Welcome to Chez Delnor (or, CT, MRI, EEG...mmm, hospital alphabet soup)
First off, I'm okay.
If you read yesterday's post, you know that something funky was going on. Recap: I got out of the shower, noticed a vein in my hand was odd, then got dizzy/faint/nauseous. That lasted about a half-hour. The nausea went away and never came back, but for a while I would get lightheaded for a bit, then that would go away, and then it would come back. After the half-hour episode, my right arm was tingling/numb/cold/weak. Strange. The rest of me, save for the lightheadedness, seemed fine. The arm felt kind of like it does when you've slept on it funny, except the feeling didn't go away. I ended up calling my dad and he came and got me. I wrote the post while I was waiting for him.
Now, the new part of the story: It took dad about an hour to get here, and then we debated on where to go--emergency room or emergency care. We ended up going to Dreyer, the emergency care place, which is actually closer than the hospital anyway. Even though the place was full, they ended up taking me pretty quickly. I was pale at that time, but I'd seen myself in the mirror right when the episode started and I was white as a ghost. I could tell that without even having my glasses on. Consider I'm damn pale to begin with, too. So I saw the doctor there, and he ended up sending me to the ER because he was concerned I'd need a CT scan. He called me over and we were on our way.
At the hospital, the ER was pretty empty. They took my vitals pretty quickly, but it took a while for me to go into a room. My stuff was pretty normal--BP okay, heart rate okay, temp normal, if a little cool--so I guess the ER staff wasn't too worried. I was in a room by 2, I believe. It took another while for anyone to come see me...and, of course, right after I used the bathroom was when they came to take the urine sample. :P Great. (Yes, there will be some TMI, FYI.) Oh, and by that time I was wearing the stylish hospital gown, which I rocked with my pair of jeans underneath. I was told I didn't have to take them off...so they stayed on the entire time. Heh. Anyway, I had a blood test done and eventually did a urine sample; both were fine, I believe. Somehow I hadn't realized that the gurney moved, but when I went for the CT scan the dude taking me just lifted up the bars on the side and away we went.
The CT (which they also called CAT--hmm, thought they were different things) only took about five minutes, but they found something unusual during it and ordered an MRI. Oh, fabulous. By any chance is the abnormality on the back of the brain? Actually, yes. I mentioned my penchant for whacking my head on brick walls and things back in the day, but the nurse didn't seem to think that would have been the cause of it. Okay.
By then--around 4:30--my dad had wandered by. He ended up helping me fill out the MRI checklist, basically making sure I'd be okay in there (no screws in head, never been shot, etc.) while the nurse prepped my IV. Yes, I got to get an IV, because they inject you with a dye halfway through the MRI so they can see contrast in the readings. Joy. Mom came right when the nurse was inserting the IV...and since I had vein trouble, there was some blood spillage. Yeah, I needed a new blanket after that. (Note to self: I HATE IVs. OMG.) It was a little while before I actually went...I think it was around 6 or so...so I had plenty of time to catch my mother up on what all had happened. She came home to find dad's car in the garage but my car and the both of us gone--unusual. Somehow she missed my dad's message on the machine, but (obviously) they connected. Mom wondered if it was a panic attack over job stress. The nurse was like, we take all of this very seriously. Yes, and if I was having a panic attack, perhaps it would have happened sooner? Like, a month ago? Or on Monday, when I went to Unemployment? *sigh*
Anyway, the MRI wasn't so bad. I think it helped that only my head was getting scanned, not my whole body, so I wasn't entirely in the tube. All told, I think I was gone from my room for an hour. The scanning took 30-45 minutes. There were about 10 scans, each of increasing length, and then I got pulled out, injected with dye, and then I went back in for three more scans. (I never got to see them. I should have asked. That would have been cool.) I thought it was pretty musical, actually; the machine makes these knocking sounds and other noises on various pitches. Some of them had specific times to them, so you'd have knock-knock-knock-knock-knock-knock-knock! and then tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick as it would move to the next position. I counted--always seven beats on that one. One sounded like Space Invaders and then the Lone Ranger--quite the mix.
