So Today I couldn't walk

Paul B

Well-Known Member
Yesterday I went swimming like I do a few times a week for exercise and a few hours later I get this sharp pain in the my hip joint. So I figure I am old and you are supposed to get pains. If you don't have a variety of pains, you didn't work hard enough all your life. So last night it woke me up and it got worse. Today I can hardly walk and I need a cane. Not a problem as my wife has one so I borrow hers. It is getting worse and tomorrow is Easter so I want to play with my Grand Kids and I decide to go to one of those walk in clinics. Here on Long Island NY I am surrounded by some of the best hospitals in the country but if you go there and you don't have an arrow sticking out of your head or they don't have to pry you out of a 1957 Oldsmobile using the Jaws of Life, you will be waiting there longer than the time it takes for garlic and cleaner shrimp to cure ich. So this walk in clinic just opened less than a mile from my house. There are actually 4 of them with in walking distance, if I could walk. I go there and the nurse takes my insurance and all that. The sign outside reads "STAT Medical care", No Waiting. So after an hour, they call my name and this girl brings me into the small room. You know the room that they put you in because they know you were waiting a long time so they figure if you are in a different room, it won't feel like you waited for so long. So 45 minutes later I find out that it was worth it because a Supermodel comes in to take my vitals. The degree of Supermodelness determines, to me anyway, how long you should wait. So I determined that the wait was OK. Yes, I am very shallow. So she asks me the questions, do I smoke, drink, hang glide, bungee jump, etc. stuff like that. Then she leaves and I wait. After a while the Doctor comes in and to my surprise, "she" is also a Supermodel. This visit is turning out pretty good. So she examines me and determines that I probably broke my hip. OK, thats a manly afliction that I can live with. But she wants to take an X Ray. The X Ray technition was not a Supermodel but he was very nice. The X Ray shows that I didn't break my hip. I just got a bunch of arthritis. Another Manly thing, not quite as Manly as a broken hip but it is what it is so I am feeling pretty good. The Supermodel Doctor takes this long, Manly looking dagger and says she is going to give me an injection into the joint. This is not making me happy but being I am a Man, I say, go ahead, I need to wake up a little anyway. So as she gives me the shot, I try to hide the tears rolling down my face and I didn't scream until I was all the way outside, in my car and down the block. But before I left, I had to go back to the waiting room to wait for the X Ray to give to my doctor. A big guy sits down next to me and I could tell he was a plumber by the shirt he had on, that said, Plumber. He looks at me and says, He got stung. I am figuring he is in this big deal clinic and he will wait an hour before he sees a Doctor so he must have gotten stung by a scorpion, lionfish or box jelly that kills in minutes. I asked, what did you get stung by? He says. A Bee. A said, A Bee. One Bee? He says, yes one bee, but it really hurts. A bee. Now that is not Manly and borders on Sissyness.
 

Pat24601

Well-Known Member
I just got the ER bill today for when I took my toddlers to the ER last month to find out they had nothing wrong with them because my doctor said to. Apparently, my insurance doesn't pay for it and it's going to cost me $1,700.

I'm not sure what supermodel doctors cost, but I hope your insurance covers it.

The only supermodel doctor I've ever had, I had when I was in intense pain from a kidney stone. For something so small and basically harmless, those things hurt. It's hard to be manly when you have a kidney stone and are in one of those hospital gowns.
 

Paul B

Well-Known Member
Pat, when you get old enough for Medicare it covers everything. I may even get a hip replacement but I will opt for one of those old wooden ones because I am old school. My wife recently had a Gamma Knife procedure (she has MS) It took 15 minutes and they charged $75,000.00. So $1,700.00 is what they charge for Valet parking. :cool:
 

Paul B

Well-Known Member
Speaking of Bee stings, that brought back a story of when I got stung by a whole bunch of them just in case anyone is interested.

