So trivial, yet it really ticks you off.

[tonyb]

... That's one for the misremembered thread, Tonya Harding - it's amazing how many people believe she was the one who carried out the attack on Nancy Kerrigan herself, when in fact she was in a whole different city at the time.

In this case, nothing has been "misremembered." I was referring specifically to a later incident in which Ms. Harding was accused by her then live-in boyfriend of assaulting him with a hubcap and "a left hook like Mike Tyson's."

I once had the displeasure of attempting to interview Ms. Harding at a car dealership in my coverage area where she was shilling for a local radio station and signing autographs. A couple-three people waiting for their brief audiences with her brought wheel covers. Their requests for her to sign those wheel covers were declined.

 

[Zombie_61]

To Zombie_61

I salute you!

I suffer a thousand deaths before I get to the dentist's chair.

You would have made a heck of a test pilot or astronaut with nerves like that - nerves that go down, not up, before big events.

You're giving me far too much credit. To be perfectly honest, it depends on the situation but I'd say it's more "stupidity" than "bravery". I just don't stop to think about what I'm getting myself into. As far as dentistry is concerned, I've had so many procedures done over the years--fillings, extractions, root canals, the aforementioned bone graft, etc.--that it just doesn't distress me any more.

My stupidity really let me down on at least one occasion. Back in the mid-80s I had to have surgery to correct my deviated septum. I walked in thinking it would be no big deal, but my first thought when they woke me up was "This was a BAD idea" because the packing in my sinuses (to keep the airways open) and the swelling caused one of the worst migraine headaches I've ever had, and despite the pain meds it lasted four days until my follow-up appointment to have that packing removed. As it turned out, getting hit in the face with a rock-hard unripened avocado when I was six years old didn't just cause a bloody nose, it also shattered some bones. And since that happened on the morning of my sister's first wedding, there was no trip to the doctor for little Zombie. Stop the bleeding, change the shirt (which was blood soaked), and send me back out to play. Fast forward to 20 years later, and I'm sitting in the doctor's office listening to him tell me the "deviated septum" procedure became far more involved than he had expected because of my badly broken nose. He had to use a drill bit to create new airways because, "The bones in your nose looked like a roller coaster. I'm surprised you could breathe through your nose at all." At least it finally explained all of my sinus problems.

 

[BobHufford]

He had to use a drill bit to create new airways ...

Feeling a bit shocky ... oooooh ... oooooh ... ... ... (whump!)

 

[Zombie_61]

Feeling a bit shocky ... oooooh ... oooooh ... ... ... (whump!)

Yeah. When I worked at a local hospital in the late-70s I was a little surprised to find out the OR surgeons regularly used the same electric drills that we amateur handymen use. Their drills and bits were far more sterile, but it was (and probably still is) simply the right tool for the job.

 

[3fingers]

Yeah. When I worked at a local hospital in the late-70s I was a little surprised to find out the OR surgeons regularly used the same electric drills that we amateur handymen use. Their drills and bits were far more sterile, but it was (and probably still is) simply the right tool for the job.

When I got my new hip the doc had to remove the 30 some year old pins that had been used to repair the original when I broke it. It was "old technology" and they no longer had the tools used for the pins. After a few minutes of thinking about how to get them out he used a pair of vise grips to turn them out far enough to get a cordless drill chuck on them to spin them the rest of the way out. According to him "it worked like a champ!" Either way, I was glad to have slept through it.

 

[2jakes]

So trivial but ticks me off when they run out of
biscuits fer sale...MMMM HMMM

 

[sheeplady]

My mother worked with a dentist in the sixties (today the dentist would be an oral surgeon). He was one of the most incredibly skilled dentists she had ever worked with; she told me he once wired a motorcycle victim's jaw together with a wire coat hanger because he had no other supplies. My mother loved assisting him because he was apparently brilliant.

When I got some of my wisdom teeth out my mother took me to an oral surgeon who had trained with my mother's former boss. I never really believed the coat hanger story until the oral surgeon and my mother were talking about it while I was getting my wisdom teeth out under local.

