Yep, I am a day behind, but I have the day off due to probably exhaustion and a brewing cold. Slept on the couch at 8:30pm last night, once the boys were in bed, I crashed. Ian was up at 5:30am with a horrible cough, so we slept on the couch for awhile. I continued to rest until 11am! That will probably not happen again ever, so I have enjoyed my moment in the sun. No one in this house sleeps until 11am. No one.
The topic question is: What is the most serious accident or illness you have had?
I really haven't been in a serious accident (knock on wood) so I am off the hook there, at least for now.
My most serious illness began on a regular Saturday, about one month after I had gotten married. We were living in good old Poughkeepsie, NY at the time. The day was spent probably cleaning, watching a little TV or crafting. All was normal. My husband was playing drum set for a musical at the local county theater that night. My mom, my friends Dan and Stacy and I had tickets to see the show-I don't even remember the show name! We got to the theater, found our seats and I was sitting next to Dan one side and a few older women next to me on the other side. During the first half, I began to feel a little queasy and felt a good stomachache coming on. I was wiggling in my seat, trying to sit comfortably and having a difficult time paying attention to the story of the show. At one point, I was almost leaning on the woman next to me, who clearly was annoyed with my fidgeting.
At intermission, I popped up and ran to the bathroom, where I felt nauseated and warm. My stomach was killing me by this point, but I got back to my seat. I found that the two ladies next to me had changed their seats. So, the show continued and I sat next to Dan, practically laying on him as the pain in my stomach was becoming much worse and more localized. Mercifully, the show ended and I raced back to the bathroom, cut the line of ladies and proceeded to vomit and cry. My friend Stacy was on the line and saw me come out and helped me gain some composure, along with a few other ladies who rubbed my back and offered tissues. Stacy walked me out to my mom.
A note about my mom. My mom is NOT one to get excited or worried. She is the type to tell you buck up and move on. This has been forever, so I didn't expect any real reaction out of her.
WRONG. She asked me what was going on. I told her I had incredible pain on my right side, vomiting, feverish. She looked at me and said "You have to go to the hospital. It sounds serious." For my mom to say that, it's serious. Of course, I just wanted to go home, lie down and go to sleep. Nope. Dan and Stacy raced off to get the car. My mom tells my husband, who is hanging out with the musicians in the pit that we are going to the hospital and meet us there. Thomas is completely flustered, having to then quickly pack up his drum set, get the car into the loading zone, get the car packed up and get to the hospital.
The drive to the hospital was actually pretty funny-I have to thank Stacy because she made me laugh so much even though it came out like tears. We arrived at the hospital, did the urine sample and bloodwork while waiting to be seen. Dan and Stacy waited until Tom arrived before they went on home. My mom and Thomas waited with me and stayed during the exam. The ER doctor was trying to decide between appendicitis, urinary infection and something else (I forget). By now, the pain was excruciating. This doctor then actually asked me to stand up and hop on one foot. I refused. He said that I had to and then he would know. I thought this sounded stupid. Thomas told me maybe you should do it, he is the doctor. I lifted my foot and curled over in pain. That was enough to call in the surgeon.
Dr. Modi was very kind, pressed on my abdomen even though I instructed him not to and told me that we would be going into surgery right away. I was transferred to a gurney and given a drip of morphine, which let me just say-I STILL remember how blessed that morphine was. The nurses continued to be impressed with my ever-polite husband, who thanked them profusely and won himself into their good graces. I was wheeled into the operating room, discussing my substitute plans at length-how I had copied them all out, how they were in a pile on my desk and I hoped Shannon, my colleague could figure it out and maybe I'd get back into school on Monday....then I woke up in even MORE horrendous pain following the surgery. It was off the charts and I remember screaming anytime they moved me. The nurse gave me more painkillers and I slept for a bit.
In the hospital, after abdominal surgery, you are made to walk and move so that you can pass the extra gas pumped in. Pleasant, I know. I could hardly move. The belly buddy pillow they gave me had to be pressed onto my staples (no laparoscopic here, regular incision) and I wanted to curse out anyone who made me walk anywhere. It was awful. I was in the hospital for a few days, eating jello and broth. I hate jello and I hate broth.
Finally on Tuesday evening, the surgeon came in to say I could go home that night or the next morning. To my husband's dismay, I opted for sooner. Which meant he hadn't cleaned up at home or done anything to get ready for me to arrive at home. But home we went, in the bumpiest car ride ever-we still kind of laugh about that. He arranged the futon in the living room for me to sleep on so I could watch some tv. I was a fixture on that futon for about a month. I could not return to work full time for a month and following that I only worked half-days for a few weeks. Working took every ounce of energy, even just walking down the hallway to my room.
