[tim60]

Can anyone explain to me why we have a department of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms? They just don't seem to mix well together.

So they will be so dysfunctional that the populace can get on with life just as they always wanted.

[MarkJerling]

Yeah, we found that and expanded polystyrene (the flammable kind that gives off noxious fumes) in the walls when we refurbished our tiny summer house this summer. Makes you think what could have happened...

Don't worry too much about the polystyrene. By the time the fire has reached behind the wallboard into the framing you'll have other things to worry about. Everything that burns in a house fire is toxic. The varnish on timber, carpets, drapes, other loose furnishings.

[Parallax]

Don't worry too much about the polystyrene. By the time the fire has reached behind the wallboard into the framing you'll have other things to worry about. Everything that burns in a house fire is toxic. The varnish on timber, carpets, drapes, other loose furnishings.

Yep.
It's sort of like worrying about getting lead poisoning from a bullet to the head.

[WPRESTO]

On the other hand, any substance that ignites easily, burns fast and generates toxic fumes is more than average dangerous. I think the danger many overlook or underestimate in a house fire is super-heated air, a single inhale of which can destroy your lungs or scorch them so badly that the fluid generated will kill you. That's a central reason for crawling along the floor to escape a burning building.

[Rupert]

a single inhale of which can destroy your lungs or scorch them so badly that the fluid generated will kill you.

Lungs....Mine are much better than they were 11 days ago! We just got home about an hour ago.......I thought I might not ever get out of there, there have been hang-up and problems getting tests/procedures for the past two day that caused a 48 hour delay.....and almost again this afternoon.

I was glad to get the help in the hospital, lots of care and treatment, decent food, and good company with Mrs Rupert by my side...but 11 days is a long time in mostly a hospital bed. Just putting on my regular clothes and boots to go home made me feel better and stronger. No place like home!

Slippery Slope.....A Rupert Story.

You might want to read this one, it could save you some future misery, if what I believe may be true is correct. One thing leads to another and goes from bad to worse, a chain reaction set off by an initial event of seeming minor significance.

Back in the Spring....early/mid? April I was piddling around in my shop. I had asked old Tony (my sometime helper) to empty the shop vac the day before, but saw it was still out and I picked it up to put it back in its place. It was heavy...he had not emptied it. I took the body of it outside in the woods to dump it, as done many times. There was no wind and it was just routine...turn it upside down and dump it. As I did a gust of wind came from nowhere and blew a big cloud of the fine silty dust into my face, causing me to reflex- inhale and I got a lung full of it. Listen, we vacuum all kinds of stuff in and around the shop......there all kinds of very nasty particles that get sucked into a shop vac.
I coughed up all I could......and it did in fact worry me, knowing what all could be in that fine dust. It was not many days after that when I began to feel some breathing discomfort off and on and a decrease in stamina/energy. Good days...bad day.....seemed to rotate and though not a serious discomfort, it was noticeable...some days more than others...like in high humidity.

On May 23rd....I woke up and felt worse than ever...really bad and short of breath. Got in to see the Doc....X-ray showed pneumonia.. Got a powerful regimen of drugs/shots. A few weeks later a CT scan showed it was worse not better. More doctors...tests....X-rays and CT scans galore......later a broncoscopy.....and a thoracentesis to drain my lung cavity.( had my 2nd of these yesterday)

As I think I covered days ago.....early on Sunday morning at about 4:30 am I crashed...could not breath or catch my breath.....tried to overcome it most of the day to no avail....finally succumbed to Mrs Rupert's demands and went to the ER. You guys know the rest......blood clots found that caused that Sunday episode, no doubt.

The good news today was that they finally cultured the cause of the pneumonia and the drug they have already been giving me in the hospital is shrinking it for the first time in months. The blood clot of concern is also shrinking and allowing my heart to get more adequate oxygen so that I don't lose my breath just by slight exertion. Sitting here at my desk and having just walked about in the house, my oxygen level is 95....without being connected to any oxygen source. Plenty good enough for routine movement etc.

