Well, sorry I disappeared again. I spent the better part of last week in the hospital due to dizzyness, nausea, and shortness of breath ( I call that fully breathing but feeling like you are suffocating).
I got a full work over, they were concerned that I had developed a lung clott (pulmonary embolizim) which I am a high likelyhood candidate due to all the proceedures that were done on me.
I ended up taking an ambulance ride to the emergency room , spent the night in the ER (that means no sleep), then the next day at 5pm they transfered me to a real room all the time they were taking blood, xrays, ct scans of varying types (3 different ways) over the next three days. The great news is that all the tests were negative. I got home Thursday evening, splept through the night, and proceeded to vomit my guts out Friday morning, then spending the rest of the day in bed in full exhaustion and extreme dehydration. Saturday was awful in that I had this strong "odor or taste" that I could sense only through my mouth, no one else could smell it. Spent that day in bed as well. That night I had what my nurse called hallucinations, extremely vivid horror nightmares. They seemed real. One hallucination I had was that I thought someone was kneeling on my chest and holding my arms down, I could not breath or scream for help. I woke up to find myself in that position but no one there. The other dreams involved home break-in and rotting meat, I wont go into details other than I woke up from them in shear fright. Bad news.
They currently think that my Oxycontin prescription was too strong and causing these sensations and bad hallucinations. We cut down the dosage yesterday and I almost feel human again.
Damn, I miss being online and carving up the countryside in my S. I hope this episode is one of my last, my chest is healing very well and I can finally sleep on my side, but most of my pain is coming from the pelvic fracture that has developed. I cannot use a cane anymore and have to go with a walker. It does not fit in the trunk, and barely fits in the passenger seat area. This has limited my ability to get around and do things for myself again but hey I guess it is good that I am still breathing.

 

Sorry to hear, Bob.

I know meds can do some weird things to people. My father was totally off the wall once due to meds.

Hang in there. Any idea how long the pelvic fracture will take to heal?

 

Damn, that has to be a frightening experience. Now that the meds are straightened out, things should be lots better. Hang tough.

 

The fracture should take 6 to 8 weeks to heal, we are just not sure how much it has healed already. I guess, they are waiting for me to say that I no longer have any pain. I will have to be careful for the rest of my life as it will be fragile.
My physical therapist has recommended Outpatient pool therapy for me, and my doctor is going to approve it. This will help be get the cardio exercise I need to have that I am not getting due to my inability to walk, hopefully that will take place in the next couple of weeks.
I know I am going to regret saying this, but I miss going to work everyday. Having been out since November, I have contracted a serious case of cabin fever and almost nothing seems to get me going, boy am I bored.

 

Hang in there Bob, our thoughts and prayers are with you.

 

Sorry, Snake. I hope these issues soon become only a memory for you and that you'll heal and be yourself again.

 

Snakes, I think I understand the effects of the drugs and the cabin fever. This time last year I began, what tuned out to be, three months in bed and lots of those pain killers. There is life after it all and this vintage group certainly added a great deal to our year in 2006. See if you can help with planning the road trip to California. You may not be able to go but the planning would relieve the boredom and who knows by September you may be able to take the trip.

 

Oxycontin and other drugs in that family are serious hallucination producers. My dad started hallucinating during a hospital stay last summer - in the ER 30 minutes after he got a dose. They had to take him off the drugs altogether. It was very, very bad. He was awake pretty much the whole three days and seeing all kinds of things. Nights were the worst. The +1 stayed with him at night and he kept him up talking the whole time. And talking to me during the day. It was constant. So I know how much of a downer you went through. I'm glad they cut down on your dosage and you are better. Get well soon so you can get back to work and having fun!