Ok usually bees, wasps, snakes, scorpions, or Paris Hilton don't bother me but today I went upstairs in my house, a place where no one lives but there is an apartment there. I go up there occasionally to clean or fix the exhaust fan.
Before I went up we learned that our phone, which is attached to the wall, doesn't work. It rings but you can't talk.
Anyway, I see this dead wasp on the floor so I get the vacuum to pick it up, then I see another, then another and so on. So I look around and on the wall air conditioner I see part of a wasp hive that looked old and dead.
Wrong.
I take the vacuum and suck up what I thought was a very small hive.
Wrong.
2,863 wasps come flying out and they were not happy, Most of them had a scowl on their face, if looks could kill?
Some of them were so big that they had to stay in the hive because their antlers wouldn't fit through the gate. Yes, this hive was so big, it had a gate.
So I stick the vacuum on the hole in the wall (which was really a gap in the Air conditioner side panel)
And I am sucking up wasps.
No problem.
Wrong.
The 2,863 wasps that had already come out are stinging me.
They got me good and those suckers really hurt, especially like now, 30 minutes later. My elbow is swelled up. I wouldn't mind if they stung me in my biceps, then at least I would look like I had muscles.
So as I am getting stung and holding the vacuum on the hole, sucking up wasps, I take out my cell phone to call my wife downstairs.
Yep, the phone don't work. So I am screaming but she has the AC on and I have the vacuum on. I didn't want to put the vacuum down, but I was getting stung and I think these were the friendly wasps, the nasty ones, the tatooed ones with the leather jackets on were stuck in the hose of the vacuum, that antler thing again.
So finally my wife hears me and of course she takes her time coming upstairs, then screams. I looked like one of those guys that win contests for having bees all over them. So I drop the vacuum, still sucking and we run outside.
I found a can of that bug bomb stuff that you set in the room and leave. The stuff was over 33 years old because I bought it when I bought my house but never used it.
So I push the button and throw it in. It is supposed to emit a mist, but i guess it is no good after 33 years so it just sputtered. I wonder what that did to the carpet?
Anyway, a few minutes later I go up and find many of the little suckers are writhing on the floor but you could still faintly hear, "We will get you"
"We know where you live" But it was very weak and I am sure it was an idol threat.

So I made a larger hole in the wall and after soaking the insulation with wasp killer I sucked out the remaining dead wasps. Before I opened the vacuum, I sprayed wasp killer into it just to make sure. Then I dumped out the bag which was filled with hundreds of dead and dying wasps.
So now I have no more wasps, just a big hole in the wall and a house that smells like Napalm