It is my belief that one of the early drugs I took in May/June delivered the blood clots........even though it is a few months later.....this was mentioned as a possibility in the side effects, but being desperate for a cure, I took the regimen of it anyhow. All these new drugs have some very dangerous side effects.......but "what you gonna do?" We don't always have choices just chances.

Anyhow, what started as a small event has, in my belief, ended up down the pathway of the long slippery slope when we get entangled in the medical system. Some things can and often do make you worse.....some can cure you...some can kill you. On the slippery slope you can hit a tree head-on at 90mph.....and it's all over. I'm hoping I can navigate a better course, but it will be a while before I get in any "comfort zone".....if I ever get there?

Hope I got this all clear enough and in a somewhat sensible order.......I've had a ton of meds but am not confused or delusional.....this is just how I am normally......you guys know that already too!

Maybe there is a lesson in there for someone....if it helps someone else, it was worth the typing....if not, hell, at least it was free!

Best Regards!
Rupert

[MarkJerling]

So you're saying all of this mess was because you INHALED?

[Rupert]

So you're saying all of this mess was because you INHALED?

Yep, but at least I didn't lie about it! I didn't get high, but it did knock me lower than I have ever been.

Good idea to use a mask if you are blowing out a computer or changing a vac bag.......or any such act that can stir up a lot of collected dust.
BTW- They could not identify the strain that infected me.....only that when cultured it was diminished by the antibiotic they have been giving me in the hospital. I do feel that had the first doctor put me in the hospital back in May/June this would be over and have a better outcome? It is always hard to know such things......but it makes sense to me that it would have made a difference.

One other thing I have learned.....they will get every dime they can by providing every service, test, and procedure your insurance will pay for. Some are reasonable, others are just for greed. No insurance...take two aspirin and come back in two weeks. The system is broken.......and no real fix seems to be on the horizon. Try to stay healthy!

Regards!

[tim60]

So you're saying all of this mess was because you INHALED?

He should have followed the example of some American bloke, who according to his Mrs went bankrupt doing a job he paid $100million to get, for four years, twice.


Maybe that level of wisdom makes it hard to take advice seriously.

[tim60]

Yep, but at least I didn't lie about it! I didn't get high, but it did knock me lower than I have ever been.

Good idea to use a mask if you are blowing out a computer or changing a vac bag.......or any such act that can stir up a lot of collected dust.
BTW- They could not identify the strain that infected me.....only that when cultured it was diminished by the antibiotic they have been giving me in the hospital. I do feel that had the first doctor put me in the hospital back in May/June this would be over and have a better outcome? It is always hard to know such things......but it makes sense to me that it would have made a difference.

One other thing I have learned.....they will get every dime they can by providing every service, test, and procedure your insurance will pay for. Some are reasonable, others are just for greed. No insurance...take two aspirin and come back in two weeks. The system is broken.......and no real fix seems to be on the horizon. Try to stay healthy!

Regards!

So if you have signed up the right paying organisation they will put you through every kind of torture and indignity they can think of, so long has the money keeps up.

[savoche]

Yep.
It's sort of like worrying about getting lead poisoning from a bullet to the head.

That's exactly what I would worry about!

Not so much if I were hit in vital organs, though.

[gaweidert]

He should have followed the example of some American bloke, who according to his Mrs went bankrupt doing a job he paid $100million to get, for four years, twice.


Maybe that level of wisdom makes it hard to take advice seriously.

Actually, like all good politicians the $100 million came out of other people's pockets. And being "bankrupt" to his wife meant that they only had a few million in the bank. All better now though.

[Racer X 69]

Yep.
It's sort of like worrying about getting lead poisoning from a bullet to the head.

Poisoned by a 22 cent pill.

[Racer X 69]

Can anyone explain to me why we have a department of Alcohol Tobacco and Firearms? They just don't seem to mix well together.

Why booze, tobacco and guns go together quite well I think.






All these guys need are some Cuban cigars.

[Racer X 69]

And hey, if you have a good dog, you can be the gangsta in da hood.

[Racer X 69]

In fact, in some places, they even allow stores to sell both, together, at a drive through.




Awesome.