Though I do my best to avoid it, when I get a toothache now, I know exactly what to do. (Yes, I should have started brushing more and flossing when I was younger, but I think my tooth problems are also partly genetic.)
So, there’s some lousy situation in life where you know exactly what to do, because to your great regret you’ve been through it before. What is it?
Not that I’ve learned to handle either well, but both: been through it before, and have to go through it again. You can’t backslide on either. Damn it.
Heart attacks. Myocardial infarctions, to be specific. I’m good at recognizing one and calling for help. When I call 911, I make sure the porch light’s on (for me, it almost always happens at night), the door’s unlocked, and the kitchen light’s on. I have a note with a list of medications, my cardiologist’s name/number, and remarks about prior events which might be helpful. The EMT’s have actually remarked about my calm and preparedness on the last few runs. The last time, the EMT thought I seemed more *annoyed *than anything else - I admit when the pain set in, my first thought was, “Shit, again!?” Oh, well. The cardiologist says that I can’t really avoid it, and that eating right and exercising makes them farther apart and gives me a better chance of survival. I’m in pretty good shape, for the shape I’m in.
My sympathies. You beat me to the post. I’m 38 and had a heart attack just before Christmas last year, followed by an angioplasty and the fitting of two stents. Always thought I was in pretty good condition. I’ve absorbed so much literature recently on heart health etc that I now get paranoid at the slightest twinge.
I’ve not had a recurrence though, hopefully if it happens I will be able to recognize it in time. 3acresandatruck it sounds like you have recurring attacks, is this the case?
Working as a 911 dispatcher for 3 years and hearing people tell you what they want their family to know. Their last words. I have come immune to the tragic consquencese of suicide. Just death in general. Hearing someone really upset over finding a love one pass on, doesn’t effect me and since moving on and working else where… it still doesn’t do anything to me.
I just consider it a fact of life. It sucks because it is something that should be upsetting, but to me it isn’t.
It was only through bitter experience that I learned the advice I bring up on the boards regularly: Don’t mess with the zit until it is ready, or a little past ready, to be messed with. You’ll only make it worse.
Being a grownup with grownup responsibilities. It really hits home when I have to explain to my kids that they will have to do stuff they don’t want to do pretty much every day for the rest of their lives.
Staph infections. My advice to you all is whenever you have broken your skin in any way and for any reason, even if it is just a scratch, rub alcohol on the wound and treat it with antiseptic. Especially if you have scratched yourself with your fingernails. Don’t pop pimples or scratch mosquito bites, and if you have to drain a blister, sterilize that needle before it comes in contact with your skin. This has been a public service announcement.