By the time that was all done, the doctors had decided to admit me for observation. It was around 7. The thing is, the hospital was on Code Orange, whatever that means, and there were no rooms at the inn. Mary had to lay among the sheep. Actually, Jen had to stay in the ER. My "room" was straight down the hall from the entrance doors and right next to the nurse's station. I had a roommate, an older woman, who clearly was in worse shape than I was. I mean, by 2:15/3:15, the numbness and tingling were subsiding, to the point where I was like, crap, the whole reason I'm here is going away. Why am I still here? I felt like a faker. But the arm was still a little cold at that point, though my strength had come back. That was good, because by then, after having probably four BPs taken, blood drawn, and the IV, my left arm and hand weren't doing so hot.
The neurologist came by not long later. I *think* dad was still there at that point; he left around 8. He said that the MRI tech hadn't seen anything abnormal on my scans, but he did, so he wanted a second neurologist to take a look at it. That person wouldn't be in until 9:30 PM. Great. He asked a bunch of questions, to which my mother jumped in on a lot of them. After he left, one of the nurses got me a late dinner. I hadn't eaten for most of the day. I'd had oatmeal for breakfast, some water after the episode, and a few grapes while I waited for dad, but that was it. I hadn't felt hungry, but I ate a lot of what was brought to me. I let mom eat the melon. :) She was tired and ended up leaving by 9. I don't think the doctor--this time an endocrinologist--came in for a while. God, I can't remember it all. But, basically, the abnormality they found was my pituitary gland. It's double the size it should be. This morning, when the neurologist came back, he said the other guy wasn't so concerned about it because, in a woman of my age, it's not unusual or uncommon. It's more likely in a woman who's just given birth, as the pituitary regulates hormones and, when a woman is pregnant, clearly she has an excess of hormones going on. (Are you sure you haven't given birth? Yes. Are you sure you're not pregnant? Yes. How do you know? Uh, because I doubt the second coming of the Christ child will be through my loins. Yeah, it would take an act of God to have had that happen.) There's other stuff that can occur with an oversized pituitary--excess facial hair, lactation, thyroid issues, none of which I have--but since mine's just big and that's it, they weren't concerned. Now, if I were 20/30 years older, then they would be worried. Okay, good to know, and now I have a reason for being hormonal. :) There's a reason for the Wrath of Jen.
However, the pituitary gland had nothing to do with my arm. That was just a bonus. So, this morning, after my "night's rest" (ha), I had a battery of tests, you could say. I'd mentioned that I've had heart palpitations in the past. I don't have them often, but I do have them, and I had one within the past couple weeks. So, at 7 this morning, I had an ultrasound of my carotid arteries. Those are the veins on the sides of your neck. The guy used that gel you always see on TV. Okay, for the record, the dude may *say* the gel is warm, but it's not. Liar. Breakfast came while he was there, so after he left I fetched my tray; while I ate, the EEG lady came by. She was like, I don't mean to rush you, but I'll have to take you soon. She was actually pretty cool. Also, she got a picture of me with all the electrodes stuck to my head. I tried to scan it, but I'm having trouble with Photoshop. Wah. That was basically to test my brain waves. It took about an hour, with half devoted to just prepping my head. The second half was the test itself, during which I had to lay still for 25 minutes. I totally had to pee during that time, so when it was done she popped off all the electrodes and rushed me to the bathroom, then brought me back and cleaned me up. Oh, let me tell you, I was quite the sight with gauze and lanolin-based goop all over my head. Lovely. And then the neurologist came back, I think, to talk over the EEG results; more in a minute. Then after that the heart ultrasound guy came by. He got mad at me for still having my bra on--"It's a hospital!" Yeah, well, this is my first time in a hospital as a patient. I'm modest. And, had I known you were coming, perhaps I would have prepared for you. (Instead, I was stuck trying to take off my bra *after* he'd already stuck me with electrodes. Fun.) Oh, my gosh--everything was so trippy. The carotid one, I didn't have my glasses on (hell, I was still trying to sleep at that point), but I could kind of see the screen. They have a way of colorizing the blood to represent velocity; you'd see red, then this rainbow would whoosh by, then red, then the rainbow--very cool. The EEG involved a strobe light toward the end. Your eyes are closed during that part, but I could see patterns (like fractals) and colors during that. Whoa. And the heart one, well, it's just interesting to see your heart beating on the screen. Thankfully, after the heart guy was done, I basically got left alone; that was around 11. I had lunch at 11:30 and was ready to be discharged by noon. Mom--Cookie Lady today--arrived early to check on me and was able to take me home before she started her volunteer shift. Phew. All done.
