Haywire

So yesterday, I wake up and my left leg is shaking. This in addition to my head and left arm twitches. This is a bit strange. I would usually just shrug it off and wait for my next doctor's appointment but thankfully I have a roommate who has been kicking me in the butt to go to the ER. So Sunday morning I walked out of my room and told my other roommate that I may need to go to the ER. That's when I noticed that I said, "ah-ah-ah-I mmmay need t-t-t-t-to g-g-g-go to the ha-ha-ha-hostpi-pi-pital." That pretty much sealed it.

I took a shower, packed a bag (with clean underwear!), and got a ride from Steve to Meriter. I tried calling my parents, couldn't get through, and called my sister. She said she'd be right there, which I didn't expect. Then my parents called me back and next thing I know, they were on their way. So after a half an hour, I had a whole cheering section in the waiting room including my other sister, which was a good feeling. Nothing much happened there other than a doctor telling me that my CT scan was clear and receiving from him a prescription for an MRI that should be scheduled for the next day.

I was discharged and we went to Doty’s where I consumed good food and better beer. It's been a while since my family, just the five of us, hung out together. I hung out at my parents that afternoon, playing this TV plug-in game of "Wheel of Fortune". My sisters were definitely into it, because after the spin, one would yell very loudly "I WANT A "P"! A "P"!" Both my roommates showed up, one still in scrubs from work. We all ate cheese and they drank wine, I had more beer. By then, my stuttering and shaking were gone.

Today I awoke with the shaking and stuttering plus numbness on the left side of my face. Shaun already planned to take me to the UW Hospital's ER. He even called in to find out the consulting neurologist on duty, (he works in the neurology ward). This time, I was hooked up to machines, got an IV to get blood work, and had an MRI scheduled right away. Then I waited. I'll tell you, waiting in hospitals is even more boring than waiting in a clothing store. Thankfully Shaun waited with me.

I was transferred to another room in ER to make way for more patients. The neurologist showed up after a half hour, poked, prodded, and told me that he thinks I'm organically (physically) ok. He thinks it's either medication complications or anxiety. I'm not sure what I'm anxious about, but I am hard wired a little funny. That comes from my maternal grandmother.

I had to ride in a wheel chair to Radiology, which drove my nuts since I like walking on my own two feet. The MRI was strange in that it sounded like the old Atari games, with digital gong noises, clicks, buzzes, and beeps. I felt like I was playing Combat again. After each set of buzzes and clicks, I heard of voice say "The next scan will take 1 minute" followed by more buzzes, clicks, and, sometimes, beeps.

After the MRI, I had to wait in another ER room with my parents for the next hour and a half. I looked at my father and thanked him for not giving me his even-keel genes. My mother got me a sub and piece of pie and I watched most of "The Incredibles" while waiting for the results. Finally, the ER doctor returned and told me that everything looked fine, much to the relief of my mother. That kind of leaves me at square one. Well, not exactly. It puts it back into the medication or anxiety camp. My sisters and I have low blood pressure, strong hearts, working innards, and the like but our brains were wired by Romanian electricians using Swahili instructions.

Despite the misfortune of my brain, I'm very fortunate to have the friends and family that I do. I definitely have not felt alone in the last two days. And the brain deal just may need a simple beta-blocker and everything will be normal. Else you may see and guy walking around with a weak left leg while stuttering out wise cracks. That's me.