As it turned out, my surgeon saw me to remove the staples and check my progress. It was then that he informed me that I was not going to recover as quickly as expected with most appendectomies. My colon had become infected and distended, which they found during surgery. They had a very difficult time putting the colon back where it belonged-so the incision had to be larger and the manipulation probably caused a longer delay in healing too. Topping it off, I also ended up with bronchitis from fluid in the lungs following the surgery (trying coughing after abdominal surgery) which was another setback.
The good news- I lost at least 10 pounds and that was great for my 10 year high-school reunion. Not the suggested way to go about losing weight though. I also still have that little belly buddy pillow. It was a great little pillow made by someone who donated them to the hospital.
At one point, my friends Dan and Stacy came over with some comedy movie that we watched while Thomas was playing another gig. They were "babysitting" me essentially. I remember pressing that little pillow into my side and laughing this crazy, careful laugh that sounded like I was gasping for air. My mom made some decent soup for me and I got a ton of wonderful cards from my students at school.
That's really been it for me-no falling into trees like my sister-in-law or crashing into walls like my husband did as a kid. I am just waiting for my boys to begin my real orientation to the world of accidents and all.
7 comments:
Wow, I remember you having that surgery, but didn't realize you were in bed for a month after that-remind me to never have that illness-no fun at all.
Guess moms can tell when you are really sick-
I think you might have as good as memory for details as you hubby-Michael and I always say if only he could use that power for good-instead of memorizing bad movie lines.
Although I would of used Tommy's jumping off stage ability, instead of crashing into walls:)
Yep - abdominal surgery is no fun, none at all! Been there, done that four times now. First time for gallstones and appendectomy, second for colo-rectal cancer, third for resection of the right urinary tract and fourth for a colostomy. The last three have been within the past 4 1/2 years and the last two within the past 2 years. Hardest part - aside from the pain of recovery - for me was doing without coffee until I managed to pass gas! Brother! A cup of coffee would have started my healing much faster - in MY opinion anyway!
Oooh, I forgot about T falling off the stage. I'll let him tell that and also defend himself on the movie lines power-it is pretty uncanny what he recalls.
I will now use my innate super ridiculous memory for useless stuff to recall some more details of Linda's appendix incident-
Linda does not recall that she had very bad stomach pains all day Friday. She went to bed feeling terrible at 7pm that night. She was even feeling a little funny all week. So there was a precursor to the appendix incident. Oh, and when the doctor asked Linda to hop on one foot she did it just fine… on her left foot. He said “No, the other foot.”. THAT is when she said “Are you serious? Umm… No.” I do remember thanking the surgery team a lot on Saturday night because they came in at 2am and they were working on my wonderful new wife. We are just glad that she was okay.
Oh and thank you Terri so much for reminding my of a very awkward fall... I did fall off a stage at Arizona State University in November of 2001 and broke the radial head of my right elbow. It was a Monday night after a Latin Band concert and I intended to jump off and give Linda a really big kiss. I guess I fell in love with her all over again! groan. A few weeks later my professor suggested the percussion studio put out some flowers in the concert hall where I fell to make a little shrine. Before my last concert that semester the Band Director warned the flutist sitting close to the edge where I fell “Hey be careful, you don’t want to pull a Tom Murphy.” I couldn’t fully straighten my arm for six months and had to go to physical therapy where a big huge guy literally wrenched my arm up and down. I had to wear an unpleasant spring-loaded arm straightening thing at night for three months. I actually just whacked my elbow tonight at rehearsal on a bass drum, right on the exact spot where I broke it. Ouch.
Hmm.... What other useless stuff is coming back to me? What are some times that I got injured? How much time does everybody have? Let’s see…
January of 1981 (second grade) I bumped my head on a piece of concrete while sleigh riding with Michael out behind our house, to which he said "Umm...don't tell Mom!". (That’s a direct quote by the way.) Since no ice was applied to my forehead within an hour I got a huge egg for two months that changed colors through the entire rainbow.
I have fallen out of trees on five separate occasions. (Sorry no specific dates. I must be slipping in my old age) I did not get any branches stuck in my rear though. Wow Terri, that must have hurt. While Terri has the record for worst fall into a tree, Chris has the record for the worst fall out of tree. FYI, don’t use a Boy Scout belt to zip line down a secured rope from a thirty foot tree when you are nine years old. He was the fifth one of the neighborhood boys to try it when the belt snapped. Just as he started to slide down the rope! Ouch.
