MEDICAL DRAMA THAT I COULD DO WITHOUT

The last 48 hours have been, shall we say, interesting.

Sometime during the early morning hours on Saturday, as I was walking to catch the 60 bus on Allegheny Avenue after stopping at a 7-11, I woke up surrounded by two female good samaritans and two medics from the Philadelphia Fire Department.  I have no idea how I ended up on the ground, nor do I know why it happened, but suffice to say, I was knocked out somehow.

One of the good samaritans stated that I had suffered from a seizure, which was very strange, since I've never suffered from a seizure before in my life.  At least that I'm aware of (I obviously don't recall my medical history from childhood).

Within minutes, I was at the emergency room at Temple Univerisity Medical Center - Episcopal Campus on Lehigh Avenue, Kensington.

After about three hours of sitting in a waiting room, it was determined that I had suffered a "closed brain injury" (read: a concussion), though I really have no idea how everything went down.

One minute I was crossing Westmoreland at Kensington; the next minute, I was on the ground.  Nothing was taken from me, so it couldn't have been a robbery.  Almost all of my aches and pains are on the left side of my body - abrasions to the elbow, bruises to the shoulder, thigh, and chest area - though I also had a laceration to the right ear and a bump on the head behind the right ear.

I get to the ER at Episcopal, and after a CAT scan, I was sent on my way three hours later.  The ER staff at Episcopal (1) never requested to see my ID during registration, or if there was a registration, I wasn't aware of it, (2) did not check any of my vital signs, and (3) didn't really do much testing other than the CAT scan.

So, after wondering if the ER at Episcopal rushed my treatment - or supposed lack thereof - I went to Chester County Hosptial to get a second opinion.  Let's just say the testing performed was night and day different from Episcopal.

I had a light flashed into my eyes on at least three separate occasions during my stay at CCH (compared to none - that I'm aware of - at Episcopal), I had blood drawn, and a urine sample was taken.  There was no need for any X-Rays, since there was no visible bruising (this despite a hell of a lot of pain).

The diagnosis, however, was the same.  No damage or any after effects from the concussion, nor was there any way that it could be determined if I in fact had a seizure (or if whomever called it in to 9-1-1 maybe misinterpreted what they saw as a seizure; I don't know).

Suffice to say that at least I'm still up and walking around, albeit with a hell of a lot of pain.  I can only raise my left arm to a 60 degree angle or so without feeling pain, lifting my left leg is pretty painful, and bending down to tie my shoes isn't exactly a ball of fun either.

But, at least I'm alive... Thank god...

In closing, let's just say I wouldn't wish a trip to the Episcopal ER on my own worst enemy.