I am doing, let me start, quite well right now, aside from having one of those sudden insidious infections that come out of NOWHERE. But the antibiotics are obviously doing their work and not killing me in the process, so hooray for that.
When I returned home from the hospital that time, I was still very unwell. I've mentioned before how I had an extremely low white blood count and that hematologists in the nearest city were "extremely concerned" and that they suspected I had leukemia and appointments were made - as soon as I was well enough to travel - to confirm this. (and whenever I'm telling one of my brothers a story like this, he freaks out and demands to know the punchline, if everything worked out okay. I was fine and didn't have cancer.) In the meantime, I was put on EXTREMELY strong antibiotics, and almost immediately, I began having vision problems, in that I was barely able to see and the room was spinning wildly and I would have waves of utter DARKNESS that erased everything, this whole dark world.
I mentioned this to my mom, who was watching The Baby while I recovered and she freaked out and insisted that I call an ambulance. The ambulance attendants were a middle aged man and a very pretty young woman, like an Ojibwe supermodel. "Look at her eyes!" the man said, and they both freaked out and hustled me off. (I never knew what they saw in my eyes, but it must have been pretty exciting.) And my husband - who was rushing home, since I'd phoned him first - has asked never to return home again to his wife being removed in an ambulance, thank you.
So anyhoo. I was taken off the MegaBlindnessBiotic and my vision returned to normal once it was out of my system, the end. I was really, REALLY unwell for ages afterwards, and everyone I knew kind of treated me like I was a delicate porcelain mouse, which was much more annoying than I always thought it would be. When I was a kid, I read lots of books of imperious Victorian invalids and I always thought "THERE is the life for me!" but it turns out - not so much. Kind of annoying, actually.
This time? Nothing too dramatic. My stomach feels kind of bleh, but it's manageable - and now I feel a grim satisfaction that I DIDN'T go to BlogHer, because I was getting rather sick all weekend and then I would have looked really GHASTLY in any pictures. Priorities!
Wednesday, July 23, 2008
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48 comments:
I am glad you are not dead or blind. As for missing BlogHer - they also blog who only stand and wait.
It's good to hear you didn't have to take note of "death" as a side effect to these antibiotics. I cannot imagine your husband requesting to be involved in that medical survey either!! It'd be awfully hard to call him and share THAT kinda news, huh? [Apologies to all people reading here to whom this has happened - in the secondhand sense of course - it just struck me as funny. :) ]
Priorities indeed!! :-)
Glad these antibiotics are working and not blinding you.
That sounds really very scary. I DO wish you had gone to BlogHer because I have a feeling you woudl have looked wonderful to me...
I am glad you are getting better, and not dying or going blind. What a relief!
So glad you are okay and getting better. Also you and Veronica are making me laugh with your Milton references!
It's good to know that being a Victorian-style invalid is not as enjoyable as it seems. Some days I fantasize about that. Maybe if we had servants it would be good?
I'm glad you're feeling better and only suffering a mildly upset tummy.
There's always next year for BlogHer right?
Oh Beck. Thank you for linking back to that post. I had never read it before. I am just bawling here. How completely terrifying. I just can't imagine.
So glad you are doing well and that you haven't gone blind again. ;)
Glad you are on the mend, minus all the rest. You know we sometimes just don't realize the kinds of reactions you can get from seemingly standard prescriptions. My Mom once got violently sick from antibiotics and it took her days to recover.
Glad you are getting better. You crack me up. So anyhoo!
You are mighty funny for a porcelain invalid.
Hope you feel better real soon.
"When I was a kid, I read lots of books of imperious Victorian invalids and I always thought "THERE is the life for me!" but it turns out - not so much. Kind of annoying, actually."
Perfectly put and hilarious. My new favorite Beck quote.
to life!
Not glad that you're sick, but mighty glad that you're not THAT sick again.
Don't know what they had you on, but doxycycline is notorious for causing vision damage. My sister had to be on it for skin grafts (from an accident), and some of the damage became permanent. Your mother made the smart call.
Robbin, I believe it actually WAS doxycycline. It's marked down as a Do Not Use on my file now, which is nice to know.
FEEL BETTER beck, I'm so sorry about the antibiotic thing.
I'm so afraid of going blind. How completely freaky. I'm glad it went away.
I'm so jealous of the BlogHer people that I can't make myself read their blogs until I know it's out of their systems.
I hear you on the not going to blogher. I was SICK AS A DAWG, this weekend. Which made not going much more enjoyable....
I almost went blind from the birth control pill! And, I'm allergic to an antibiotic.... It gives me anxiety attacks! I stay away from those things like the plague.... But, I'm so glad you found some that are good for you!
That is one seriously scary story, Beck. I am a bit disappointed to learn Victorian invalids didn't have it made though.
