A bit of an adventure...
Jun. 8th, 2007 09:21 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
missroseroseSo I'm sitting at work, having come back from lunch (a halibut taco and incredibly yummy brownie from one of the street vendors downtown) about an hour ago. Feeling slightly sick to my stomach, because really, that was a frelling huge brownie, and I probably shouldn't have eaten it as quickly as I did. But otherwise pretty okay. I'm also reading the article for marijuana on Wikipedia, because Brian's working on the server so my workorder system isn't running.
Suddenly I start to feel a bit faint - ringing in the ears getting louder, not quite able to see straight. Shit, I think, that brownie had better not have had any pot in it. I get up to go get myself some water, hoping that the feeling would pass. Get to the breakroom, get the water, lean against the table for a moment, take a sip, and start to head back to my desk.
Next thing I can remember is hearing BD shouting my name and thinking groggily "What? I'm right here...". I open my eyes and realize that almost everyone who's in the office at the time is clustered around my desk, BD is holding me up, and I'm soaked - literally soaked with sweat on my upper body and, erm...less pleasant substances on the lower half. BD (who happens to be one of the volunteer fire captains for Capital City Fire & Rescue) is telling Adam to call 911 for an ambulance. I want to tell him I'm okay and not to bother, but can't quite get the words out - I seem to be thinking all right, just not quite connected completely with my body. He sits me down in my chair and someone (I think it was Randy) hands me a cold compress for my forehead, and I gradually piece together the fact that I had passed out (Barry, one of our techs, said he saw me very deliberately lie down on my desk and just go limp). The EMTs arrive in short order, and I have to give them mass props for efficiency; within five minutes they have all their equipment unpacked, are taking my temperature/blood pressure/etc., and one (I think his name is John) is asking me the usual questions (do you know where/who you are, do you know what happened, how are you feeling right now, do you have any family history of fainting, etc.), which I'm answering (I think) correctly, albeit with some difficulty since I'm still not feeling all the way here.
They load me up onto a gurney, cart me off (getting into and out of our office building's tiny elevator is a bit of an adventure in and of itself), load me into the ambulance, and John continues asking me questions. They hook me up to an IV, which seems to help as I'm gradually feeling more coherent (minus a brief pause to deal with a bout of nausea - so long, yummy brownie). The first thing I'm worrying about is that I'm developing adult-onset diabetes (it was a really rich brownie), but they tell me my blood sugar was normal, as was my temperature and everything else they checked.
They unload me at the hospital and get me into a room in the emergency ward. What happened afterward was somewhat less interesting (although I did meet a really awesome nurse), as they essentially just go through standard hospital-y type things they do when your body suddenly quits working with no explanation. I get stuck with myriad needles and have various fluids pumped in and taken out; I have an x-ray, blood work, pregnancy test, and an EKG done; I'm peered at and poked by a couple of different nurses, technicians, and a very friendly (if talkative) doctor. It probably would've been a lot more difficult if Brian hadn't been right there next to me the whole time; given his associations with people he loves being in hospitals (his father died of colon cancer when he was 17), it couldn't have been easy for him.
Anyway, the results all come to: Nothing! I'm completely healthy! (Except for, y'know, the whole fainting-dead-away-to-the-point-of-losing-bladder-control thing.) They want me to come back in for an EEG scan, which I'm not certain I want to do, mostly due to the additional cost + more time missed from work.
"Ask how much this is going to cost!"
{into phone} "How much is this going to cost? ... ... ...Wow."
"How much is 'wow'?"
"Uhm...somewhere between 'ouch!' and 'boyoyoyoying'..."
(With apologies to Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye.)
As it is, I have no idea how much I've racked up in charges. I have some idea of what things like bloodwork and x-rays cost for animals from back when I worked at a vet clinic (and they're not cheap), but I have no clue about people - a safe bet seems to be to take the animal price, multiply it by three, and take that as a baseline. *sigh*
As much of a hassle as it's going to be to sort all of this out, I'm very thankful for my insurance. It'll hopefully make the (admittedly pretty large) difference between "ouch!" and "boyoyoyoying"...
Suddenly I start to feel a bit faint - ringing in the ears getting louder, not quite able to see straight. Shit, I think, that brownie had better not have had any pot in it. I get up to go get myself some water, hoping that the feeling would pass. Get to the breakroom, get the water, lean against the table for a moment, take a sip, and start to head back to my desk.
