seven days, seven needles and no tweets

To say the last seven days have been rough is an understatement but here it goes. If you have no clue to what I’m talking about then carry on with your digital life and have a great 2011. For the rest of you here’s my story.

Last Tuesday evening I was sitting at the dinner table around 8:30 P.M. and got an idea for a sarcastic blog post called “21 ways how to become a social media ninja rock star in 2011″ … Don’t ask. Maybe it wasn’t meant for me to publish that post last week as I was about 80% finished when I started to have a major headache and nausea feeling. I got up from the table and laid down on the floor. I told LaToya (wife) my head was hurting and I wasn’t feeling well. A few minutes later, I pulled myself up to the bathroom and vomiting twice then laid back down. My head was still hurting and now it hurting to even move my head left or right. I was in serious pain.

LaToya called our parents, then 911. A few minutes later the ambulance arrived asking me a lot of questions and taking my blood pressure while checking my other vitals. Not sure what the problem being they put me in the ambulance taking me to Wake Medical Hospital. What happens over the next few hours is a lot of waiting, sitting in pain and failed attempts to get an IV in my veins. The first IV attempt was in the ambulance before arriving to the hospital. After arriving at Wake Med. they checked my blood pressure and I guess assumed since I’m not dying no time soon to wait in the emergency waiting area. While waiting they asked LaToya some questions and have me sit in wheel chair for a few hours. By that time my mom and older sister arrived.

I’m not sure how long I waited but I was still in pain, cold, head hurting then I started to have a hot flashes or something. I was sweating and felt like I was about to pass out. LaToya rolled me to the back and then ER admitted me. Then came second and third attempt to stick an IV in my arm so I can get some fluids. After I was in ER they like myself was trying to figure out why my head was hurting and what caused the stomach pains. Still they needed to connect me to an IV. Another nurse came in the room and tried to give me an IV again. This was IV attempt number four. By that time they realized that my blood pressure was low and I was severely dehydrated therefore making it hard to stick a needle in my veins.

A few minutes later, what seemed like a super nurse came in the room and she found a vein in my right wrist on attempt number five. They started pumping 3 packs of fluids in my veins. Next came a series of test over the next 12 hours in the hospital. I got a cat scan and an X-Ray on my stomach. Both came back negative but my head was still hurting. Around that time I think it was 7:00 or 8:00 A.M. Wednesday morning and my mom had her EVO and iPad so I asked here if I could send an email to the Designbox team and BJ Emerson that I was in the hostipal and would have to reschedule the luncheon. Hey, the IV along with some other medicines they were giving me through the IV was kicking in.

What happens next is where I think things went from bad to worse. The Dr. came in the room and asked me if I wanted a “Spinal Tap” procedure to see if there was any bleeding around the brain that could be causing the headaches. She said the only side affect was a possible infection in my back. I looked at LaToya and my mom and asked them what do they think, both said. we’ll it’s better to know for sure and so I signed some kind of paper and the spinal tap procedure begin. The Dr. came back in the room and numbed my back with another needle, this is number six. Then stuck another needle in my back withdraw some fluids, this is number seven.

After the spinal tap procedure, the Dr. came in the room and said the results were negative, meaning there was no blood around the brain. Yeah! But now my back is sore. I slept for a few hours and soon another nurse came in the room asking for some urine samples. Great, I’m hooked to about 20 cables, an IV, just had a needle stuck in my back and now you want me to pee in a bottle. After a few attempts, the urine sample is completed. For the record, I don’t do drugs, never have and never will.

I think its around 11:00 A.M. Wednesday morning and a new Dr. comes in the room asking me how do I feel. I said better but still with a little headache. He said the previous Dr. did a full court pass or crazy sports analogy meaning the other Dr. went all out to see what was wrong with me but maybe too much. That’s good and bad, regardless I’m grateful to the great staff at Wake Med. I’m thinking he’s talking about the spinal tap procedure. He asked if I feel good enough to go home or should they admit me to the hospital. I said I think I feel well enough to go home and after a few more hours and a prescription for dizziness and my stomach LaToya drives me home.

When I get home I instagram the photo at the top of this post that went to Twitter, Facebook, and flickr. From there I sleep most of the next 48 hours on the couch. That’s December 23- 24. Great, it’s Christmas Eve and I’m stuck on the couch. Not only am I stuck on a couch, I’m still hurting but not the same as before I went to the hospital. My back hurts and I’m still having headaches, feeling very weak and dizzy. I can hardly walk and starting to get frustrated to why I’m not getting better. Christmas Day arrives and I think LaToya is ready to get out of the house. She drives the both of us to her parents which is about one hour away. I’m on the passenger side sleep feeling like a sick bum. While at her parents I’m mostly laying on the couch, feeling dizzy. I tried to enjoy a Christmas dinner but I can’t finish it and return to the couch. I watch LaToya and her sister play Michael Jackson on the Nintendo Wii and a little NBA on TV. The reports of #snOMG for NC are coming in and we decided to hurry up and drive back to Raleigh. I’m back on the couch, the Lakers lose and I’m still in pain. Christmas day sucks.

It’s Sunday, December 26, snowed in and now I’m mad with a sore back, still feeling dizzy and having headaches. I talk to my mom and she said it’s the spinal tap procedure that causing it. I’m mostly laying down because that’s about the only time when my head and back is not hurting. The iPad is great for bed restricted people and I google “spinal tap headaches” . The first result is a “Headaches as a Side Effect of Lumbar Puncture – Spinal Tap Headaches”. Now I’m really upset and getting worried. I’m reading the medical sites and some say that headaches, along with depression can be a side affect of the spinal tap procedure. Now I know the good Dr. at Wake Med was doing the right thing but if she would have told me the side affect was more headaches and not just a possible infection there’s no way I would have agreed to the spinal tap procedure.

Now with a sore back and headaches sleep and lying flat are the only things that stops the pain. It’s Monday, December 28, I’m calling the hospital and Dr. offices about making an appointment but it’s 20 degrees outside and #snOMG has just passed. I Google “spinal tap headache treatment” and LaToya is watching Dr. Oz. who ironically is talking about migraine headaches. He mentions something about caffeine can help headaches and from a previous conversation I thought we didn’t have any coffee in the house. I don’t drink sodas and LaToya is pregnant so if there’s no coffee there’s no caffeine. This from the guy who drinks like 4 cups a day when he’s at the office. Terrible! During the Dr. Oz show LaToya said she saw some old coffee in the kitchen cabinet and I’m like caffeine! Maybe this will work. Problem, we don’t have any coffee filters. I use two paper towels and thus begin to drink 8 cups of coffee in about 4 hours.

It’s now about 8:00 P.M. December 27, my headache is going away. Yeah! I still have sore back and can’t do much that gets me excited or that will cause me to strain. Over the past few days, I received a few text messages from friends checking on my. Thank you. It means a lot. I see the facebook comments too. Thanks! I feel as thought I’m about 70% back to normal but going to take it slow over the next few days to make sure all is well. As for what caused the original headache, nobody knows but I think it was a mix of a virus/bug, dehydration and stress. Not good, not good at all.

So after seven days, seven needles and no tweets this is my story. I hope you had a better Christmas than I did and remember to take care of you health and value your family and friends. I’ll be spending the next few days catching up on emails, projects and still recovering from this nightmare.