what did you do today? (2008-2015) (closed)

[bbbamI]

Thanks again Meadbh..

Knowledge is power; I'll read it later on tonight. I'm hoping like in Is99's situation, the sample was mishandled.

..and good grief, WTR...sure am glad you and your sweetie are ok! Man, these sudden events can sure throw us for a loop, can't they?

 

[Meadbh]

Appendectomy? ER room for life-threateningly high potassium? Thank heavens you two are OK. But gee, what's going on? And I have one to add:

We were in a car accident today. Neither of us was hurt, luckily! Just really shook up. The other car was doing a u-turn on a busy 6-lane divided street (Elysian Fields, for those who know New Orleans). He didn't see us, stomped on the accelerator and broadsided us pretty hard. F did some evasive maneuvers at the last minute (while I brilliantly screamed, "oh no!" ) which probably were why he didn't get seriously hurt. But still, his driver door will hardly close due to damage to the door and the metal surrounding it, and the driver's window won't operate. I'm sure insurance will pay for it and he has an appointment with his insurance people.

We called the police and waited for them to arrive so we could file a police report, but after 45 minutes of waiting the other driver left for work. Typical New Orleans. NOPD is understaffed and since there were no injuries, we were probably a pretty low priority.

Sheesh! I'm glad you and Frank are OK.

 

[stepford]

Replaced the alternator in the midlife-crisis-mobile. I'm at the point in my life where I'm willing to let the auto repair place do the harder stuff, but when they quoted me $900 the old gearhead inside rebelled. $330 and a dirty afternoon later all is good.

 

[Ronstar]

An appendectomy, life threatening emergency room visit, and a car accident. It's rough getting old. Hope you all can return to full enjoyment of your retirements soon!


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[freebird5825]

I just returned from a 4 day mini vacation in the foothills of the Adirondacks. Mr B is studying for test number 2 of 3, so he is glued to the computer screen for at least 4 hours per day. So I invaded my lady friend's house up north. We watched movies and ate frozen pizza, ice cream, and all sorts of terrible high carb stuff. I gained 2 lbs. Ah... so what, I'll just dance it off this week.
Tomorrow I get to try out my new weed remover. I am very happy to see that there are relatively inexpensive ergonomic and labor saving devices out there for us young'uns. See details here.
http://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B005D6NX8M?psc=1&redirect=true&ref_=oh_aui_detailpage_o01_s00
I invited my gardening buddy up to "help" tomorrow. It will be funny to see who gets to use it more, him or me. I think we all know the answer to that.
I am devious, yes, but I do feed my yard slave very well.

 

[splitwdw]

Nords, My sisters had appendicitis when they were 5 and 6 so I was shocked when mine ruptured at 21. I thought it was a little kids thing. Mine ruptured on a Monday night and didn't go to ER until Wednesday. The main thing I remember was the smell from the infection after surgery and the surgeon wanting to know why I waited so long. I was going to another doctor who kept telling me the pain was some gastro....... what-not and not to worry about it. Glad your surgery worked out well.

 

[Nords]

W2R, sorry about the crash. Watch out for the delayed bruising tomorrow and take it easier for a few days.

...oh, and I imagine he's an exceptional fiancé.

Well, clearly he recognizes quality when he sees it!

FWIW, I knew a little old lady of 90 who developed acute appendicitis. She did very well, but was unable to surf afterwards!

The surgeons didn't seem interested in my plaintive queries about when I could resume surfing.

I guess I'm glad that I didn't wait to deal with this until I was older.

Nords, My sisters had appendicitis when they were 5 and 6 so I was shocked when mine ruptured at 21. I thought it was a little kids thing. Mine ruptured on a Monday night and didn't go to ER until Wednesday. The main thing I remember was the smell from the infection after surgery and the surgeon wanting to know why I waited so long. I was going to another doctor who kept telling me the pain was some gastro....... what-not and not to worry about it. Glad your surgery worked out well.

My impression of appendicitis (even on the submarines) was that it was longer than 30 hours! I was unpleasantly surprised at how quickly (and painfully) things deteriorated.

 

[REWahoo]

W2R, sorry about the crash. Watch out for the delayed bruising tomorrow and take it easier for a few days.

+1

Hopefully you won't suffer any post-accident neck pains, but if you do...

 

[Senator]

I am glad you are doing OK.

I had my Appendectomy when I was 23, just out of the service. No insurance. I went to a private hospital ER and they diagnosed it.

