The Not Happy Thread

Fever is the body's way of fighting off infection and I often appreciate to learn when I'm wrong. It's rare when I want to beat you up after being corrected.

Now I must digress...

The Power House at a paper mill where I worked had a partial shut-down and that’s an emergency. A group of workers, contractor workers and all Mexicans would go into the hole to clean and repair what was needed. I was called in to check for atmospheric gases, carbon monoxide and other deadly gases.

Temperatures inside the Power House at this location was typically ~ 120 degrees and hotter during summers, it was summer. I placed the stainless-steel wands deep into the hole and headed for the control room for the few minutes it would take instruments to pump out a sample. When I returned, gases were at a safe level and a group of 15 or so workers were lined up ready to go in. But when I pulled the wand out it burnt my hand.

There was no temperature reading on the permit I was to sign-off on and the company man in charge was pissed when I refused to sign. In twenty minutes I had a thermometer and took a reading, 140 degree. I refused to sign even though the gases were at a safe level and the shit hit the fan, I was the fan.

Later learned only 15 minutes of entry was allowed at 130 degree and this hole wasn’t even close for workers to go in for hours. The people in charge were too lazy or too stupid or just didn’t give two shits about the Mexicans going into the hole, probably a combination of all three. And all that was needed were high powered air horns made cool holes down but everyone was in a hurry. Soon the safety form included a temperature measurement to be taken when applicable.

Spent five years in that hell hole of a mill and I was Mr. Fan until company workers had to crawl into holes and work, then for some strange reason they trusted my dumb-ass.

 

Sorry, the nurse practitioner in me is on autopilot when medical issues come up. I really can't help myself.

There's a bit of a controversy about letting fevers do their thing but for the most part, modern medical interventions do a better job as measured by outcomes. I would not seek treatment for a moderate fever most of the time, and I'd not take something unless it was for the aching. But much as we've evolved fairly decent immune systems, fever probably isn't a magical natural cure. I encourage you to look into the research though. I haven't looked into the benefit of fever for quite some time. Maybe there are some new studies out there.

Wow, that's quite a story. Good for you for not killing anyone.

 

Yes, you are correct. I was concerned about a sustained 103 fever, but I suppose 103 is still below the threshold for brain damage.

As you say, there are certainly causes of a sustained fever that are life-threatening if not treated. Cellulitus was one i was thinking of, organ infections (including kidney), peritonitis, and various forms of septic shock.

I'm not a medical professional, even though I work in the medical industry, so although I do pick up more or less in depth information in the course of my work, I do not claim breadth or expertise in medical matters.

Thank you for correcting me.

 

Thanks for your nice reply.

So Minstrel is back. How is your roommate? OK, we all hope, if I may speak for the group. (And sorry for causing mod stress I'm sure you don't need in the italics discussions, :redface: )

 

Update: I had to call 911 to get an ambulance to take him to the ER at about 3 am today. His temperature was climbing and the pain was getting worse - there was no way I could have gotten him into the car to take him myself. I followed, of course.

They diagnosed him with a urinary tract infection combined with dehydration (I kept trying to get him to drink a lot of water yesterday, but his idea of a lot and mine are very different, it seems). They gave him Toradol to ease the pain and an IV antibiotic. This must have been the Incredible Hulk of antibiotics, because his temperature was back to normal by 7 am and the pain had drastically lessened. They gave him a prescription for Keflex (an oral antibiotic) and let me bring him home at about 8:30 am. He was actually feeling well enough to walk from the car to his bed!

He is now sleeping comfortably. The infection is on the run - these antibiotics are kicking its ass. So, big success!

I'm exhausted, though - I've only had three hours of sleep since Saturday morning.

 

Glad to hear it was a relatively simple fix and that he is on the mend. You should now go get some sleep!

 

Hooray! Thanks for the update and I agree, get some sleep.

 

UTIs are nasty,but glad to hear it's nothing worse.

 

UTI... Bad memories about it, especially since my mom used to be prone to any infections down there. Well, at least she's doing okay now.

...Great, now I miss her.

 

That moment when you're finally happy with a chapter... and then upon yet another re-read you realize you hate a good third of it so you have to scrap that and rewrite. For the twentieth time. Sigh.

UTIs hurt like hell, glad things are improving!

 

I missed out on an awesome job opportunity yesterday because the buses don't run early enough to get me there on time for their 5AM shift start. I was qualified and what they wanted and I think I impressed them when they called me, but because I don't have a car, it was all for nothing.

 

I'm laid up for what looks like a significant amount of time after dislocating my knee playing football on Thursday night. Stretching to take a shot in the dying seconds as the ball drifted across my run, my kneecap flipped out of the joint and ended up upside down, a couple of inches away from where it should have been. I only narrowly avoided an operation to have it put back. At this moment in time, my leg is in a cast from mid-thigh to ankle, completely immobilising it, and I can only get about by using crutches. It's fair to say that I'm thoroughly miserable at this point.

 

Sorry to hear that, Dante. I had a sprained ankle a couple weeks ago and that was driving me crazy. I can't even really imagine your situation which is so much worse. Crutches are not easy to deal with, and if you have to carry anything it's impossible. Sending you good thoughts and wishes for as speedy a recovery as possible.

 

Oh crap, man.

 

Cheers for the sympathy, guys. Got an appointment with the specialist tomorrow morning, so we'll see what's said then.

 

Dante, shit son! I really hope your leg is able to recover quickly, that sounds awful.

 

Ouch.

 

Wow that really sucks. I think a lot of people don't realize such barriers to work exist.

 

Damn, that sounds bad. Consider yourself lucky that it wasn't anything worse. I tore my ACL playing soccer a few years ago, and that took over a year to heal. It never really fully healed, either, and I can still feel the discomfort from time to time.

 

My phone company are the biggest shysters on the planet. My phone says 3G all day long... until I actually try and do something that needs the 3G, then it suddenly says, oh, I'm sorry, did I say 3G? I mean E.

 

Hell phones. Personal stress devices

 

I don't recommend you read, "The Fine Print: How Big Companies Use "Plain English" to Rob You Blind" or you'll get even more angry.

 

Read about that on fb... I know how annoying it is to have your knees hate you, but I can't imagine something like that. Wish I could sign your cast! I know that'd make everything better.

 

That's my biggest fear, to be honest. I'll find out in the morning if I've done more serious damage to myself, and I'll be praying that it's anything but a tear of the ACL. Dislocations bring with them all kinds of complications, and the more complications the longer it'll take to get back. I've been targeting November to play again, and to be walking freely by the start of July, but we'll see.

Thanks to all for the sympathy

 

In my case there was a lot of swelling and pain. There was also this audible "pop" when it happened. It's weird because some people don't feel any pain after tearing their ACL. I guess it depends on how severe it is. Anyways, I'm hoping you don't have a torn ACL.