What's the most serious illness or injury you've ever faced?

Joanne's favorite answer:
The most serious illness I have had to face is, by far, my husband's thalassemia. In a nutshell, it is a genetic disorder that affects the production of his hemoglobin, the oxygen carrying component of the red blood cell. Because of that, he cannot produce his own red blood cells (or, the ones he does produce are misshapen and can't be used). Therefore, he has had to get blood transfusions since birth - he gets three bags of blood every three weeks, a process which takes about 6 hours in a hospital. With this comes a host of all other problems, such as heart and liver failure due to iron overload. To combat this, he does chelation therapy (to remove the iron from vital organs) religiously (24 hours a day/ 5 days a week). The chlation therapy is similar the insulin therapy of diabetes patients. A few years back, his liver was so damaged it resembled the liver of an alcoholic. But, due to the intensive chelation therapy, his liver is in much better shape. And, luckily, his heart has never been affected. Plus, he is immuno-compromised, which means that a cold is a pretty serious thing. I have had to rush him to emergency care several times because a small "bug" that may have caught from someone turned into a 102 degree fever. Fortunately, he has been incredibly lucky and has not had to deal with many of the things other Thalassemia patients have to face. But, this is the most serious thing I have had to face because it isn't a one-time illness. It is a continuous illness that will affects daily. To find out more info, please visit: www.helpthals.org. It is a website for the non-profit organization that we co-founded for other people affected with Thalassemia. And, please pass it along - the more people that know about this, the better. And, if you have any questions, let us know (mtamburo@hotmail.com) - we are more than happy to discuss Paul's story to inform people.

Joanne's answer:
For me, my most serious injury happened the summer after my first year in grad school - I was living in L.A., down the hall from my boyfriend at the time, Kevin. We were getting ready to do apartment shopping in Riverside and we were running late, so I ran home to take a really fast shower. The tub had a pretty slow drain (which I had not bothered to fix) and so when I showered, the tub would fill up with about an inch or so of soapy water, making the tub pretty slippery. Well, in my hurry to take a fast shower, I slipped backwards and fell down in the tub - but not before hitting - and breaking - the ceramic soapdish with my backside on the way down! I didn't really realize what had happened after I fell - I was pretty sure I had cut myself badly but I was too afraid to look - I was afraid of passing out, actually - so I called Kevin and told him he had to come over right away! He came over, took one look at my cut, and said, as calmly as possibe, "Okay, so, we'll be going to the emergency room now!". I ended up needing about 20 staples in my butt and I looked the bride of frankenstein, it was not pretty!! The worst part was that they insisted on giving me a tentus shot at the hospital....and I don't know if you recall ever having gotten a tentus shot, but they make your arm really sore for a few days, as if someone had punched you really hard in the arm. Well, my cut was on the left side of me, and the nurse put the shot in my right arm...so when I tried to sleep, I couldn't sleep on my left side OR my right side...which pretty much meant I couldn't sleep at all! My little accident happened only a couple of days before 9/11 - so for the whole next week, I would give up on sleeping by about 4 or 5 in the morning, go to the living room, and watch CNN's 9/11 news coverage for hours before getting up and going to work. Not good times!!

And the rest of the answers!

1. I have two injuries that are tied for the worst.One was when I climbed a REALLY high tree and got to the top andpassed out -- I woke up in the hospital with amnesia, a broken pelvicbone, and a concussion. The worst part was the amnesia -- it onlylasted a day but for that day, I kept forgetting that my pelvis wasbroken I would try to get up and walk around only to be reminded bythe pain that I could not walk.The second was when I was constipated for so long that my step dad hadto carry me to the hospital (cuz I couldn't walk). The guy takingx-rays had no sensitivity to the amount of pain I was in and kepttrying to make me stand up, and finally, when he forced me to stand, Ithrew up all over him. I was laying on an emergency room bed for hourscrying and telling the doctor that I wanted to die. It was so scary!Glad those times are passed!

2. I've been ill and I've been injured but nothing I had to "face", nothing life threatening.

3. I guess breaking my collar bone.

4. When was 5 years old I was wrestling with my dad on my bed. I tried to dive on top of him but missed. I went through the second floor window and nearly fell 2 story's to the ground. The only6 thing that saved me is I got stuck on the broken window glass and it held me from following to a certain death on the concrete driveway belowThe doctor said if I wasn't so overweight, my left lung would have been torn open and I would have died for sure.

5. i was sick in the hospital last year with who knows what. got sick saturday night into sunday,went home from work early.couldnt stop throwing and going,then just dry heaving till afternoon sunday.excruciatingpain,went to the ER.more dry heaving.got iv fluids,labs drawn,pain and nausea meds,sent home.crackers andsoup for 3 days.tried to go to work and ended back inthe ER and admitted.more iv fluids and potassium,pain and nausea meds,ultrasound(US) and nothing definitiveon the labs or US.all i know is,i was sick on cinco de mayo and missed seeing Maroon 5 in concert.

6. I've been fortunate enough not to have any really serious illness or injuries in my life. I fell out of a tree when I was 6 and broke my elbow, but the doctors were able to set it straight without having to do surgery. Then when I was a senior in high school I gave blood for the first time and completely passed-out afterwards while I was sitting on the gurney and landed on my neck on the gym floor. They said if I hadn't been so flexible (as a gymnast for 7 years), that I might have broken my neck!!! Yikes! What a different life I'd now be living.

7. Faced? Death. Suffered myself? Knocked unconscious by AdamFernandes' lunchbox.

8. The most serious illness that I have ALMOST faced is when I had two cervical biopsies over the course of six months. I was pretty sure that I was looking at cancer and was afraid that even if I was able to survive it would mean a lot of suffering and that it might mean that I would never be able to have children. I also had a situation where my doctor felt lumps in my breasts and sent me for a breast ultrasound. Turns out that they were just cysts (that apparently don't need to be removed), but that was kind of nerve-wracking, too. Note: This past exam - about a month ago - he considered sending me for a second breast ultrasound as there were more and/or larger lumps, but decided that it could wait until next year. So, it looks like that might be an on-going situation. But, the most serious ACTUAL sickness or injury I've ever faced? I don't know - does childbirth count? If so, I pick that. My broken foot was also pretty sucky.

9. Depression is a common illness looming at my door. But I don't think I have ever had a bad illness or anything.....