I was about ready to get operated on, and I decided to let someone else know. My father picked me up and we went to the VA and I got it done for free. the ER bill from the hospital was like $300.

If I would have known it was going to be $300 ahead of time, I would have probably died. It didn't feel like a $300 pain.

 

[HFWR]

+1

Hopefully you won't suffer any post-accident neck pains, but if you do...

Though I couldn't find the ad online, there's also a "Tennessee Hammer"!

Copycat...

 

[W2R]

Though I couldn't find the add online, there's also a "Tennessee Hammer"!

Copycat...

While we were waiting for the police, two different ambulance chaser types approached us (and then when we said we weren't injured, approached the other driver). Personal injury lawsuits are big business here, too.

 

[Theseus]

While we were waiting for the police, two different ambulance chaser types approached us (and then when we said we weren't injured, approached the other driver). Personal injury lawsuits are big business here, too.

Glad to hear about no obvious injuries, but unfortunately know from recent experience about the aches & pains that show up in a few days. And I thought it was bad enough when I got big glossy advertisements from several previously unknown law firms in the days following my accident! Roadside consultation, seriously!?

 

[splitwdw]

....My impression of appendicitis (even on the submarines) was that it was longer than 30 hours! I was unpleasantly surprised at how quickly (and painfully) things deteriorated.

Don't understand the "longer than 30 hours". Heck yeah, it's painful. Walked around bent over with pain from the time they ruptured on Monday until Wednesday, that's why I finally went to the ER.


Hope everyone is feeling better today.

 

[Hermit]

An appendectomy, life threatening emergency room visit, and a car accident. It's rough getting old. Hope you all can return to full enjoyment of your retirements soon!


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Maybe we should start a "What was your near-death calamity today?" thread?

 

[Walt34]

Carpe diem, folks. And if your paperwork isn't ready to go then... get your stuff together.

Glad to hear all went well with it and I'll be mindful of the symptoms myself. I thought once I'd made it past 40 or 50 that wasn't gonna happen. Evidently not true!

After my "almost heart attack" last summer we did get all our paperwork in order. We did have wills but none of the other stuff.

W2R, glad to hear no injuries. It is still unnerving when it happens though.

 

[braumeister]

Don't understand the "longer than 30 hours".

Possibly, Nords was referring to a situation like mine.
I'll never forget my experience; it was in my first term of high school.

Discomfort increasing in lower abdomen, starting Friday evening.
Bad enough Saturday that when the doc made a house call (yes, I'm that old) he decided I should go to the hospital. Once there, they did repeated blood tests for another 24 hours, then decided to take the damn thing out.

 

[splitwdw]

Ahhh, thanks braumeister. I had pain off and on for a month before they ruptured.

 

[Ronstar]

Mine ruptured in June of 2004, and I felt ill but not terrible. Probably because it was contained in an abscess that eventually grew to lemon size. Then it was painful, but deemed too infected to remove safely. So they treated me with antibiotics for a couple of months, the abscess shrank, and the dr removed the appendix laparoscopically. All is well 11 years later.

 

[Walt34]

Finally did some paint touch-ups on some walls that DW had been after me to do. There were a couple of spackled nail holes from pictures being moved and the usual assortment of marks that come from... somewhere. Including stirring the paint with a paint mixer it took about 30 minutes.

That's enough work for one day.

 

[MBAustin]

Who knew you could learn so much about appendices and car accidents on an early retirement forum? Sending healing wishes to all!

Freebird - looking forward to your report on the weed remover. I bought a different one several years ago and it wasn't worth cr*p.

 

[Nords]

I am glad you are doing OK.
I had my Appendectomy when I was 23, just out of the service. No insurance. I went to a private hospital ER and they diagnosed it.
I was about ready to get operated on, and I decided to let someone else know. My father picked me up and we went to the VA and I got it done for free. the ER bill from the hospital was like $300.
If I would have known it was going to be $300 ahead of time, I would have probably died. It didn't feel like a $300 pain.

I called Tricare (UnitedHealthcare) today and they're happy. Tripler hadn't sent out any notifications yet but that should happen this week (or maybe they never will). I'm glad I didn't waste any time on the phone beforehand.

For those of you on Oahu: I neglected to mention Tripler's secret In-Patient pharmacy window. It's the one you use when you're checking out of the hospital (before you take off your wristband) and you have to fill a prescription. Don't waste your time in line at the front windows #1-#5. Instead follow the pharmacy walls to the left (counterclockwise) around the back and try one of windows #6-#9.

