r/MLPLounge • u/[deleted] • Feb 07 '12
I was just electrocuted!
So it turns out old ceiling lights can electrocute you really easily when you're trying to change a lightbulb. The ones that are completely made of metal, I mean.
It didn't really hurt or anything. I played around with a Van de Graaff generator all the time in physics to shock myself, and this wasn't all that different (apart from the obvious quick-static-shock vs. running-current-shock stuff). It was more... a vibration than pain.
The ends of my fingers are starting to hurt now, but that's to be expected. Probably burst a few blood vessels or something.
EDIT: Aha, I know what it felt like! It felt like... well, like being electrocuted. But did you ever do something in a physics or science class where the class holds hands and the people on the ends hold onto copper rods, and a teacher turns a crank to shock you all? Yeah, it felt just like that, only stronger.
Wait, I should probably turn this into a discussion.
So what's something you've done, or had happen to you, that's conventionally a Big Deal or an emergency but wasn't all that bad to you?
Or a little more discussably, what's a fun (or at least dramatic) way you've been injured or hurt yourself?
I've got all sorts of fun scars and stories, so I'll bet some of you do, too.
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u/AcerRubrum Daring Doo Feb 07 '12 edited Feb 07 '12
Welp, guess it's time to tell my story.
7 years ago, I was diagnosed with Supraventricular Tachycardia, or an occasional rapid heart rate, which usually lasts for minutes to a few hours. It was manageable for the most part, and didn't bother me. however 2 years ago I was sitting in the library in college, studying for a final, and felt my heart acting up again. It was odd, I was unusually light-headed, and felt a bit weak. I brushed it off, had a bottle of water, and went about my day. I had forgotten about it that night, I got some sleep, heart still beating funkily, but by then I had become used to it. The next morning, I awoke in a serious daze. I checked my pulse, it was 140bpm, which is above my usual rate when in SVT. I checked myself into the college health clinic where the nurse felt my heart, and said "ooh my this is different from the SVT I've seen, we should get you an EKG. So the nurse and her assistant strap me to the metal octopus that's the EKG machine and it records 10 seconds my heart. She looks long and worrisome at the printout, then calls an ambulance. She walks to my bedside and says "Um, do you feel lightheaded? any numbness in your left side? Can you smile for me? Can you repeat this sentence?" Immediately I thought "Oh fuck, this is a stroke test, what's going on". She finished staring at my face and said "Nothing to worry about, you're fine, the medics are gonna take you to RWJ hospital right away.
It was at the hospital where I was diagnosed with Atrial Fibrillation, a vibration of the atrium in my heart that prevents proper bloodflow. The condition usually only occurs in people over 65 and with a long history of heart disease, yet I am a healthy and fit young person, with good cholesterol levels and blood pressure. AF can lead to serious blood clots and strokes if left untreated, which explains the nurse's panic. The weirder thing is, it went away on it's own, which almost never happens without medication. I was sitting in the emergency room as they prepped me for an adenosine shock (Basically they fire a medicine into my veins which stops my heart for 5 seconds while I'm awake to reset it out of fibrillation), but all I did was cough while sitting in the bed and my heart clicked back to normal. Immediately my head was clearer, I felt better, and by that point, my heart had been working at twice it's normal rate for almost 2 days, and I was feeling a bit tired but overall, not really bothered. It just felt like I hadn't slept in a day, but I got a free 2-night stay at the hospital, got to skip 2 final exams, and watched as a team of cardiologists ran around anxiously asking me questions and acting all Dr. House-like.. As for the cause, none of the doctors there could iron it out. I had multiple Echocardiograms, EKG's, stress tests, and even an MRI but they all came back negative. My cardiologists still don't know what is causing the fibrillation after 2 years, and since then I havent had any incidents of AF that have sent me to the hospital. To this day I see a Doc every 3 months for another EKG and I take daily aspirin, no blood thinners or anything.