Tennesseer
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Posts: 63,355
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Post by Tennesseer on Sept 19, 2021 16:32:09 GMT -5
When I was five, I came down with a mild case of chicken pox. We were living in East Africa. My brother was two and a half.
One morning after I had started getting better and it had become obvious that I'd infected my brother, he would not get out of bed in the morning. He didn't even seem to hear us. We pulled back the sheet and saw pox had spread all over his chest. Then we peeled him off the bed. He'd been sleeping on a foam mattress covered by a rubber sheet and regular bedsheet, but the electricity might have gone out during the night. It was hot, and he stuck to the bottom sheet.
His back was completely covered by pox, there didn't seem to be any spaces between them and he was febrile even after being lifted. I'm pretty certain that either I screamed or my mom did.
I don't know what happened after that, or whether my dad was home. I don't know if she had to call someone and ask for help in getting him to a clinic, or whether he even went to a clinic. I was pretty much kept away from him for a while and all of the adults were worried.
I worried that he would get pox down his throat, since he still sucked his thumb and he was so small. I thought that he wouldn't be able to break. I also remember worrying that it was that other pox. (This wasn't as crazy as it sounds. Smallpox hadn't been eradicated yet and was characterized by the rapid emergence of pox and immobilization.) I've had plenty of experiences since then which should have scared me more, but that's the one that taught me not to show fear, because it makes things worse, so I don't react normally to things that should scare me.
Did your brother recover?
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haapai
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Character
Joined: Dec 20, 2010 20:40:06 GMT -5
Posts: 5,877
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Post by haapai on Sept 19, 2021 16:41:02 GMT -5
Oh yeah. He's turning fifty next month. And he doesn't remember a bit of it.
He had amazing scars on his back for at least a decade. They didn't seem to bother him much as a kid living in the third world, but he became shockingly modest when he returned to the states. I'm not sure when I last saw him shirtless, so I don't know if they are still there. He's always been very fit, even on the skinny side, so that's not why he keeps his shirt on.
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toomuchreality
Senior Associate
Joined: Sept 3, 2011 10:28:25 GMT -5
Posts: 15,557
Favorite Drink: Sometimes I drink water... just to surprise my liver!
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Post by toomuchreality on Sept 19, 2021 16:52:54 GMT -5
I believe I have "liked" everyone's stories. Not because I liked them, but because I can appreciate what each of you went through. I'm sorry. Big hugs ♡
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thyme4change
Community Leader
Joined: Dec 26, 2010 13:54:08 GMT -5
Posts: 40,372
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Post by thyme4change on Sept 19, 2021 16:56:02 GMT -5
These are all scary - but have you ever slid across a freshly waxed floor in socks, while holding the last glass of wine in the house?
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Tennesseer
Member Emeritus
Joined: Dec 20, 2010 21:58:42 GMT -5
Posts: 63,355
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Post by Tennesseer on Sept 19, 2021 17:00:41 GMT -5
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toomuchreality
Senior Associate
Joined: Sept 3, 2011 10:28:25 GMT -5
Posts: 15,557
Favorite Drink: Sometimes I drink water... just to surprise my liver!
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Post by toomuchreality on Sept 19, 2021 17:21:20 GMT -5
When I was 5 or 6, my best friend and I were waiting to cross a very busy street. There was no cross walk, so we were on a corner. There was a slight break in traffic, he yelled "Run!" and took about 3 steps before a car behind us turned the corner and hit/killed him. I remember screaming his name. Then it seemed like a million adults and policemen asked me, "What did you do?". And all I could think was, I didn't do anything, he was hit by a car!
No one told me he had died. So after waiting all summer for him to get better, I went to his house to see if he could play. I insisted on looking for him, when his grandma said they couldn't find him; he wasn't there. I felt so bad, when he really wasn't there.
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toomuchreality
Senior Associate
Joined: Sept 3, 2011 10:28:25 GMT -5
Posts: 15,557
Favorite Drink: Sometimes I drink water... just to surprise my liver!
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Post by toomuchreality on Sept 19, 2021 17:22:30 GMT -5
These are all scary - but have you ever slid across a freshly waxed floor in socks, while holding the last glass of wine in the house? Ok. You win !