Don't understand the "longer than 30 hours". Heck yeah, it's painful. Walked around bent over with pain from the time they ruptured on Monday until Wednesday, that's why I finally went to the ER.
Hope everyone is feeling better today.

Possibly, Nords was referring to a situation like mine.
I'll never forget my experience; it was in my first term of high school.
Discomfort increasing in lower abdomen, starting Friday evening.
Bad enough Saturday that when the doc made a house call (yes, I'm that old) he decided I should go to the hospital. Once there, they did repeated blood tests for another 24 hours, then decided to take the damn thing out.

Ahhh, thanks braumeister. I had pain off and on for a month before they ruptured.

Mine ruptured in June of 2004, and I felt ill but not terrible. Probably because it was contained in an abscess that eventually grew to lemon size. Then it was painful, but deemed too infected to remove safely. So they treated me with antibiotics for a couple of months, the abscess shrank, and the dr removed the appendix laparoscopically. All is well 11 years later.

My pain is gone and the swelling is almost gone. Some of the superglue is already flaking off the laparoscopy incisions (that means they're healing), and they said it'd take about 6-10 days.

I remember several submarine situations that dragged on for nearly a week before the corpsman had enough fever or white blood cells to make the call. (You submarine veterans will vouch that you never bothered the corpsman unless you were really seriously hurting.) Before I went to the hospital when I realized that I could treat the pain with acetaminophen, it actually subsided enough to let me get back to sleep.

My appendix apparently looked ugly on the CT scan at 11 AM, but the surgeons felt that they had enough time for laparoscopy. They weren't dawdling but they weren't setting up for a "slash & mop" evolution either. By the time they saw it on the laparoscopy camera a little after 4 PM, though, the response was "Oh crap, hurry up." If I'd known it was gonna go bad that quickly then I would've driven in to Tripler at 3 AM.

Some cases must flare up fast while others take longer to become a problem. I'm not sure why. Some people can also fight the peritonitis better, even without antibiotics, although I doubt the survival rate is very high.

Glad to hear all went well with it and I'll be mindful of the symptoms myself. I thought once I'd made it past 40 or 50 that wasn't gonna happen. Evidently not true!

Yeah, apparently there's no senior freebie-- not even a discount.

There were some pouty faces among the ER staff who expected to see a current medical directive or POA on file (either in paper or a canned copy). But my last visit was nearly five years ago so I might not have even had a paper record. They just decided to accept our word that we had a directive. The ER staff certainly was not going to get in the way of the surgeons.

I also learned to hold on to a pair of reading glasses, no matter what I was allowed to wear into the operating room. They were shoving paperwork under my nose for signature right up until the nurse pressed the plunger on the propofol syringe. Or, for all I can remember, maybe even after that.

 

[freebird5825]

Freebird - looking forward to your report on the weed remover. I bought a different one several years ago and it wasn't worth cr*p.

It's still in the box. It's been raining here for 2 straight days. Some of the reviews at Amazon mentioned breakage of the lower plastic foot pedal, but I suspect that was from applying too much leverage or getting frustrated and abusing it. I inspected the device. The foot pedal is made of very sturdy thick black plastic. Please remind me (in a few days) to report on how it w*rked.

I'm off for a massage session today, then visiting my gardening buddy's ground garden to see how the seedlings I grew for him in the spring are doing. He is reporting major league clusters of tomatoes on all of the now full grown plants. BONUS: I am getting some homegrown garlic from him in return for growing the tomato plants. I love the gardener's barter system.

 

[M Paquette]

We're hosting a traveling band of drywallers today. Happy folks, playing the music of their people with their instruments and chanting traditional drywalling songs, as is their way. Soon though, they will complete their work here and return to their travels. The road goes ever on...


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[W2R]

We're hosting a traveling band of drywallers today. Happy folks, playing the music of their people with their instruments and chanting traditional drywalling songs, as is their way. Soon though, they will complete their work here and return to their travels. The road goes ever on...

Hey, a good drywall guy is worth his weight in gold. I know because I had the uncontested Wizard of Paint and Drywall at my house five years ago. His name is Floyd and he did wonders with my old house.

Right now I have a similar band of licensed electricians at my old house. Like your drywallers, they are happy folks today.

 

[braumeister]

Went to the local supermarket today and got my mind a bit boggled as I watched them setting out the Halloween decorations.