So what was the problem?
Apparently the ultrasounds didn't show anything unusual. The CT and MRI ended up being okay, as did the EEG. What they were doing was ruling things out, and what happened was that signs pointed to something surprising. Since my arm had continued feeling in it, that was considered a positive nerve reaction. That's not positive as in good, but positive as opposed to negative. If I was having a negative nerve reaction (which isn't exactly the term, I don't think), then my nerves would be damaged or dying. Basically, my nerves were overstimulated. That's a good sign that it wasn't a stroke. And since the tingling/numbness lasted a long time, that was another sign that it wasn't a stroke--it only would have lasted for 5-20 minutes otherwise. He, the neurologist, mentioned stroke, TIA (a form of stroke, maybe a mini-stroke), epileptic seizures, and MS as possibilities. But in a stroke situation, if the arm is affected generally the face is, too. My face was unaffected. The point of the strobe during the EEG is to try and induce a seizure, which seems mean to me but I suppose if that's what needs to happen, then okay. I did not have one. Ultimately, all signs pointed to this:
A migraine.
Oh, my God, you have to be kidding me. All of this for a headache?! But I didn't even *have* a headache when this all started! Eventually, after 5/6 hours one developed, but I attributed that to, well, the stress of coming to the hospital. And I woke up this morning with a mild headache, which I attributed to my less-than-stellar sleeping arrangements. (You try sleeping when your room basically doesn't have a door and it's next to the hub of all activity. Plus, the poor lady next to me kept having tests done, even at like three in the morning. Basically, I was up every two hours or so. Bah.) The neurologist was saying that, at a conference a number of years ago, there was a stat that 23 million Americans suffer from migraines--roughly 10% of the population. However, the other docs estimated that number as more like 70%. There are a number of symptoms related to migraines that don't necessarily cause headaches. He had one not long after that conference, where he saw spots (or something...he used a fancy term) in his peripheral vision. He didn't have a headache, so he wouldn't have known otherwise that he was having a migraine episode. It's never happened to him again. That's what he thinks happened to me. Wherever my migraine started, it ended up affecting my arm and only my arm. (The headache I had today, it was on the back left side of my head...that corresponds to my arm. Hmm.) Now, my migraines typically have a set way that they happen, like something causes them, I feel the headache coming on, and either it eases on its own or I have to take something and go lie down for a while. Since I didn't have any sort of a headache or feeling of tension, I would never have guessed it was a migraine. But he assured me that's basically all that it could be. Now, it may never happen again. I hope it doesn't. But, if it does, at least I can have an idea of what's going on. Granted, the doc would want me to come to the hospital immediately, but I checked out fine today. He said that there are medications to take to help migraines or prevent them from happening, but if this was a one-time-only event, then there's no point. I don't like being on pills anyway, so I was fine with that.
All right. Jen's Big Hospital Adventure has come to an end. Things are slowly getting back to normal. My right arm and hand were fine when I got up this morning. My left arm is sore at the crook of my elbow where the blood was drawn--had a second round of tests done around 6 this morning--as well as from too many BP takings. My left hand is returning to normal after having the IV removed. Oy. I pretty much couldn't use that hand while the IV was in. I had so much tape that my fingers could barely move, plus there was the general discomfort factor. I couldn't point that hand down, so, for example, removing my pants to go to the bathroom was difficult. But it's over with now.
I have to say, everyone was pretty shocked. I talked to my dad at work and both of my grandparents after I got home--grandma was in the area and even stopped by for a couple hours. Sure I was sickly as a kid, but for 20-some years I've been pretty healthy. I get one, maybe two colds a year. I'd never spent the night in a hospital, outside of being born. I don't even have a physician (I know, bad Jen...but I have one now if I want one). I've broken one bone that had to be fixed, and that was my thumb 18 years ago. The only surgery I've had was to have teeth pulled 15 years ago. I keep myself healthy. So you know something's freaky if I'm voluntarily going to the doctor. I'm so like my dad in that respect. I'm just embarrassed that it ended up being something so dumb. Of course, I didn't know that at the time. And that's exactly why I went. (Yes, Erik, I knew that the limb numbness was bad. The only reason I didn't call 911 was because it was confined to the one limb.) But I'm okay. Really. I think.
Um, this was only a drill. I repeat, this was only a drill. You may return to your regularly-scheduled stuff. Thank you.
