<p>…MD
**</p>
<p>She is just fine now. It seems to have been an interesting bit of teenage drama. Thank you to all of you who had helpful suggestions. We used several of them. On to another story now!</p>
<p>–i’m late–</p>
<p>This thread cracks me up & reminds me of a favorite family story. </p>
<p>My father graduated from Harvard in 1935 with an English degree. One of his favorite pass times was walking over to the medical department, scrubbing up, donning the appropriate clothing, and observing surgeries. My father became a familiar sight at the surgery department, and doctors assumed he was a medical student. </p>
<p>My father thought surgery watching was very exciting. He had an idea about what might happen if he was caught, (eviction, possibly even a letter home to his parents), but the thrill was worth the danger.</p>
<p>Eventually word of these daring escapades circulated among his friends. They thought surgery sounded like a jolly good time, and wanted to watch too. So my father became something of a surgical tour guide. One at a time he led his friends to the medical department & snuck into a surgery with them. Maybe this was a 1930’s version of male bonding.</p>
<p>One of my father’s friends was a football player who was as big and muscular, wholesome, & fit as any Greek God. My father instructed him about what to do & where to stand. Mum was always the word. As long as they behaved & didn’t disrupt anything they could watch.</p>
<p>Just as the surgeon made his first dramatic cut, everyone’s attention turned to the large crumpled figure that created a loud thump as it landed on the floor. The football player was out cold. Nurses scurried around & revived him with smelling salts, and he was half dragged, half carried out of the room.</p>
<p>My father thought about what to do, & decided to stay for the rest of the surgery.</p>
<p>I suppose today he’d be expelled from college & reported to the police. If they caught him!</p>
<p>knc-that was priceless!!
Have you seen the the real life surgeries they show on the Discovery Channel? I can hardly watch them (even E-vet interns on the APL) but S1 is spellbound by them! I’d bet that if he had the chance to sneak in on one he’d do it too.</p>
<p>I really like shows like CSI- remember when they used to go into much more description about what had happened to the body?
I can’t watch violent movies- I watched Gladiator on my laptop so I could play games during fight scenes, but I do think human biology is fascinating.</p>
<p>But I do think I may have my oldest checked out- she has a biology degree, but she can’t tolerate shots and feels faint when getting tested for TB- I on the other hand am very interested when giving blood.
Even when my naturopath couldn’t get it right which left me with a huge bruise for a really long time.</p>
<p>However- I have a pretty high pain tolerance & probably she has a low one - at least that is what I have read about premies who are submitted to a lot of interventions- they develop more pain receptors :(</p>
<p>That’s an interesting theory about the pain receptors, EK. SO was a premie many, many long years ago and has had very bad needlephobia most of his life. (This is a very real problem that compromises medical care for a lot of people, him included). </p>
<p>I take off work now to go with him to all his medical appointments, because otherwise, he just doesn’t go, no matter how good his intentions are. Or he gets there and gets nervous and tells them that he “forgot” he was supposed to fast, so they’ll make another appointment and send him home without taking his blood.</p>
<p>OMG! northstarmom, I can’t believe what I have had since I was a kid (40 years) has a name, and no one has ever been able to diagnose it. I was carried out of church every single Palm Sunday - kneeling through the whole passion. I remember one time, when I felt it coming on, and I managed to get to my doctor’s office 2 doors down, and I passed out. When they took my BP, there wasn’t any! They thought I had died, but I was breathing, then a few seconds later, they actually got a reading. I am making my appointment tomorrow. Thank you!</p>
<p>Also, I used to pass out at the sight of blood and needles, and was the kid the teacher sent out of the room immediately when someone else vomitted, because I would, also. I still don’t like watching surgeries on TV, or watching a needle going in, but I no longer pass out. I used to have to lie down for blood tests, so I wouldn’t hit the floor, but pass out on the gurney instead. What cured me - basically shock therapy. Bad car accident in college with teammates banged up and the adrenlaive kicked in and I had to take care of everyone, send them off in the ambulance, etc. It isn’t so bad anymore. Having a baby and 3 surgeries has cured me of the blood test situation, although I still don’t watch it, but no longer pass out. Have come to grips with these issues. I, also, didn’t do the fetal pig or cat in HS, too familiar. My partner did those. However, when we did the squid, everyone else got squeamish, and I did everyone’s in class, as payback. I thought they were ugly and didn’t remind me of anything that I would eat or have as a pet. And getting those ink sacs out without breaking them was a real challenge. I loved it! I guess circumstances took care of what a therapist now does.</p>
<p>djr1, quote, “When they took my BP, there wasn’t any!”</p>
<p>That happened to me too before I was diagnosed. Very scary.</p>
<p>Thanks for the information about this condition. I am sure that my D has this. We had a whole battery of tests done on her re her fainting spells, but no one mentioned this diagnosis (and all the tests were inconclusive).</p>
<p>I cracked up at the fetal pig story; I had to dissect fetal pigs for the last SIX WEEKS of honors biology in high schools. Think of it…May and early June…no air conditioning…we kept the piggies in a big barrel and hauled them out every day. Some wisecracker put his pig’s head in the soft drink vending machine outlet at the end of the year…</p>
<p>We also kept the pigs in formaldehyde back in the day and hauled them out every class period. No air then, either. The stench was unbelievable. I still remember it to this day! BTW, I thought about the fact that my episodes have gotten fewer over the years. And then I realized I have always had very low BP, sometimes 70/50. But in the past few years, mine has risen to normal and sometimes a bit above. (It does that with age, I am told) I guess when my BP wants to crash now it has farther to go, so I don’t pass out like I did back then. When I was pregnant, this was a concern for my MD and myself. Yet, during that time, I felt healthier, and never had a single episode or start of one. I guess those prenatal vitamins are good for this, too! LOL.</p>
<p>Blood and guts don’t phase me at all…but get anywhere near the eye - I’m done, throwing up, lightheaded, etc…Why only the eye??</p>