OK, I thought this was over. Today I go upstairs to patch that hole in the wall. So I bring my big shop vac, a ladder, wasp spray (just to be sure) some calking for the outside, some tools and plaster. So I remove the wasp spray soaked paper towels that I had stuffed in the hole to keep any new creatures from coming in and at the same time I am holding the shop vac hose up to the hole so I can catch any loose plaster.
This is not one of those Sissy shop vacs that is good for picking up belly button lint, this one will suck the brains out of your head through your nose from across the street.
So I take out the paper and I couldn't believe it, there seemed to be more wasps than there was two days ago when I killed hundreds of them.
They were wading through the puddle of wasp spray like it was "Glade air freshener".
No really, you can't make this stuff up. But this time I was prepared, this vacuum was sucking them out from 6" away. They didn't know what was happening. The only problem was that the hole to the outside was still open and as soon as I sucked them in, more came in from outside. So I was alternating spraying wasp spray and sucking at the same time, spray, suck, spray, suck etc.
I also found out what that means on the side of the wasp spray can where it says Kills on Contact" I thought that meant, it kills the wasps when it contacts them, but I think it really means that it kills the wasps after the wasp contacts you. They don't really die that fast, Dying the next day is not exactly the time frame I had in mind.
So I finally eliminate most of the creatures and I make the hole in the wall larger so I have good sheetrock to patch. I kept cutting bigger and bigger because I found their hive. They didn't just have a hive in my wall, they were turning my house into a hive. This thing was huge and it was filled with babies. So I kept sucking them out until I got to good insulation. I wonder what they did with all the insulation that used to be in the wall?
Then I stuck in new insulation that I also soaked with wasp spray
(although I think they were using it for cologne) and I calked the outside.
I had to hold the vacuum with me outside because they kept coming back trying to get back into the nest from outside.
So I am done, at least I thought so and I start to go downstairs but I figure let me go and check on my tomato plants on the upstairs deck which is off the bedroom on the opposite side of the house from the wasps.
On the way out I notice that the wall next to that air conditioner is wet. Great. I don't go up there much and everytime I go, it is a surprise. So I go outside to see where the hole is that is letting the water in and guess what I find?
Yep, wasps. I mean, are they freekin kidding me. This time they are "in" the air conditioner that has not been turned on in over 3 years.
Luckily for me, I have the wasp spray in my hand because I was bringing it downstairs. So I spray the coil in the AC and it happened. I got flashbacks from the other day. Wasps are all around me and I think they heard what happened to their cousins and I didn't have the vacuum in my hand so I had to run. A few minutes later I put on my sneakers so they wouldn't hear me and I snuck out armed with more wasp spray, the kind they sell to Sissies because it shoots like 2 football fields away. My deck isn't that big so I was fairly close and like I said this stuff kills on contact, after they contact me so i had to bob and weave but I didn't get stung.
They were mad before but now they just wanted revenge.
I ran inside and quickly shut the screen door. They were crashing into the screen making a horrible noise so I closed the glass door, they wer still coming, smashing their heads into the glass, wasp brains splattering everywhere, then I turned on the air conditioner and as soon as I did, I could hear "Ping, ping, bing ding" Yes they were flying into the fan and getting thrown all over the inside of the AC unit. There were wings, abdomins, tiny chains, little broken bottles, flying all over the place, these guys were preparing for war.
But they didn't know who they were dealing with. This reefer Geezer now has wasp experience.
The next time I go up there I will probably find snakes, but I do have to go again to remove the wet sheetrock and calk the AC
 

nanoreefing4fun

Well-Known Member
RS STAFF
enjoyed the read... good luck in the wasp battle ! Hopefully you got them all & won't have to call in the WASP pros :winky:

Group_of_Women_Airforce_Service_Pilots_and_B-17_Flying_Fortress.jpg
 

Pat24601

Well-Known Member
That hilarious! In a getting stung by wasps is funny sort of way, I guess. I LOVE hearing your adventures. I'm not so interested in living them myself, though.
 

Paul B

Well-Known Member
Glad you like my wasp story. Pain is severe now because you can't get a lot of Drs. on Easter. I am trying to get an emergency appt this morning. I can't sit or lay down and standing ain't working either. But I am a Man and will get through it. I am not sure about the fish as I can't get downstairs to feed them so they are on a diet until I can make the stairs.
 

Pat24601

Well-Known Member
Glad you like my wasp story. Pain is severe now because you can't get a lot of Drs. on Easter. I am trying to get an emergency appt this morning. I can't sit or lay down and standing ain't working either. But I am a Man and will get through it. I am not sure about the fish as I can't get downstairs to feed them so they are on a diet until I can make the stairs.


:( That sounds awful.
 