 

[Edward]

In this case, nothing has been "misremembered." I was referring specifically to a later incident in which Ms. Harding was accused by her then live-in boyfriend of assaulting him with a hubcap and "a left hook like Mike Tyson's."

I once had the displeasure of attempting to interview Ms. Harding at a car dealership in my coverage area where she was shilling for a local radio station and signing autographs. A couple-three people waiting for their brief audiences with her brought wheel covers. Their requests for her to sign those wheel covers were declined.

Ah, yes - I remember that story. That one is definitely true (there also seemed to be a fair level of evidence he rightly deserved it as well. ).

What people will and won't sign at appearances is interesting. The trend in both the West End and On Broadway in recent years has come to be 'show related material only' - a shame sometimes if you have something you'd love signed, but understandable if they are engaged to promote a particular product, or even just to stop the pros who turn up a the door without ever bothering to see the show, multiple, glossy 8 x 10s of the star in their biggest role, and everyone knows, whatever they pretend, they'll be on ebay or sold to a dealer in the morning. It's often grated on me that people like that can push their way to the front of a signing queue, even taking away the chance from a genuine fan. There's a squad of them in London have been at it for years, they're known on sight at all stage doors (and the Ivy!). People call them 'the vultures', and it is far from affectionate.

 

[Fading Fast]

You're giving me far too much credit. To be perfectly honest, it depends on the situation but I'd say it's more "stupidity" than "bravery". I just don't stop to think about what I'm getting myself into. As far as dentistry is concerned, I've had so many procedures done over the years--fillings, extractions, root canals, the aforementioned bone graft, etc.--that it just doesn't distress me any more.

My stupidity really let me down on at least one occasion. Back in the mid-80s I had to have surgery to correct my deviated septum. I walked in thinking it would be no big deal, but my first thought when they woke me up was "This was a BAD idea" because the packing in my sinuses (to keep the airways open) and the swelling caused one of the worst migraine headaches I've ever had, and despite the pain meds it lasted four days until my follow-up appointment to have that packing removed. As it turned out, getting hit in the face with a rock-hard unripened avocado when I was six years old didn't just cause a bloody nose, it also shattered some bones. And since that happened on the morning of my sister's first wedding, there was no trip to the doctor for little Zombie. Stop the bleeding, change the shirt (which was blood soaked), and send me back out to play. Fast forward to 20 years later, and I'm sitting in the doctor's office listening to him tell me the "deviated septum" procedure became far more involved than he had expected because of my badly broken nose. He had to use a drill bit to create new airways because, "The bones in your nose looked like a roller coaster. I'm surprised you could breathe through your nose at all." At least it finally explained all of my sinus problems.

Okay, this is kinda funny in how similar our stories are.

When I was about nine, I got hit hard in the face by a soccer ball. The next thing I remember was waking up in the coach's office lying on a kinda sofa. He said he had "popped" my nose into place and all was good. I was swollen and black and blue for several days, but that was it - like you, no doctor or follow up.

Then, in my late teens into my early twenties, I developed chronic sinusitis - regular infections in my upper-respiratory system, sore throats and brutal head (and face) pain. After ignoring it as long as I could, I not only went to a doctor, but over the course of the next several years, I saw many specialists and tried several treatments. Nothing worked at all and, five years later, I finally found myself in an ear-nose-and-throat surgeon's office.

An MRI later, he told me that not only was my septum severely damaged (my nose had always been "flatter" since its impromptu meeting with the soccer ball), but that my "turbinates" and some other small bones were misshapen and obstructing both my breathing and the normal draining of my sinuses. To fix it he would have to break and reset some of the bones while, for some other, he would use a "small" drill to "shave" them so as to open the obstructions up.

Waking up from that surgery was - as you noted - God awful. I was in insane pain that didn't settle down until day three. Owing to the extent of the surgery, he wanted to keep the packing in for two weeks (WTF). Anywho, when he pulled the packing out - it was like uncoiling a long rope of bandages - it felt like he was pulling my brains out through my nose - that was ridiculously painful.

