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hedgiewanSo.
I had a Day, yesterday.
It started out fairly normally, with me dragging my ass out of bed and to work, body screeching at me all the way that it's way too cold to go out there! how is it that light out, it still feels like 6am! You know, the usual. Possibly exacerbated by the fact that I'd been up a little late studying for my Biochem exam. A little bit of the recalcitrance may have come from that, too.
I make it to work, and start working on the statistics for my meeting with my PI at 2. My PC doesn't have a stats package on it, so I've got my computer screen angled to the right, and I'm sitting at the mac on the right to do my stats. Around 11:30, I finish a set, turn to the left to adjust the view of my data screen, and whack the inside of my right knee on the file drawers that make up the computer-bench.
I felt it move, a little crunching noise, but it really didn't hurt that much. For a couple seconds. Then it was a 10, and it wasn't going away. I clutched my knee and may have been swearing a bit, but was trying not to make a big deal about it.
Then I woke up, twitching and moaning, on the floor of the lab. Victoria was shouting my name and had one hand on the phone to call 911.
Now, I'll pause a moment to ask if any of you, dear readers, have experienced a vagal response like that? I know![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
mairi2 has. Intense pain, followed by a rapid drop in blood pressure? I know a little about it, because we've been working with the nerve responsible for the last few months. Basically, your body is totally freaking out over something, all your nerves are firing at once, and your brain does the brain version of the giant "SHUT UP!" When that happens, your heart rate plummets, your vessels dialate, causing your blood pressure to drop. The problem is, if your brain shouts too loudly (or your blood volume is low), your body will overreact and your brain doesn't get any blood, and you pass out.
So I guess I was lucky that I'd already been sitting down, but I didn't get enough warning to put my head between my knees- I just keeled right out of my chair, landing on the tile floor without anything to break my fall.
On top of the bruised knee, I know have another bruised knee, huge, deep bruise on my hand, and a goose egg along the left side of my forehead and cheekbone. I could tell I hadn't broken anything, and could've checked whether I had a concussion, but since I was at work when it happened, I had to go get it checked out by the doctor. Awesome.
So I spent the next THREE HOURS at the doctor's. Not because they were being thorough, but because they were running late. At this point, all I wanted was a restroom, lunch, and some ibuprofen. I got the restroom and the ibuprofen, but the lunch had to wait another hour and a half until I did some time-sensitive work on an experiment. Then I got lunch! At 4pm. Well, at least I wouldn't be hungry for my biochem exam. Oh, yeah, that.
I'd really been hoping to at least check my answers to the 2006 practice exam before I went into the test, but went straight from the pharmacy to the bus to St. Paul. I *think* I kicked ass on the exam. It only took about 50 minutes, and I was finishing right as a small cohort of people were also finishing, which is promising.
Here, the day gets much better... Mom&Dad picked me up at the St. Paul campus on their way to Clann Tartan dance night in Roseville, so I danced a little (my knee, after all that, is totally fine. the only one with a bruise is the one I *fell* on). Then I shanghai'd them into going to the Dubliner with me, where The Langer's Ball was playing, and we had guinness and black bush, which is better than vicoden any day.
Today, of course, I feel like I've been kicked in the head by a horse. Thank goodness for ibuprofen.
What an absurd day.
the hedge abides.
I had a Day, yesterday.
It started out fairly normally, with me dragging my ass out of bed and to work, body screeching at me all the way that it's way too cold to go out there! how is it that light out, it still feels like 6am! You know, the usual. Possibly exacerbated by the fact that I'd been up a little late studying for my Biochem exam. A little bit of the recalcitrance may have come from that, too.
I make it to work, and start working on the statistics for my meeting with my PI at 2. My PC doesn't have a stats package on it, so I've got my computer screen angled to the right, and I'm sitting at the mac on the right to do my stats. Around 11:30, I finish a set, turn to the left to adjust the view of my data screen, and whack the inside of my right knee on the file drawers that make up the computer-bench.
I felt it move, a little crunching noise, but it really didn't hurt that much. For a couple seconds. Then it was a 10, and it wasn't going away. I clutched my knee and may have been swearing a bit, but was trying not to make a big deal about it.
Then I woke up, twitching and moaning, on the floor of the lab. Victoria was shouting my name and had one hand on the phone to call 911.
Now, I'll pause a moment to ask if any of you, dear readers, have experienced a vagal response like that? I know
mairi2 has. Intense pain, followed by a rapid drop in blood pressure? I know a little about it, because we've been working with the nerve responsible for the last few months. Basically, your body is totally freaking out over something, all your nerves are firing at once, and your brain does the brain version of the giant "SHUT UP!" When that happens, your heart rate plummets, your vessels dialate, causing your blood pressure to drop. The problem is, if your brain shouts too loudly (or your blood volume is low), your body will overreact and your brain doesn't get any blood, and you pass out.So I guess I was lucky that I'd already been sitting down, but I didn't get enough warning to put my head between my knees- I just keeled right out of my chair, landing on the tile floor without anything to break my fall.
On top of the bruised knee, I know have another bruised knee, huge, deep bruise on my hand, and a goose egg along the left side of my forehead and cheekbone. I could tell I hadn't broken anything, and could've checked whether I had a concussion, but since I was at work when it happened, I had to go get it checked out by the doctor. Awesome.
So I spent the next THREE HOURS at the doctor's. Not because they were being thorough, but because they were running late. At this point, all I wanted was a restroom, lunch, and some ibuprofen. I got the restroom and the ibuprofen, but the lunch had to wait another hour and a half until I did some time-sensitive work on an experiment. Then I got lunch! At 4pm. Well, at least I wouldn't be hungry for my biochem exam. Oh, yeah, that.
I'd really been hoping to at least check my answers to the 2006 practice exam before I went into the test, but went straight from the pharmacy to the bus to St. Paul. I *think* I kicked ass on the exam. It only took about 50 minutes, and I was finishing right as a small cohort of people were also finishing, which is promising.
Here, the day gets much better... Mom&Dad picked me up at the St. Paul campus on their way to Clann Tartan dance night in Roseville, so I danced a little (my knee, after all that, is totally fine. the only one with a bruise is the one I *fell* on). Then I shanghai'd them into going to the Dubliner with me, where The Langer's Ball was playing, and we had guinness and black bush, which is better than vicoden any day.
Today, of course, I feel like I've been kicked in the head by a horse. Thank goodness for ibuprofen.
What an absurd day.
the hedge abides.
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no subject
Date: 2007-09-26 04:26 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-09-26 04:48 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-09-26 04:55 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-09-26 07:41 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-09-26 10:58 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-09-27 03:50 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-09-26 05:49 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-09-26 10:19 pm (UTC)Poor baby! Almost as much fun as when my car door tried to eat M's head after lunch - she didn't pass out but I think it was close.
So - when are we doing your birthday? I got your present...
no subject
Date: 2007-09-26 10:50 pm (UTC)I don't know about birthdays. Is your husband going to be better in time for a trip to the BWCA, or is he going with Joe? I haven't been very attentive to you guys this summer, and it's a bummer, but he has first dibs on trip timing, and we'll schedule birthdays around that.
no subject
Date: 2007-09-27 12:25 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-09-27 04:21 pm (UTC)How is *he* doing, btw?
no subject
Date: 2007-09-27 03:41 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-09-27 04:20 pm (UTC)