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NoNamePerson
Distinguished Associate
Is There Anybody OUT There?
Joined: Dec 17, 2010 17:03:17 GMT -5
Posts: 25,660
Location: WITNESS PROTECTION
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Post by NoNamePerson on Sept 19, 2021 17:58:25 GMT -5
My total fear came in the aftermath of DH#1 sudden death. I came home from work and found him on the kitchen floor. He had died several hours earlier of sudden heart attack. It took a lot of time for the pain/panic/fear to subside. I have a friend who had the same thing happen. She said it was months before she could feel comfortable coming home from work. She had gone in side door when she found him. She said for months she would go in the front door.
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Artemis Windsong
Senior Associate
The love in me salutes the love in you. M. Williamson
Joined: Dec 18, 2010 19:32:12 GMT -5
Posts: 12,309
Today's Mood: Twinkling
Location: Wishing Star
Favorite Drink: Fresh, clean cold bottled water.
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Post by Artemis Windsong on Sept 20, 2021 8:35:33 GMT -5
This should have been horrible for 8 year old girls. We were walking home from getting ice cream. We had to walk nearly 2 miles downtown and back to get it. We would cut through alleys. We started through one and there was a man laying in the middle of the alley. One girl went to a close office building to call the police. They arrived and told us they had everything under control. Not a passed out drunk. The man was dead.
None of us were afraid. The policeman took care of everything which eased our minds.
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NomoreDramaQ1015
Community Leader
Joined: Dec 20, 2010 14:26:32 GMT -5
Posts: 47,197
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Post by NomoreDramaQ1015 on Sept 20, 2021 9:13:38 GMT -5
When DH had a seizure at work because he was abusing pain pills and combined that with Prozac.
I almost didn't answer the phone because I didn't recognize the number. It was his boss.
He woke up when the ambulance arrived so I was able to request they come to my work.
I will say I have an awesome support network. My boss and coworkers told me just go. I had my dad authorized to get Gwen in minutes.
And a lovely lady helped me find the ER entrance. They had everything tore up so I couldn't get there the way I knew. I was freaking out on the phone to my dad. She heard me and stopped to help.
That was three years ago. To this day I have a mini panic attack if I see DHs work number pop up on my phone.
I've never forgiven him for it. I've worked past it but some things just can't be forgiven.
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taz157
Senior Associate
Joined: Dec 20, 2010 20:50:06 GMT -5
Posts: 12,826
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Post by taz157 on Sept 20, 2021 10:10:57 GMT -5
When DH was hospitalized with congestive heart failure. We weren’t sure if he was coming home.
Spoiler alert-He did come home and we now have a 10 year old DD (she was 2.5 at the time) and an almost 6 week old DD.
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azucena
Junior Associate
Joined: Jan 17, 2011 13:23:14 GMT -5
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Post by azucena on Sept 20, 2021 16:58:46 GMT -5
Walking into my dad's hospital room prepared to get discharge papers after 12 days recovering from surgery to remove extensive colon cancer. Watching him throw up blood and telling me that he had the flu and had been sick all night. I knew instantly that he was bleeding internally and the night shift had missed it. I went straight out to the nurse's desk and yelled for help. They took him to x-ray, wouldn't let me go too, and 5 mins later called a code in x-ray. I knew it was him and nurse on the floor lied to me and said couldn't be. Then x-ray paged charge nurse on the floor and I knew I was right. Two other nurses continued to lie to me. Spent the rest of the day calling family and slipping in and out of icu where he was on a ventilator and made them understand he was DNR signed in that hospital the week before surgery. So many, many medical mistakes were made that day. Makes me want to vomit thinking about it.
Close second was seeing DH on a ventilator for 3 days post-emergency bowel resection. I could barely enter the room. PTSD is horrible.
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Artemis Windsong
Senior Associate
The love in me salutes the love in you. M. Williamson
Joined: Dec 18, 2010 19:32:12 GMT -5
Posts: 12,309
Today's Mood: Twinkling
Location: Wishing Star
Favorite Drink: Fresh, clean cold bottled water.
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Post by Artemis Windsong on Sept 20, 2021 17:03:40 GMT -5
azucena
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