have a nice day.' by someone who doesn't mean it, than 'F*** you!' by someone who does." - Lewis Black
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#4 2008-09-09 12:34 pm
- nayrk
- User Error
- From: Outland
- Registered: 2004-05-01
- Posts: 769
Re: I hurt
Glad to hear that overall you are doing alright.
I also can't fathom the Hospital not having a taxi voucher program. I've been told one of the ones in my area runs a shuttle program. *shrug*
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#5 2008-09-09 12:38 pm
- 333imacman
- Disappointed
- From: Minnesota
- Registered: 2002-05-26
- Posts: 2171
- Website
Re: I hurt
hope you feel better man. that really sucks.
i don't understand most things
i don't really want to
i just want the strength
to keep fighting it
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#7 2008-09-09 2:28 pm
Re: I hurt
Oh - I had to sign something saying I felt well enough to leave. I doubt if I had a seizure on the way home they could have been held liable for squat.
Then again - I can't even remember all the things I had to sign - so maybe what I did sign would not be considered valid.
I remember signing something about allowing blood to be drawn for illegal toxicology test as well - which this morning seems odd, why the hell would they want to check my blood for illegal substances? I have a seizure history, and there were no police or anything else involved. Even though I'm clean as they come, I bet that will show up on my bill, and it was both completely un-necessary and an invasion of my privacy.
Had I been operating a vehicle or watching children, I could understand - but I was pulling weeds, home alone.
In her right hand Jenny held the Bible of her mother
Jenny had a pistol in the other
-- Steve Taylor
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#8 2008-09-09 2:36 pm
Re: I hurt
Once my back is feeling a little better - I'm going to go down there (and to the other hospital in Redding) and see if I can put local emergency contact numbers on record. And my drug allergies. I probably should have done that years ago.
In her right hand Jenny held the Bible of her mother
Jenny had a pistol in the other
-- Steve Taylor
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#9 2008-09-09 2:37 pm
- dv
- Negusa Negest
- Moderator
- From: Minneapolis, MN
- Registered: 1999-08-30
- Posts: 18092
Re: I hurt
They need to know everything to reduce the likelyhood of drug interactions. AFAIK, the results of an illegal drug toxicology test aren't turned over to the cops.
"Now commences the process of cutting off the head, which generally takes from an hour to an hour and a half by an expert workman with a sharp blade." -Reuben Delano, Wanderings and Adventures
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#10 2008-09-09 2:38 pm
- dv
- Negusa Negest
- Moderator
- From: Minneapolis, MN
- Registered: 1999-08-30
- Posts: 18092
Re: I hurt
resedit wrote:
Once my back is feeling a little better - I'm going to go down there (and to the other hospital in Redding) and see if I can put local emergency contact numbers on record. And my drug allergies. I probably should have done that years ago.
Excellent idea.
Also, glad you're alright.
"Now commences the process of cutting off the head, which generally takes from an hour to an hour and a half by an expert workman with a sharp blade." -Reuben Delano, Wanderings and Adventures
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#11 2008-09-09 3:25 pm
- Daddyo
- hoochie coochie man
- From: the last juke joint
- Registered: 2004-01-24
- Posts: 1881
Re: I hurt
I had a friend in high school who keeled over during lunch one day, scared the crap out of me.
He came to pretty quickly and explained that this happened on occasion and that he was fine.
It was a weird day.
A million seconds is 12 days.
A billion seconds is 31 years.
A trillion seconds is 31,688 years.
Hope and change could be forever.
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#12 2008-09-09 3:28 pm
Re: I hurt
Res, sorry to hear about that man. Hope you feel better soon, but, I'm glad you're okay.
"Live with your head in the lion's mouth. I want you to overcome 'em with yeses, undermine 'em with grins, agree 'em to death and destruction, let 'em swoller you till they vomit or bust wide open." -Ralph Ellison
"Overpower, overcome" -Cro-Mags
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#13 2008-09-09 3:41 pm
Re: I hurt
dvpierce wrote:
They need to know everything to reduce the likelyhood of drug interactions. AFAIK, the results of an illegal drug toxicology test aren't turned over to the cops.
