Glaeal's recent activity
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Comment on <deleted topic> in ~health
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Comment on What kind of gaming details do you guys like to see? in ~games
Glaeal LinkI know it’s an inconsequential detail, but I absolutely love when changes to equipment reflect in the game world. In a first person game, if my character puts on a pair of gloves, I need to see...I know it’s an inconsequential detail, but I absolutely love when changes to equipment reflect in the game world. In a first person game, if my character puts on a pair of gloves, I need to see the hands change. If it’s a third player game and I equip a new weapon, I love seeing the weapon’s model change.
God of War 2018 and Ragnarok surprisingly did a fantastic job of this, even down to the details like when you meet
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Mimir and his headMy absolute dream game would be an action RPG where every equipment change, from armor to weapons to boots, even rings and accessories, are reflected in game.
I guess I shouldn’t really be surprised there’s at least one other person with CHF here, but we definitely got there through different circumstances.
I noticed in November of 2018 that I was having trouble with deep breaths, and I was coughing a lot. Went to the doctor and was diagnosed with Pneumonia. I also happened to get an Apple Watch for Christmas. The Pneumonia cleared up with antibiotics.
The following February I went on a business trip, and driving back from the airport I noticed that I was having breathing issues again. And then within the next few days the coughing started again. I spent some time wondering if it might get any better or if I needed to go back on antibiotics, until my watch notified me that I spent an entire day with my heart rate above 130. A call to a nursing service provided by my insurance told me it was probably a good idea to go to the ER.
They pretty quickly detected Pneumonia, but they checked me in to the hospital proper and got quiet about what else might be going on. The next day one of the nurses mentioned heart failure in passing, but I assumed she was mistaken. Then they scheduled me for an Ultrasound, and the tech was super friendly and talkative until about half way through the procedure until he went silent and stony faced. That was pretty much the moment I knew I had heart failure. Doctors confirmed it later on that day, but exhaustive testing wasn’t ever able to find a cause. My initial EF was around 40%. They kept me in the hospital for a few days to get water out of my system, and discharged me with a Zoll Life Vest and a bunch of new meds. There wasn’t really any sort of long term plan discussed, but the doctor said if we weren’t able to get my EF up with meds then I would probably need an internal defibrillator. I went on short term disability, and got to work on my TV and Video Game backlog.
A few weeks later I had a stroke.
My wife and I were getting ready for bed when it felt like someone switched on maximum motion sickness. I stiff-armed her out of the way and cradled up to the toilet, and proceeded to vomit for about an hour before she called 911. I kept vomiting until an ambulance arrived, and until I got to the hospital, and for a few hours after that. I was eventually diagnosed with a stroke in my cerebellum in a section that appears to be directly related to peripheral vision, motion sickness, and proprioception. I’ve functionally lost the ability to use my peripheral vision, so I have a lot of trouble with a broad range of activities. A lot of games cause nausea now, and driving is almost sure to make me feel horrible, although I still force myself every once in a while. For that matter just riding in a car can do it, even if i’m not driving. I also needed a cane for a few months.
Sitting at a computer for long times started to become a problem. Walking up and down stairs became an ordeal. Aphasia started to happen. Other mental problems started nagging me. Short term disability turned into long term disability. We realized that our current standard of living wasn’t sustainable, and talked with my parents about moving across the country to live with them again. When I mentioned this to my doctor, he decided he wanted to implant a defibrillator before I moved, which we went ahead with. He also went out of his way to find a cardiologist near my parents and get me set up with them. I got on the schedule to meet with them but it would take a few months.
After some time in my parents’ basement the HF felt worse and worse. I no longer had enough energy to do anything but walk to the car. Even walking upstairs for dinner took a while to recover. On July 4th my parents and my son cooked burgers and hotdogs on the grill, but I felt full immediately and felt really unwell after. I took a shower to try to see if it might help improve a bit and I vomited in the shower and still felt terrible. My wife decided to take me to the ER.
Tests showed I was not in great shape. I was in liver failure and kidney failure, and the doctors weren’t very positive about my prognosis. After a day or so I somehow pulled out of the organ failures, but a heart catheterization revealed that my EF was down to 15-20%. I went from “need to see a cardiologist for treatment soon” to in the Cardiac ICU, exhibiting irregular heart rhythms, and in need of immediate surgical intervention. It was determined that immediate intervention meant implanting a Left Ventricular Assist Device if I didn’t die first. They scheduled me for implant, and the night before my surgery the bad rhythms got bad enough that they decided to try to shock them back into shape, first with my Internal Defrib and then with paddles. Like the organ failures before, nothing worked immediately but eventually my body just decided it would stop. The next day I got an LVAD.
It’s 4 years later. I’m on a shocking amount of prescription medications. I can’t fully submerge myself in water. And I have a cable that punctures my lower abdomen and runs my heart. My heart hasn’t improved. The hospital’s implant/transplant team still monitors me constantly, and helped me get on social security disability, which allowed us to at least move out of my parents’s basement. I’m pretty much an invalid.
I don’t like being so negative about things, but this is basically the best it’s gonna get. I’m not pursuing transplant. I developed heart failure at 37 years old and we have no idea what caused it. Now I’m 41, am a stroke survivor, have a host of mental issues, and reddit just barfed all over itself.
But hey, I got a Tildes invite today.