Next thing I can remember is hearing BD shouting my name and thinking groggily "What? I'm right here...". I open my eyes and realize that almost everyone who's in the office at the time is clustered around my desk, BD is holding me up, and I'm soaked - literally soaked with sweat on my upper body and, erm...less pleasant substances on the lower half. BD (who happens to be one of the volunteer fire captains for Capital City Fire & Rescue) is telling Adam to call 911 for an ambulance. I want to tell him I'm okay and not to bother, but can't quite get the words out - I seem to be thinking all right, just not quite connected completely with my body. He sits me down in my chair and someone (I think it was Randy) hands me a cold compress for my forehead, and I gradually piece together the fact that I had passed out (Barry, one of our techs, said he saw me very deliberately lie down on my desk and just go limp). The EMTs arrive in short order, and I have to give them mass props for efficiency; within five minutes they have all their equipment unpacked, are taking my temperature/blood pressure/etc., and one (I think his name is John) is asking me the usual questions (do you know where/who you are, do you know what happened, how are you feeling right now, do you have any family history of fainting, etc.), which I'm answering (I think) correctly, albeit with some difficulty since I'm still not feeling all the way here.
They load me up onto a gurney, cart me off (getting into and out of our office building's tiny elevator is a bit of an adventure in and of itself), load me into the ambulance, and John continues asking me questions. They hook me up to an IV, which seems to help as I'm gradually feeling more coherent (minus a brief pause to deal with a bout of nausea - so long, yummy brownie). The first thing I'm worrying about is that I'm developing adult-onset diabetes (it was a really rich brownie), but they tell me my blood sugar was normal, as was my temperature and everything else they checked.
They unload me at the hospital and get me into a room in the emergency ward. What happened afterward was somewhat less interesting (although I did meet a really awesome nurse), as they essentially just go through standard hospital-y type things they do when your body suddenly quits working with no explanation. I get stuck with myriad needles and have various fluids pumped in and taken out; I have an x-ray, blood work, pregnancy test, and an EKG done; I'm peered at and poked by a couple of different nurses, technicians, and a very friendly (if talkative) doctor. It probably would've been a lot more difficult if Brian hadn't been right there next to me the whole time; given his associations with people he loves being in hospitals (his father died of colon cancer when he was 17), it couldn't have been easy for him.
Anyway, the results all come to: Nothing! I'm completely healthy! (Except for, y'know, the whole fainting-dead-away-to-the-point-of-losing-bladder-control thing.) They want me to come back in for an EEG scan, which I'm not certain I want to do, mostly due to the additional cost + more time missed from work.
"Ask how much this is going to cost!"
{into phone} "How much is this going to cost? ... ... ...Wow."
"How much is 'wow'?"
"Uhm...somewhere between 'ouch!' and 'boyoyoyoying'..."
(With apologies to Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye.)
As it is, I have no idea how much I've racked up in charges. I have some idea of what things like bloodwork and x-rays cost for animals from back when I worked at a vet clinic (and they're not cheap), but I have no clue about people - a safe bet seems to be to take the animal price, multiply it by three, and take that as a baseline. *sigh*
As much of a hassle as it's going to be to sort all of this out, I'm very thankful for my insurance. It'll hopefully make the (admittedly pretty large) difference between "ouch!" and "boyoyoyoying"...
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no subject
Date: 2007-06-09 07:41 am (UTC)Sounds similar to when I had (what we think was) a panic attack a year and a half ago. I was sitting at work, when suddenly I felt like I was about to pass out. I managed not to, though, but I ended up at the hospital regardless. All told, everything (which included a CT scan) cost $3k; I think I was on the hook for a third of that in the end.
Sucked, but at least I'm still alive. :)
no subject
Date: 2007-06-10 05:08 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-06-09 06:34 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-06-09 07:33 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-06-10 08:25 am (UTC)As for your bill, the EKG is actually fairly cheap compared to a lot of other things. For instance, if you were driven there in the ambulance, there is a bill for that, as well as the doctor's hourly rate(s), labs, etc. All said and done, it's not pretty.
I would presume you have some medical insurance, which will help with the cost. Please keep in mind that it takes Bartlett a good month or so to bill your insurance and then bill you. Remember, my bill AFTER insurance was $1000.18, and I will probably spend the next few years paying it off. (unless I dump my PFD and next year's tax return on it)
no subject
Date: 2007-06-10 02:57 pm (UTC)And keep the hospital line-item bill, look for duplicate charges and
Date: 2007-06-10 10:26 pm (UTC)I'm glad you're all right, that was scary to hear about.
Connie
no subject
Date: 2007-06-11 02:10 am (UTC)Re: And keep the hospital line-item bill, look for duplicate charges and
Date: 2007-06-11 02:11 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-06-11 09:44 pm (UTC)~John
no subject
Date: 2007-06-13 04:41 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-06-13 04:45 pm (UTC)