*hugs*
If you read yesterday's post, you know that something funky was going on. Recap: I got out of the shower, noticed a vein in my hand was odd, then got dizzy/faint/nauseous. That lasted about a half-hour. The nausea went away and never came back, but for a while I would get lightheaded for a bit, then that would go away, and then it would come back. After the half-hour episode, my right arm was tingling/numb/cold/weak. Strange. The rest of me, save for the lightheadedness, seemed fine. The arm felt kind of like it does when you've slept on it funny, except the feeling didn't go away. I ended up calling my dad and he came and got me. I wrote the post while I was waiting for him.
Now, the new part of the story: It took dad about an hour to get here, and then we debated on where to go--emergency room or emergency care. We ended up going to Dreyer, the emergency care place, which is actually closer than the hospital anyway. Even though the place was full, they ended up taking me pretty quickly. I was pale at that time, but I'd seen myself in the mirror right when the episode started and I was white as a ghost. I could tell that without even having my glasses on. Consider I'm damn pale to begin with, too. So I saw the doctor there, and he ended up sending me to the ER because he was concerned I'd need a CT scan. He called me over and we were on our way.
At the hospital, the ER was pretty empty. They took my vitals pretty quickly, but it took a while for me to go into a room. My stuff was pretty normal--BP okay, heart rate okay, temp normal, if a little cool--so I guess the ER staff wasn't too worried. I was in a room by 2, I believe. It took another while for anyone to come see me...and, of course, right after I used the bathroom was when they came to take the urine sample. :P Great. (Yes, there will be some TMI, FYI.) Oh, and by that time I was wearing the stylish hospital gown, which I rocked with my pair of jeans underneath. I was told I didn't have to take them off...so they stayed on the entire time. Heh. Anyway, I had a blood test done and eventually did a urine sample; both were fine, I believe. Somehow I hadn't realized that the gurney moved, but when I went for the CT scan the dude taking me just lifted up the bars on the side and away we went.
The CT (which they also called CAT--hmm, thought they were different things) only took about five minutes, but they found something unusual during it and ordered an MRI. Oh, fabulous. By any chance is the abnormality on the back of the brain? Actually, yes. I mentioned my penchant for whacking my head on brick walls and things back in the day, but the nurse didn't seem to think that would have been the cause of it. Okay.
By then--around 4:30--my dad had wandered by. He ended up helping me fill out the MRI checklist, basically making sure I'd be okay in there (no screws in head, never been shot, etc.) while the nurse prepped my IV. Yes, I got to get an IV, because they inject you with a dye halfway through the MRI so they can see contrast in the readings. Joy. Mom came right when the nurse was inserting the IV...and since I had vein trouble, there was some blood spillage. Yeah, I needed a new blanket after that. (Note to self: I HATE IVs. OMG.) It was a little while before I actually went...I think it was around 6 or so...so I had plenty of time to catch my mother up on what all had happened. She came home to find dad's car in the garage but my car and the both of us gone--unusual. Somehow she missed my dad's message on the machine, but (obviously) they connected. Mom wondered if it was a panic attack over job stress. The nurse was like, we take all of this very seriously. Yes, and if I was having a panic attack, perhaps it would have happened sooner? Like, a month ago? Or on Monday, when I went to Unemployment? *sigh*
Anyway, the MRI wasn't so bad. I think it helped that only my head was getting scanned, not my whole body, so I wasn't entirely in the tube. All told, I think I was gone from my room for an hour. The scanning took 30-45 minutes. There were about 10 scans, each of increasing length, and then I got pulled out, injected with dye, and then I went back in for three more scans. (I never got to see them. I should have asked. That would have been cool.) I thought it was pretty musical, actually; the machine makes these knocking sounds and other noises on various pitches. Some of them had specific times to them, so you'd have knock-knock-knock-knock-knock-knock-knock! and then tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick-tick as it would move to the next position. I counted--always seven beats on that one. One sounded like Space Invaders and then the Lone Ranger--quite the mix.