That makes sense. They give me a pain killer via IV - not morphine, but it was a substantial drug, I just forget the name - and they didn't give it to me until well after the blood test.
Looking through the paperwork I took home, they also took a urine sample via catheter - I must have been unconscious at that time, boy am I glad I was - those things hurt like hell.
I suppose had I been conscious I could have peed in a cup though.
Last edited by resedit (2008-09-09 3:41 pm)
In her right hand Jenny held the Bible of her mother
Jenny had a pistol in the other
-- Steve Taylor
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#14 2008-09-09 6:02 pm
- Nefarious
- Tuning Fork
- Moderator
- From: 45°22"N 84°57"W
- Registered: 2002-09-30
- Posts: 7998
Re: I hurt
Welcome back to the living. Give your neighbor a beer or something, in spite of not being there when the ambulance arrived.
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#15 2008-09-09 6:20 pm
- Orion
- Bovi-sapiens
- From: America's Dairyland
- Registered: 2000-09-12
- Posts: 2958
Re: I hurt
Glad to hear you are okay Res! 
My sister had a friend in HS that had seizures all the time. It was pretty scary.
Farming is easy when your plow is a pencil and you are a thousand miles from the cornfield. -Dwight D. Eisenhower
Don't curse the farmer with your mouth full.
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#16 2008-09-09 7:23 pm
Re: I hurt
Nefarious wrote:
Welcome back to the living. Give your neighbor a beer or something, in spite of not being there when the ambulance arrived.
I don't even know what neighbor it was.
It could have been the little old lady in the house across the street - she probably would not have been able to do much.
In her right hand Jenny held the Bible of her mother
Jenny had a pistol in the other
-- Steve Taylor
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#17 2008-09-09 8:00 pm
- Nefarious
- Tuning Fork
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- Posts: 7998
Re: I hurt
resedit wrote:
Oh - I had to sign something saying I felt well enough to leave. I doubt if I had a seizure on the way home they could have been held liable for squat.
Then again - I can't even remember all the things I had to sign - so maybe what I did sign would not be considered valid.
I recommend that you consult with a lawyer and put some info on a laminated card in your wallet that certain kinds of medical and legal procedures should be done in the event of a seizure. Its clear that lawyers are running that hospital and not doctors. And include your lawyer's phone number on that document too as one of the emergency contacts. A real good ambulance chaser. 
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#18 2008-09-09 11:05 pm
Re: I hurt
resedit wrote:
Once my back is feeling a little better - I'm going to go down there (and to the other hospital in Redding) and see if I can put local emergency contact numbers on record. And my drug allergies. I probably should have done that years ago.
What Nef said is a better idea than contact numbes/allergies on file. They aren't going to take the time to ook stuff up in the system in an emergency situation. You need that info on you.
Glad to see you're ok, too. Do you know why you seized since you haven't in a long time?
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#19 2008-09-10 12:24 am
- CrashingtehWarehouse
- Dismember
- From: The Frozen Tundra
- Registered: 2006-08-11
- Posts: 1134
Re: I hurt
If he doesn't have his wallet on him, like he didn't yesterday, what good would it do to keep a list of contacts and allergies in it? Not to mention, most hospitals don't go through things like that because they're stupid.
In a related note. I once stayed over at my best friends house when I was something like 10. We were sleeping together at the time, she'd already fallen asleep and I was up watching some retarded 1960's dinosaur movie. All of a sudden she had an epileptic seizure! I was ten, I didn't know what was going on. So I though she was smurfing with me! I was shaking her, "What are you doing? Stop it!" Eventually I got so freaked out that I ran to her parents room. Turns out she had a history of epileptic seizures but no one bothered to tell me, "Hey! So, if she starts choking on her tongue, don't worry, just come get us." Luckily she didn't die from the attack. But man, it sure scared the hell out of me.
Glad to see you're ok. If this becomes a more persistent issue for you, I'd say, tattoo your allergies to your body. That way you can never leave home without it!
