What's the most painful thing that's ever happened to you?

[eveningsky339]

Getting the Flu for the first time in April. I peaked at 104F on occasion. I usually get sick for shorter duration than most people but WAY more severely. It was hell. Nothing else can describe it.

Just don't take cough medicine when you get sick. I swear that stuff is nightmare in a bottle. When I have a fever, I tend to talk to people who aren't there, but I can sleep just fine. If I take cough medicine, however, I have dreams that seem to be of a demonic nature... :blink:

 

[golden_eye]

Hmm... after reading some of these responses I think I've been pretty lucky these last 23 years *finds something wood to knock on*

I've had my fair share of lesser pains though, I'll see if I can think of some of the more "memorable" ones:

- landed on a nerve or something in my back after getting tackled in football during HS; whole body went numb for a second and I ended up needing physical therapy
- twisted my shoulder pretty good after slipping on a patch of ice
- Got stabbled in the shin with a freshly sharpened drill bit on a job (2ft long spear bit)
- Had a case of Snapple iced tea dropped on my thumb; 24 glass bottles with 12 fl oz of tea in each one are heavy!
- Recovering from surgery to remove a pilonidal cyst; 3 months of not being able to sit without sharp pains in my back if I turned just right

 

[Bullethead]

Mental pain... Geez, what a curse. Physical pain, no matter how horrible, is basically a good thing. It proves you're alive, and "while there's life, there's hope". The problem with mental pain is that it REMINDS you you're still alive, day after day, year after year, if you let it.

Thank the Dark Gods for booze and shrinks

The cumulative effects of even a minor but lingering mentally painful thing can be far worse than any physical trauma. I mean, if you're all busted up, you're not much of a threat to anybody. OTOH, if you've got some inner demons riding you, you can hurt others and yourself, even if the worst physical trauma you've had is stubbing your toe.

I don't want to get into specifics of my own demons, because this ain't a therapy session. Suffice to say that I've been through a war and was a fireman for many years, so I've got more than the usual load of things I'd like to forget.

By way of example, though, consider this. As a fireman, when I'd pull up on an accident I knew was bad from seeing the state of the wreckage, I eventually got to the point where I'd actually HOPE to find victims screaming and writhing in agony. Especially if I recognized the vehicles as belonging to people I knew, which was about 1/2 the time.

It wasn't because I enjoyed seeing people suffer, but because suffering was really the most positive outcome. It was obvious that anybody involved was going to be hurt bad, but if they could scream and writhe, it proved several important things. 1, they had a heartbeat. 2, they had an airway. 3, they had a functional spinal cord. If you had those 3 things, I could work with you and do you some good. If you were missing 1 or all of those things, you weren't likely to make it, or wouldn't much appreciate it if you did.

Needless to say, when I caught myself thinking this way, that was yet another reason to drink.

Cheers

 

[James.Denholm]

Gather 'round, kiddies!

Seems trivial to the deaths and mental pains that people have suffered, but about three months ago (maybe add a couple of weeks to that) I slashed up my wrists quite badly. I was fighting with my brother and fell through a pane of glass. I cut up three tendons, both palmaris longis and the flexicarbon (I think that's how you spell it) on my right hand. Fortunatley, I missed all the nerves. Even better, didn't hit any veins or arteries, I recon if I'd had hit one of those I wouldn't be here today. Sort of makes me wonder if anyone here would miss me, or even know of my passing...

Back to the story. After being rushed to the hospital, praying for my life (I think the trip took about one hour), I was bustled into the Emergency Room of Geelong Hospital. Fast forward seven hours, and I'm given a bed in the wards. Another two hours and, a grand total of ten hours after the accident, I'm having a breathing mask over my face for oxygen and being wheeled into a pristine operating room.

I suppose that's more of a horror story, because (suprisingly) there wasn't a huge amount of pain involved.

 

[Andy44]

And you can still type.

 

[Urwumpe]

Getting the Flu for the first time in April. I peaked at 104F on occasion. I usually get sick for shorter duration than most people but WAY more severely. It was hell. Nothing else can describe it.

My personal record was 41.2°C (about 105°F, if I convert correctly). My mom still thought I only had a bad influenza at this point, but a few days later at more than 39.5°C, she decided that this can't be influenza anymore. My doc finally found a moderate pneumonia. At this point I was already ill for 2 weeks, almost the whole easter holidays in Germany, got written ill by my doc for another 2 weeks and he also forbid me any sports for the following 4 weeks.

Guess which was more painful?

Right, having to sit at the edge of the pitch and watch the friends have fun.

Moral of the story: Even if your mom is a nurse, go to a doctor first.

 

[James.Denholm]

And you can still type.

Way to shoot down a great story!

Actualy, since the tendons moved my wrists rather than my fingers, I could have played the banjo if I wanted to (abeit awkardly, and that means I would have to know how to play the banjo in the first place). They gave me these splint things, meant to stop wrist movement.

And all this was three months ago, so it's all fixed now. Though the scars remain, I can still psudo touch-type. Although recently I've been having these random stabbing pains in my left wrist, perhaps due to the cold weather down here.

 

[Bullethead]

And all this was three months ago, so it's all fixed now. Though the scars remain, I can still psudo touch-type. Although recently I've been having these random stabbing pains in my left wrist, perhaps due to the cold weather down here.

Could be. The various orthopaedic surgeons I've seen over the years have said that old injuries really do react to the weather. However, none of them know why, and the effect is different for various types of injuries in different people. In my own case, torn/worn cartilage and ligaments complain about changes in barometric pressure, with some bum joints predicting rain and others predicting sunshine. OTOH, the bits of metal stuck in my bones complain about it getting cold.

I've found, however, that eating those glucosamine controitin pills reduces these effects considerably, although it took about 6 months to become really noticeable. It used to be that I'd be pretty miserable in the spring and fall, when the weather changes back and forth every day or 2. Now I'm just mildly annoyed at those times of year . But your mileage may vary.