By the time that was all done, the doctors had decided to admit me for observation. It was around 7. The thing is, the hospital was on Code Orange, whatever that means, and there were no rooms at the inn. Mary had to lay among the sheep. Actually, Jen had to stay in the ER. My "room" was straight down the hall from the entrance doors and right next to the nurse's station. I had a roommate, an older woman, who clearly was in worse shape than I was. I mean, by 2:15/3:15, the numbness and tingling were subsiding, to the point where I was like, crap, the whole reason I'm here is going away. Why am I still here? I felt like a faker. But the arm was still a little cold at that point, though my strength had come back. That was good, because by then, after having probably four BPs taken, blood drawn, and the IV, my left arm and hand weren't doing so hot.
The neurologist came by not long later. I *think* dad was still there at that point; he left around 8. He said that the MRI tech hadn't seen anything abnormal on my scans, but he did, so he wanted a second neurologist to take a look at it. That person wouldn't be in until 9:30 PM. Great. He asked a bunch of questions, to which my mother jumped in on a lot of them. After he left, one of the nurses got me a late dinner. I hadn't eaten for most of the day. I'd had oatmeal for breakfast, some water after the episode, and a few grapes while I waited for dad, but that was it. I hadn't felt hungry, but I ate a lot of what was brought to me. I let mom eat the melon. :) She was tired and ended up leaving by 9. I don't think the doctor--this time an endocrinologist--came in for a while. God, I can't remember it all. But, basically, the abnormality they found was my pituitary gland. It's double the size it should be. This morning, when the neurologist came back, he said the other guy wasn't so concerned about it because, in a woman of my age, it's not unusual or uncommon. It's more likely in a woman who's just given birth, as the pituitary regulates hormones and, when a woman is pregnant, clearly she has an excess of hormones going on. (Are you sure you haven't given birth? Yes. Are you sure you're not pregnant? Yes. How do you know? Uh, because I doubt the second coming of the Christ child will be through my loins. Yeah, it would take an act of God to have had that happen.) There's other stuff that can occur with an oversized pituitary--excess facial hair, lactation, thyroid issues, none of which I have--but since mine's just big and that's it, they weren't concerned. Now, if I were 20/30 years older, then they would be worried. Okay, good to know, and now I have a reason for being hormonal. :) There's a reason for the Wrath of Jen.
However, the pituitary gland had nothing to do with my arm. That was just a bonus. So, this morning, after my "night's rest" (ha), I had a battery of tests, you could say. I'd mentioned that I've had heart palpitations in the past. I don't have them often, but I do have them, and I had one within the past couple weeks. So, at 7 this morning, I had an ultrasound of my carotid arteries. Those are the veins on the sides of your neck. The guy used that gel you always see on TV. Okay, for the record, the dude may *say* the gel is warm, but it's not. Liar. Breakfast came while he was there, so after he left I fetched my tray; while I ate, the EEG lady came by. She was like, I don't mean to rush you, but I'll have to take you soon. She was actually pretty cool. Also, she got a picture of me with all the electrodes stuck to my head. I tried to scan it, but I'm having trouble with Photoshop. Wah. That was basically to test my brain waves. It took about an hour, with half devoted to just prepping my head. The second half was the test itself, during which I had to lay still for 25 minutes. I totally had to pee during that time, so when it was done she popped off all the electrodes and rushed me to the bathroom, then brought me back and cleaned me up. Oh, let me tell you, I was quite the sight with gauze and lanolin-based goop all over my head. Lovely. And then the neurologist came back, I think, to talk over the EEG results; more in a minute. Then after that the heart ultrasound guy came by. He got mad at me for still having my bra on--"It's a hospital!" Yeah, well, this is my first time in a hospital as a patient. I'm modest. And, had I known you were coming, perhaps I would have prepared for you. (Instead, I was stuck trying to take off my bra *after* he'd already stuck me with electrodes. Fun.) Oh, my gosh--everything was so trippy. The carotid one, I didn't have my glasses on (hell, I was still trying to sleep at that point), but I could kind of see the screen. They have a way of colorizing the blood to represent velocity; you'd see red, then this rainbow would whoosh by, then red, then the rainbow--very cool. The EEG involved a strobe light toward the end. Your eyes are closed during that part, but I could see patterns (like fractals) and colors during that. Whoa. And the heart one, well, it's just interesting to see your heart beating on the screen. Thankfully, after the heart guy was done, I basically got left alone; that was around 11. I had lunch at 11:30 and was ready to be discharged by noon. Mom--Cookie Lady today--arrived early to check on me and was able to take me home before she started her volunteer shift. Phew. All done.
So what was the problem?