Paul B

Well-Known Member
It would be but I am not a Sissy and will get through it. I need to because my wife needs me as do my fish, in that order. So many people, such as out military have much worse things. But Pat, I do appreciate your sympathy. Thank you :)

I got an emergency appointment this morning with a real Doctor. I could have gotten an appointment yesterday with a witch doctor but he texted to tell me he ran out of chicken bones so I went to a real bone guy who went to high school and everything. I am not a Noob when it comes to joint pain and operations. I had so many shoulder and knee operations that they don't even close them any more preferring to use Velcro.
This morning I went to the Dr's office and I didn't even have to steer because my car knows the way. So they put me in the room with the table, and the Supermodel nurse tells me to "Jump up on the table" I told her if I could get on the table I wouldn't be here and if I could jump, I would jump on her. OK, I didn't say that. Not out loud anyway even though Supermodel nurses really go for aging, bald, retired electricians who walk like an lady in her 90s.
So the Doctor comes in and he is younger than my Daughter. Much younger. As a matter of fact, he is eating a lolly pop. He asks me whats the problem and I tell him my hip is screwed up. So he grabs my foot and twists it a little. They are going to have a hard time getting the dent out of their ceiling from my head. He said, Wow, that must hurt. I said like Duh!
So he looks at the X Ray and tells me the hip that doesn't hurt is in worse shape. Now that makes me feel good. Then he says he wants to stick a needle in there and shoot in this "stuff". It is supposed to calm it down, lubricate it and take it out to dinner. It's like a circus in your hip. OK, so he brings in this sonogram machine like they see fetuses on and he rubs it over the hip. He finds the spot and takes out this "needle" that was a cross between a straw from a caramel Latte from Starbucks and the cane I have been using the last 3 days. Then he says "A little" pinch and sticks me with this thing and pushes it in 4 or 5", I thought he was also giving me a colonoscopy at the same time. I hold back the screams because the Supermodel is there. Then he says he is going to put in the medicine with a different needle, or probe but I think it was a turkey baster he had left over from Easter. After he "filled me up" I asked him what was in it. He said it is a something to relieve the pressure and lubricate it as well as a pain killer. It was really a shot of Wild Turkey Bourbon, Cognac and Vaseline. So he and the Supermodel leave and say it will take 2 or 3 minutes to work. So I am thinking, wow this is cool, I will be cured in 3 minutes so maybe I can walk out of here, go home and feed my fish as they have been on a diet because I can't get downstairs. After a few minutes, the Dr. comes back. He grabs my foot and twists a little. Now when the guy comes in to fix the dent in the ceiling from my head, he can fix both of them at the same time. He said, it should have gotten better. I asked him if he had the number of that Witch Doctor.
So now it's the MRI and all that. I know most people have gone through this and it is a part of aging. So if it didn't happen to you yet. Get ready.
 

Paul B

Well-Known Member
I am going to the hand guy this morning then I will go back to the hip guy because he didn't call me back and I left a message for him yesterday. Generally doctors don't call back so you have to go to their office and embarrass them. Maybe fall in their waiting room and writh around on the floor. That usually gets their attention. But Like I said, unless you have an arrow sticking out of your head, they don't figure it is a big deal. If I could find a Supermodel to drive e there that would also get his attention.
 

Paul B

Well-Known Member
Yes the hand guy is a separate thing but I will get everything fixed in a few days and I won't even need the 50,000 mile extended warranty.
I went to the hand Doctors today and filled out all the papers. Then this Supermodel brings me into this white room that looked straight out of a Sci Fy movie like the Starship Enterprize. I loved it. Then the Supermodel was telling me all this and says Dr Korvorkian, or whatever his name is will be right in. I said, Who is that? I got an appointment with this other guy. The Supermodel said Oh My let me go find out. So she comes back in and it seemed I was in the wrong office. The guy I needed to see was in the same complex but a different floor. You would think they knew I didn't have an appointment there after they took my information. I got his address from his web site but they told me he moved. But I guess I am supposed to know that.
I really wanted to stay in the Supermodels office but I went to the other guy who gave me a shot of cortisone in my finger. So now from two days ago and today I am like a walking bucket of cortisone. So I am waiting 2 days for authorization for the MRI and they call me today saying I don't need an authorization so I was just writhing in pain for two days for nothing. If it were not for Supermodels, I would really hate to go to doctors.
 
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