Last edited by CrashingtehWarehouse (2008-09-10 12:25 am)
Alright, now, who wants to be transistorized?
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#20 2008-09-10 1:44 am
- Arc
- Oh my God.
- Registered: 2000-12-19
- Posts: 2243
Re: I hurt
Good to know you're alright, I've watched people have seizures before. Scary stuff.
As for the drug test, maybe your neighbor said you were weeding, and the hospital took it literally?
Admins! I've been waiting for you!
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#21 2008-09-10 5:58 am
Re: I hurt
Nefarious wrote:
resedit wrote:
Oh - I had to sign something saying I felt well enough to leave. I doubt if I had a seizure on the way home they could have been held liable for squat.
Then again - I can't even remember all the things I had to sign - so maybe what I did sign would not be considered valid.I recommend that you consult with a lawyer and put some info on a laminated card in your wallet that certain kinds of medical and legal procedures should be done in the event of a seizure. Its clear that lawyers are running that hospital and not doctors. And include your lawyer's phone number on that document too as one of the emergency contacts. A real good ambulance chaser.
Would not have done any good since my wallet was left on top of my washing machine - and I don't believe by me, though in a pre-seizure state, people can do funny things and not recall.
In her right hand Jenny held the Bible of her mother
Jenny had a pistol in the other
-- Steve Taylor
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#22 2008-09-10 6:00 am
Re: I hurt
justine wrote:
resedit wrote:
Once my back is feeling a little better - I'm going to go down there (and to the other hospital in Redding) and see if I can put local emergency contact numbers on record. And my drug allergies. I probably should have done that years ago.
What Nef said is a better idea than contact numbes/allergies on file. They aren't going to take the time to ook stuff up in the system in an emergency situation. You need that info on you.
Glad to see you're ok, too. Do you know why you seized since you haven't in a long time?
All I really need is to know that next time I can get a ride home when all is said and done.
If they have contact info on record, it can be looked up when I'm released.
And since I'm allergic to both Septra and Penicillin - the hospital should know that too.
In her right hand Jenny held the Bible of her mother
Jenny had a pistol in the other
-- Steve Taylor
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#23 2008-09-10 7:05 am
- davic3
- Mac Warrior
- From: the place I just left
- Registered: 2003-12-01
- Posts: 1197
Re: I hurt
First of all I'm glad your ok
in regards to your info don't they have those bracelet/watches/necklace you can get with that info on it
http://www.medicalert.org/home/Homegradient.aspx
"A bartender is just a pharmacist with a limited inventory."
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#24 2008-09-10 7:56 am
Re: I hurt
davic3 wrote:
First of all I'm glad your ok
in regards to your info don't they have those bracelet/watches/necklace you can get with that info on it
http://www.medicalert.org/home/Homegradient.aspx
Yeah they do - many moons ago I wore a bracelet, twice I had a seizure with one and neither time did the EMT even look for it - they looked for as necklace, and I don't like to wear necklaces.
Wearing it also caused a stigma - everytime you meet someone, either they instantly think there is something odd with you (as most the people who wear them are - to be blundt - also mentally deficient) or they ask you about it - and quite frankly, it was a hell of a lot more trouble than it was worth, I don't want to discuss my "condition" with every sap I just met.
I don't have seizures regularly, it's been about 6 years or so.
It may have been the weed poison - the HOA was starting to get on my case about some weeds, and so a few days I did some heavy weed spraying - and I felt sick after it. It was then when pulling weeds that it happened.
Maybe I'll just have to pay someone to come by once a month and do the weeds.
Insect repellent containing deet triggers my seizures, so maybe there was something in the weed poison that has a similar effect.
In her right hand Jenny held the Bible of her mother
Jenny had a pistol in the other
-- Steve Taylor
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#25 2008-09-10 10:56 am
- General_K
- Intentionally Left Blank
- From: /home
- Registered: 2004-11-18
- Posts: 489
Re: I hurt
Glad to hear you're ok, Res. 
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