Good news, the surgery was successful, I haven't had a sinus infection since and my nose looks better (no longer flat). I'd say our stories are quite similar.

 

[Hercule]

Speaking of blood pressure, I went to the doctor this morning. They used the weirdest thing I've seen yet to take it. A cuff around my wrist that I had to hold to my chest, smaller than a cell phone. Before I could ask the nurse what it was, she walked off. No conversation, this time. And when it's high I've always heard that's called "White Coat Syndrome."

I've experienced that cuff device once before long ago it seems, but never again. In my experience the nurses who come in before the doctor to take vitals seem to avoid conversation altogether. Probably out of fear that you'll ask them a question that they can't and probably shouldn't answer. Way way back when, I asked a nurse just what the BP numbers represent and she got really nervous and danced around the subject. I finally said "so you don't know?" She got all huffy and left.

I honestly believe there is such a thing as white coat syndrome. For years I was treated for high blood pressure to seemingly no effect when measured at the Dr.'s office, but when I took it at home it was well within acceptable range.

 

[LizzieMaine]

For me, the blood pressure goes up when I climb four flights of stairs to get to the doctor's office. He says "Your blood pressure's up" and I say "get an elevator."

Meanwhile, it turned out yesterday that I had holes in my left retina too. I was miffed that they didn't offer a two-for-one coupon deal.

 

[Edward]

My stupidity really let me down on at least one occasion. Back in the mid-80s I had to have surgery to correct my deviated septum. I walked in thinking it would be no big deal, but my first thought when they woke me up was "This was a BAD idea" because the packing in my sinuses (to keep the airways open) and the swelling caused one of the worst migraine headaches I've ever had, and despite the pain meds it lasted four days until my follow-up appointment to have that packing removed. As it turned out, getting hit in the face with a rock-hard unripened avocado when I was six years old didn't just cause a bloody nose, it also shattered some bones. And since that happened on the morning of my sister's first wedding, there was no trip to the doctor for little Zombie. Stop the bleeding, change the shirt (which was blood soaked), and send me back out to play. Fast forward to 20 years later, and I'm sitting in the doctor's office listening to him tell me the "deviated septum" procedure became far more involved than he had expected because of my badly broken nose. He had to use a drill bit to create new airways because, "The bones in your nose looked like a roller coaster. I'm surprised you could breathe through your nose at all." At least it finally explained all of my sinus problems.

Had to have my adenoids taken out when I was thirteen as that was when to was finally picked up that I had real breathing difficulties beyond just sensitivity to dairy - basically, I had almost no nostrils owing to overgrowth of flesh inside my nose. (It helped a bit, but sometimes I'm still a mouth-breather, and I have to be very careful with dairy.) The packing coming out was the worst - 24 hours after the op, but jinkies.... it was like that scene in Total Recall except if the bug in Arnie's head had been more of a snake than a ball....

 

[MisterCairo]

So trivial, yet it really ticks you off:

Traffic jams caused by rubber neckers slowing to look at an accident on the OTHER side of the highway...

 

[2jakes]

So trivial, yet it really ticks you off:

Traffic jams caused by rubber neckers slowing to look at an accident on the OTHER side of the highway...

I stay clear from these goobers because you never know...

 

[Formeruser012523]

I was miffed that they didn't offer a two-for-one coupon deal.

You might have a million dollar idea.

 

[Zombie_61]

Okay, this is kinda funny in how similar our stories are...

Ours are surprisingly similar, but I would imagine there are any number of similar stories out there about injuries that went undiagnosed for months, years, or even decades. A couple of years before my current lower back problems presented (maybe the initial onset; who knows?) I woke up one morning with such severe lower back pain that I could hardly move let alone get out of bed. At the local hospital later that day (yes, it was that severe) the attending ER doc took x-rays as part of the diagnostic process, and while reviewing them in front of me and my wife he casually said, "Well, other than that old break on your tail bone I don't see anything out of the ordinary." Uhh, excuse me??? What "old break"? It was news to me and I still have no idea when or how it happened, but it did explain why my coccyx ached occasionally when I sat too long on a not particularly comfortable chair or bench.

