What a week!

On Tuesday morning, I was sitting in my office when I looked down and noticed that my left foot was swollen. I didn't remember doing anything to injure it. It just looked big and puffy. I already had a doctor's appointment scheduled for Tuesday evening, so I decided to wait and have the doc check it out.

Well, after he examined my foot, the doc proceeded to yell at me for waiting. I was taken to the hospital and have been here ever since. I am confined to bed and not allowed to do much of anything. The reason, I have a blood clot in my leg. They have put me on blood thinners and are waiting for the clot to clear.

When I first got to the hospital, I asked the nurse about Internet access. At that time, I was told that the only thing I could do was use the phone line for dial-up access. I said "No thanks" and have read three books over the last few days. Today, I was moved to another room. My new roomie proceeds to tell me that the hospital has free Wi-Fi access.

I called my wife and had her bring over my laptop. I'm sitting here in bed, surfing the 914club site and listening to XM over the Internet. Thankfully, I discovered the Wi-Fi. I was getting ready to die from boredom. I missed you guys.

Hopefully, I'll be out of here in the next couple of days.

get well buddy!

Damn, nothing to mess around with. Hope you get better soon.

Wow. Get well soon man!

Uh - I'm going to do this before someone else does - apologies in advance :

You can listen to XM radio over the internet? Does ya needs a subscription or is it free?


Oh, yeah...hope ya gets well and we don't have to call ya "Stumpy"...

That, you don't want to see. Right now, I must look like a guy bugging you for change outside the bus terminal. Because of the blood thinners, I'm not allowed to shave.

I also told my wife that when I get home I'm not allowed to do the dishes for rear of cutting myself on something in the sink. Now, I just need a good excuse for not helping with the housecleaning.

I have a subscription that allows me to login and listen. You can sign up for a three day free trial. I did this for over a month before actually getting a subscription. Here's the link
http://xmro.xmradio.com/xstream/api/show_trial_form.jsp

We learned from that you need to go to the hospital when you get metal shards in your eye. Now you are telling us to go when we have a swollen foot. Sheeese. At this rate members around here could end up spending as much time on jackstands as their teeners.

Sounds like Deep Vein Thrombosis. Possible nasty stuff. If you sit for extended periods of time, in my case Anchorage to Hong Kong (11+hours), or sit at a desk all day, You need to stop, get up and walk for a minute or flex the muscles in your legs while sitting there. Tighten the muscles in your feet, then your calves, then thighs, then your butt. Gets the blood flowing up instead of pooling in lower extremities. Get well soon.
Elliot

Good luck, Paul,


John

I am glad that you are not worse off. I just did a block on this. First you get a plug in your leg (thrombosis), then it breaks off and lodges in your lungs usually (embolism) which leads to starvation and death of your tissues and asphyxiation (due to ischemia).

Swollen foot for no reason = ER!

I feel you on the no internet thing. Hospitals can realy suck and be boring. Get well soon and don't cut yourself.

Hey Paul, take it easy and get well soon. At least you have the club's virtual jackstands at your beck and call! (SOT: I lost a cat to what Dr.Mike described )

Sorry about your swollen leg deal it sounds scary after Dr. Evil went into detail. I experience swollen head syndrome which plugs my ears to any sound advise others tell me. This leads to disaster and those five steps to recovery. Do I need to see a doctor?

Hello panacia.

Hope you get well soon!

Thanks everyone.

The swelling in my leg has gone down considerably. It almost looks normal at this point.

Dr. Evil and Elliot are right. I have DVT.

The big concern is not regrding the swelling in my leg. There is the possibility of the clot moving to my lungs. If it were to move, it would be a very big deal and I'm told is often fatal.

Now, a big warning to everyone. DVT has become a big issue in the IT world. I often have had sessions where I have sat at my desk working on something for hours on end. Apparently, that's how I got hit with this.

So, get up and walk around every now and then when you are surfing the 914Club.

When they make the hospital bill, Paul, you will find the Wi-Fi was not without cost.

John

Thanks John. You're probably right. However, I really don't care at this point. Even if it is $50 a day out of my pocket, it is well worth it. I'm stuck in bed, not even allowed to get up to pee. Any diversion is welcomed.

Know what ya mean, I had a little scratch on my leg in February that started turning my lower leg blotchy on a Moday morning and went into a After hours care place on the way to the office. They sent me to a local hospital where I didn't get out until Friday night. My wife and I spent the next week giving me IV's 4 times a day. After that I went on oral meds for a couple weeks. Flesh eating strep and staff are not infections you'd want any more than a blood clot. I had to steal a dial-up connection at the hospital so I could go surfing. Hospital stays can be so boring!! I'll be more diligent next time I scratch myself on something.