Apparently the ultrasounds didn't show anything unusual. The CT and MRI ended up being okay, as did the EEG. What they were doing was ruling things out, and what happened was that signs pointed to something surprising. Since my arm had continued feeling in it, that was considered a positive nerve reaction. That's not positive as in good, but positive as opposed to negative. If I was having a negative nerve reaction (which isn't exactly the term, I don't think), then my nerves would be damaged or dying. Basically, my nerves were overstimulated. That's a good sign that it wasn't a stroke. And since the tingling/numbness lasted a long time, that was another sign that it wasn't a stroke--it only would have lasted for 5-20 minutes otherwise. He, the neurologist, mentioned stroke, TIA (a form of stroke, maybe a mini-stroke), epileptic seizures, and MS as possibilities. But in a stroke situation, if the arm is affected generally the face is, too. My face was unaffected. The point of the strobe during the EEG is to try and induce a seizure, which seems mean to me but I suppose if that's what needs to happen, then okay. I did not have one. Ultimately, all signs pointed to this:
A migraine.
Oh, my God, you have to be kidding me. All of this for a headache?! But I didn't even *have* a headache when this all started! Eventually, after 5/6 hours one developed, but I attributed that to, well, the stress of coming to the hospital. And I woke up this morning with a mild headache, which I attributed to my less-than-stellar sleeping arrangements. (You try sleeping when your room basically doesn't have a door and it's next to the hub of all activity. Plus, the poor lady next to me kept having tests done, even at like three in the morning. Basically, I was up every two hours or so. Bah.) The neurologist was saying that, at a conference a number of years ago, there was a stat that 23 million Americans suffer from migraines--roughly 10% of the population. However, the other docs estimated that number as more like 70%. There are a number of symptoms related to migraines that don't necessarily cause headaches. He had one not long after that conference, where he saw spots (or something...he used a fancy term) in his peripheral vision. He didn't have a headache, so he wouldn't have known otherwise that he was having a migraine episode. It's never happened to him again. That's what he thinks happened to me. Wherever my migraine started, it ended up affecting my arm and only my arm. (The headache I had today, it was on the back left side of my head...that corresponds to my arm. Hmm.) Now, my migraines typically have a set way that they happen, like something causes them, I feel the headache coming on, and either it eases on its own or I have to take something and go lie down for a while. Since I didn't have any sort of a headache or feeling of tension, I would never have guessed it was a migraine. But he assured me that's basically all that it could be. Now, it may never happen again. I hope it doesn't. But, if it does, at least I can have an idea of what's going on. Granted, the doc would want me to come to the hospital immediately, but I checked out fine today. He said that there are medications to take to help migraines or prevent them from happening, but if this was a one-time-only event, then there's no point. I don't like being on pills anyway, so I was fine with that.
All right. Jen's Big Hospital Adventure has come to an end. Things are slowly getting back to normal. My right arm and hand were fine when I got up this morning. My left arm is sore at the crook of my elbow where the blood was drawn--had a second round of tests done around 6 this morning--as well as from too many BP takings. My left hand is returning to normal after having the IV removed. Oy. I pretty much couldn't use that hand while the IV was in. I had so much tape that my fingers could barely move, plus there was the general discomfort factor. I couldn't point that hand down, so, for example, removing my pants to go to the bathroom was difficult. But it's over with now.
I have to say, everyone was pretty shocked. I talked to my dad at work and both of my grandparents after I got home--grandma was in the area and even stopped by for a couple hours. Sure I was sickly as a kid, but for 20-some years I've been pretty healthy. I get one, maybe two colds a year. I'd never spent the night in a hospital, outside of being born. I don't even have a physician (I know, bad Jen...but I have one now if I want one). I've broken one bone that had to be fixed, and that was my thumb 18 years ago. The only surgery I've had was to have teeth pulled 15 years ago. I keep myself healthy. So you know something's freaky if I'm voluntarily going to the doctor. I'm so like my dad in that respect. I'm just embarrassed that it ended up being something so dumb. Of course, I didn't know that at the time. And that's exactly why I went. (Yes, Erik, I knew that the limb numbness was bad. The only reason I didn't call 911 was because it was confined to the one limb.) But I'm okay. Really. I think.
Um, this was only a drill. I repeat, this was only a drill. You may return to your regularly-scheduled stuff. Thank you.
*hugs*