...An MRI later, he told me that not only was my septum severely damaged (my nose had always been "flatter" since its impromptu meeting with the soccer ball), but that my "turbinates" and some other small bones were misshapen and obstructing both my breathing and the normal draining of my sinuses...

About 15-20 years after my septum surgery I began having serious problems breathing through my nose and thought I might have to undergo the surgery again, but the doctor I saw for it determined turbinates were the cause this time. They warm and humidify the air we inhale, but can obstruct the nasal passages so he performed a "turbinate reduction" procedure that consisted of him using a device that superheats and essentially "vaporizes" some of those tissues. He clearly didn't use enough anesthetic, because it felt like he stuck a lit cigarette up each nostril.

...Anywho, when he pulled the packing out - it was like uncoiling a long rope of bandages - it felt like he was pulling my brains out through my nose - that was ridiculously painful...

Had to have my adenoids taken out when I was thirteen...The packing coming out was the worst - 24 hours after the op, but jinkies.... it was like that scene in Total Recall except if the bug in Arnie's head had been more of a snake than a ball....

That is a singularly unique sensation, isn't it? My surgeon placed a lubricated finger cot in each nostril before he inserted the gauze packing so the gauze wouldn't attach to the healing tissues but, yeah, it was like someone removing your brain through your nose as if they were unraveling a sweater.

 

[2jakes]

I still have embedded on my right hand palm a piece of
lead pencil #2 which was placed there in the second grade by
the cute blonde with the long pigtails.

Word of advice to you guys who are about to enter 2nd grade
elementary class:

"Do not pull on little blonde’s pigtails in an attempt to flirt or be funny because they don’t like it at all.”

 

[Edward]

That is a singularly unique sensation, isn't it? My surgeon placed a lubricated finger cot in each nostril before he inserted the gauze packing so the gauze wouldn't attach to the healing tissues but, yeah, it was like someone removing your brain through your nose as if they were unraveling a sweater.

Looking back, I have wondered if that's what it would have felt like to be mummified - part of the process there being the removal of the brain through the nose with long hooks (and then it was just thrown away, as the Ancient Egyptians believed the mind, along with the soul, to be located in the heart).

 

[Trenchfriend]

Aah, cash terminals!

For some time, our Sparkasse cash terminals got the nice option for splitting up your cash individual.

Yesterday, "my" terminal, which gives also 5 Euro-notes, was disabled and I got some money on the other. Today, it was enabled, again. But now, the terminals got a new, but unmodern looking software and the menu navigation is more complicated. Now, it takes longer to go through the steps and you have to look more exactly. And instead of the comfortable (and timesaving) choosing between some preset splitting-options, you have to set your wished splitting manually, now.
Wanting ten 5 Euro-notes, pressing ten times the 5 Euro-option in the splitting menu.

 

[GHT]

When I got my new hip the doc had to remove the 30 some year old pins that had been used to repair the original when I broke it. It was "old technology" and they no longer had the tools used for the pins. After a few minutes of thinking about how to get them out he used a pair of vise grips to turn them out far enough to get a cordless drill chuck on them to spin them the rest of the way out. According to him "it worked like a champ!" Either way, I was glad to have slept through it.

I slept through my hip replacement, probably passed out through trepidation. Someone that I know stayed conscious throughout the procedure, he told me that it was surreal hearing the saw that removed the ball joint. Glad I passed out, that would have freaked me out.
After the first day, I had to have an x-ray. They are now produced digitally, no need for the flimsy negative under a strong light. I asked the radiographer if she could let me have a copy. She asked me for my phone number and immediately downloaded it onto my phone.
You can see the screws that hold the cap in place, but the screws that hold the new ball joint are countersunk, the surgeon explained that in time, my body will produce calcium that will grow over the countersunk holes. Something that I thought of later, would the screws set off the alarm systems at an airport walk through scanner? It's why I have retained a copy of the x-ray on my phone, so that I can explain why the alarms a ringing. The thought of a strip search spooks me.