I recall beginning to emit a low-pitched guttural sound and then falling forward. Then...
nothing.
this is what happens when you die.
nothing.
The next thing I remember I was awakening, clearly being pulled out of the CT scanner, and CiCi, a nurse I knew from my days in the ER, was there telling me "Dr. Bly, you're in the ER CT scanner, it looks like you've had a stroke." A stroke? A Man of My Age? There was some conversation going on behind me, or maybe to me, or perhaps about me, regarding whether I was a candidate for TPA or not. "We need an MRI!" Metal needs to come off...my Rainbow Connection camp bracelets, my watch, my wedding ring are handed off to Amy...how is Amy here? It was Amy that pointed out my belt buckle and fasteners on my pants, and she got my pants off under a sheet in the hallway on the way to MRI. So that was cool that if my pants had to come off, the task was given over to my wife. And yeah I had peed a little bit :/
Then suddenly a bustle of activity and discussion about going off to MRI, MRI 1 or MRI 2, all the while I'm thinking "Wait you can't order an MRI in the ER." In and out of sleep and confusion I'm then in the MRI, somebody puts in earplugs, I remember doing that for patients I monitored in the MRI. My mystery music and DJ return, but I still can't identify that damn looping song!!!
MRI is boring. And terribly long. My legs are uncomfortable. I was in there for an eternity, staring at the faceplate, listening to that endless looping song.
Finally I get to a room where some neurology resident who goes to middle school with my son tells me my scans show that I have a mass, most likely a low grade glioma, since that is very common in a Man of My Age. "Glioma" is not an especially joyful word on the pediatrics side of the world. Apparently surgical resection is typically completely curative for a low grade glioma in a Man of My Age. They recommend going to MD Anderson in Houston, no rush but pretty soon. Um OK.
They're going to start me on some medicine to get my "seizures" under control. Oh, I had a seizure? Oh yes, a full-blown grand mal seizure right there in front of the first year medical school class on their first day of school. How awesome is that? Luckily there were a couple of doctors present who called 911(*) but meanwhile found me blue with a thready and then no pulse and administered CPR...so that's why my left ribs are hurting so bad. Good compressions guys!!!
Pretty uneventful night but challenging to sleep with an IV in each arm, broken/bruised left ribs, telemetry unit in my right pocket, and TED hose on both legs. Basically sleep without moving anything. In the morning the music was back and finally I knew the song!!! AM Radio by Everclear!! DJ and all!! But louder and more distracting than ever....what a feeling of relief to identify that song. I'm not crazy after all!!! Oh but I have a brain tumor. Meh.
The neurologists say the persistent music indicates I'm still having seizures so they add IV Dilantin. That mofo burns like crazy when it goes in my arm, but it shut off my internal radio immediately. Hmmm. Brain chemistry at work. Kind of takes the magic out of everything you know? Pretty soon I'm the happiest drunk on the planet with uncorrectable double vision...until somebody tells me "close one eye." Oh yeah, good idea. This is exactly like being as drunk as you can be while still conscious, but without all the bad effects. And no more Everclear. I could live like this.
Want to listen to my lecture and the aftermath? We were actually recording the lecture on my laptop for the Tegrity class management system, so have a few chuckles at my malapropisms then reel in horror at all the chaos starting at about 38:30...
Later I found out Amy received a text from one of the students who knows her since she was a kid and Amy took photos at her quinceanera, that 911 was being called for me (*edit 9/6/13: found out today it was actually one of the students, not one of the doctors, who called 911). Amy was already sitting outside waiting for me when the ambulances pulled up. Yet another reason why I love Galveston :)
-kpb 8/28/13
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