I'm glad to hear you're not having any reactions this time! Hope you feel better soon!
I have Never heard of that! i hope you are all better soon.
Wow. Glad you're OK and the antibiotics are doing their job without such freaky side effects. I, too, used to want to be a Victorian invalid, but a nice, sweet one who never complained (and yet who never had to lift a finger to feed the dog or wash the dishes or clean her room). My experiences with invalid-hood were less dramatic than yours, but still enough to show me that it felt kind of exciting and nice for maybe a day before it got annoying.
Dude, beck. take care of yourself!!
Please be checked for Ovarian Cancer. I spent a couple of years being anemic and never finding out why after every test. Then was feeling great for the last year and a half until I was hit with stomach pains. A CT Scan showed a pelvic mass. Because I didn't wait it was caught in Stage I and cure rate is good. Most wait until it is too late.
Don't chance it, better safe than sorry.
Being temporarily blind for any reason is scary as can be. Migraines do it to me. I'm not surprised your mom insisted on an ambulance - she was probably scared out of her wits.
Glad all you're dealing with this time around is an upset stomach.
HA! Veronica's comment is cracking me up.
I always thought being a Victorian invalid would be fun, but I've found in real life, I absolutely hate being sick, except once in a while I don't mind a mild cold as an excuse to spend a day in bed with a good book. ;)
SOOO glad you're feeling better and that the kidney infection (how did I miss that post at the time? I always read you) was solved.
Sheesh!! Take care of you, ok?
I agree, being a porcelain invalid is not all it's cracked up to be! Feel better!
I could enjoy being a porcelain invalid for a LITTLE while- say, a week or two, and then I'd be ready for normal life to resume.
Glad you're doing better!
ah, but if you were sick at blogher you would have been very well cared for. soup and massages and the like..:)
I think the only good thing about being an imperious invalid is that people tned to overlook crankiness as natural when you are confined. Otherwise? Yeah, I find that kind of treatment pretty annoying, too. When I'm really not feeling well, I jsut want to be left alone, which is also why I totally don't get why Misterpie wants sympathy and pampering. I suck at that.
But ! To the point, kittenpie! So glad it seems you may avoid crazy reactions and instead get better, not worse.
you would have been in good company. lots of sickies at blogher~ :)
I'd say your priorities are perfect! Picture perfect. Ugh. How lame am I, really?
Glad to hear that you're not blind again. That's a plus. :)
I'm glad you aren't dead or blind.
I wish you had been at BlogHer, ghastly looking or not.
Oh girl, life is so full of ups and downs, but I got the feeling that your ups are really ups and your downs are truly scary!
*hugs*
I guess that antibiotic was really too strong to have caused such a big reaction....you must be really troubled then...
hope you get better soon...I'm having tummy discomfort too...but I guess after reading yours, I'm feeling much better, thanks...
*hugs*
Oh. My. God. I insist on acidopholous when I or a loved one takes antibiotics. Don't know that it'll do much for BLINDNESS!
Huh, I always thought the Victorian invalid life sounded rather romantic. Not so much, I'm guessing?
Glad you're ok.
Well, I knew since you had actually written the post that ou must be okay, but still... Glad you are okay. If I ever have to go in an ambulance, I home my EMT looks like Val Kilmer.
I was regretting my decision to skip BlogHer and feeling all poor me reading about everyone's fun, but then I got really sick and felt better. About not going.
Oo-er. What a yuck thing to happen (excuse the lack of more adult adjectives). I'm glad nothing is drastically wrong in the end.
That is a cool thing to be able to say:
"once I went blind." And man, I'd love to know what your eyes looked like - what did they see?
Once again, good anecdote, bad reality. :)
Hope you are very well very soon. Summer is no time to be sick! It's like adding insult to injury...
Good lord...I am glad that they figured out what was wrong. Feel better :)
Yeah - some of those antibiotics can have some really nasty effects. Last time Mr Babbler took an antibiotic he had a reaction that, amongst other things, turned him Barney purple. Later they told us it was an effect that could have caused massive amounts of skin death. Ni-ice!
Glad to hear your on the mend, and I'm in complete agreement with your priorities.
A "delicate porcelain mouse" hey? Whatever happened to being a "delicate...snowflake"? :) Glad you're doing okay.
eeps feel better, darn it!
I'm glad you're on the mend. If you did come to BlogHer, and were feeling porcelain, I would have carred you around on my back or something. Because you being there? Would have been awesome.
Glad you're not blind or dead. Would be kinda hard to play with your Wii. (Read your next post first.) Be awfully hard to eat your tasty cookies and muffins and whatever else you're cooking up in your kitchen, too, if you were dead that is. See? It's all about me, I guess.
antibiotics are this weird double edged sword.
I did not know that you has such an extreme side affect. How terrifying!
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