Summer of 1982- I was bitten on my rear end by a dog while riding my bike on the corner of Charter Rd and Stuyvesant Dr. And yes, that did really hurt. I had to go the doctor the next day to get a shot… just in case. My brothers and sister thought it was so funny that I got bit on the rear end that they told and retold the story to all of my friends, one or two of the girls I brought home and at most family gatherings. Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter. Not every year though. I guess they liked to mix it up a bit with other embarrassing stuff. I did not receive any sympathy from them until I went to college. On my first visit home for Thanksgiving freshman year, Suzie said “Oh Tommy, we are so sorry. I promise that we will never tell that story again!” They of course told the story to Linda after we had been dating six months.
6th grade- Broke my left arm skateboarding on Chris' skateboard because the front wheels actually fell off. Mom took one look at me, felt my arm and calmly said “Hmm. Let me get a sweater, those hospital waiting rooms get a little chilly.” She could actually see the crack in my arm. Mom, you have nerves of steel. We were at the hospital a very long time because they had to anesthetize me to reset the arm and I didn’t wake up for hours. The next day, with a cast on my arm, Chris said to me “Oh yeah, I loosened the wheels on it so I could make tighter turns. Why do you ask? You should be more careful on skateboards you know.” (Another direct quote) A month later Dr. Lagori was really cool to arrange the second cast so I could still play drums in my sixth grade band concert.
Hmm, I should speed this up... we could be here for awhile. But I am on a roll!
7th grade- Flipped over the handlebars on Michael’s old red ten-speed bike. I got a concussion, friction burn on my shoulder, sprained ankle, and tons of other small cuts. I wound up having to get a tetanus shot (which gave me a weird fever) and they wouldn’t let me sleep that night due to the concussion, so I missed a trip to Great Adventure the next day. When Mom took me to the hospital she went in first to get me a wheelchair. The nurses remembered her from when I broke my arm the year before. “Oh, Mrs. Murphy! Same kid?” She was really worried that they would investigate her for child abuse. She asked hesitantly if most kids came to the hospital this often. The nurse said “Well maybe not this much. But don’t worry about it, he’s probably just be a little clumsy”.
8th grade. Sprained my ankle really bad playing soccer on the driveway. For some dumb reason I thought it would be cool to jump over the ball while it was moving. I got a huge golf ball sized lump on my ankle. I went in the house and told Dad. He replied, “Well what do you want me to do? I’m watching the hockey game. Maybe go get yourself some ice?” Another direct quote. Well, that kind of stuff builds character.
I actually was pretty careful in high school. Not much to report accident wise.
February 1990- Hernia operation. Not fun. I remember too much, too vividly from that one that is so extremely gross I will not discuss it here for Linda’s nice blog friends.
October 20, 1996- I was super stupid and flipped my parent’s car off a curvy road while leaving Linda’s apartment at 9:30pm on a Sunday night during a rainstorm. Mom and Dad, I am really sorry for wrecking that car. Linda, I am really sorry for scaring the heck out of you. On a bright note, I walked away from that one with only a few bumps and I was kinda achy for a few days. The three hours strapped to a board with a neck brace on while they checked me for spinal damage was not fun. I had to wait for doctor to check me and get an X-ray of my neck. I had to pee so bad while stuck to that board that I actually asked the nurses to get the bucket thing. It was just too weird though. I couldn’t do it. Another hour later the doctor said they could finally let me off the board but I still had to keep the neck brace until I got the X-ray. I looked around the room but I couldn’t find my pants! Linda’s Mom had grabbed them so they wouldn’t get misplaced by a nurse or something. She and Linda had gone to the waiting room and for some unknown reason took my pants with them. Just then, the X-ray technician was finally free. So I had to walk through two hallways to the X-ray machine with a neck brace on and no pants! NO PANTS! I guess that is why all Moms say “Always wear clean underwear in case you get into a car accident!” It’s true. I have lived it. Oh and by they way, when you flip your car and call your girlfriend fifteen minutes after leaving her apartment, don’t say anything like what I said… “Hi honey. I’m OKAY, but…the car is not.”
Whew! That’s enough for now. My family knows that I could go on for HOURS! All of this reminiscing gets me a little worried though… with the crazy stuff I did, what will Ian and Connor do?
Hehe - I'll try to remember to give you a little more space during choir concerts, Tom; you sound like a dangerous guy to be standing in front of :)
too funny Tom :) yes I would say you were on a roll!
That's a day I'll never forget. We were really worried about you. I'm glad we could be there to help. Though- I don't know what kind of friends we are making you laugh when you have abdominal pain. :-) I also remember the ride back from the hospital when you were going home. I don't remember if we lead or followed in our car, but we sure drove slow trying our best to avoid bumps. Dan and I were trying to remember the movie we brought over. We think it may have been the Man Who Knew too Little.
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