[ASBSECU E93]

I have run until I passed out (3 times)....does this count?!?!

[M_Six]

1. Flying left seat in a scout chopper out of Ft Hood. We were deployed to a field site and coming in for refueling at a 5000 gallon bladder (big rubber bag full of avgas). It was a very hot day and helicopters don't fly as well in high temps. The pilot came in a bit fast and pulled all the power he could to get us stopped right in front of the bladder at the refuel point. But due to the heat, the helicopter reached the limits of power well before we were stopped. Suddenly we had low rotor RPM warnings blaring and we were about to crash into the fuel bladder. Burning to death is my greatest fear. Somehow the pilot (who was a superb pilot, btw) managed to get the chopper moving forward just enough to get us into clean air and climb on out of the problem. I'm pretty sure the skids brushed the fuel bladder.

2. I was working at an asbestos removal site on the 17th floor of a building in Boston. I was on top of ductwork sliding along on my back while scraping asbestos insulation off the ceiling. The ductwork was only a couple of feet below the ceiling and it was pretty dark. I came to a point where the ductwork passed through a wall that was up against the ductwork on the bottom and sides, but not the top where I was. So I kept sliding a bit further until it got very dark. Suddenly there was no more ductwork supporting my head. I assumed I was now in another room, but I couldn't see a thing. I reached out off the end of the duct trying to find a wall or lights or something. That's when the boss poked his head up above the ductwork way back where I started and asked what I was doing all the way in there. I told him I had reached the end of the duct and was inside another room or something. He told me it wasn't another room, it was the air shaft to the basement. Again, we were on the 17th floor and I was half hanging off the duct in the dark. Needless to say, I eased my way back out very quickly. I was damn lucky the ductwork at that point didn't fold under me and shoot me to the basement.

3. I was sitting at a light on my crappy motorcycle outside Ft. Hood. There was a delivery van in the left turn lane on my left and other cars on my right. The light turned green and I hit the gas hard to beat out the cars on my right so I could move over to the right lane to make a turn in a half mile or so. I had moved about 10ft when the bike stalled. For a split second I was pissed at the POS bike I had, but then an 18-wheeler dump truck full of gravel ran through the red light from my left blaring his horn. Scared the shit out of me. If my beloved, wonderful, love-of-my-life bike hadn't stalled, I would have been a grill ornament on the truck.

[ASBSECU E93]

Final Destination up in here!!!

[WreckerX5d]

I had a bottle jack slip from under a truck I was also underneath. This weighed maybe 60k lbs and landed about an inch from my face. The terrain was desert and no way of safely lifting this thing up other than those sketchy bottle jacks. The hydraulics on my truck went out so no way of to using those either.

I almost stepped on an IED. I came about a foot away from it. Later on my friend found it with a detector and he yelled there's an IED where I had stepped before.

Not sure if this would've killed me but my friends and I were walking to our work and we went underneath a hotel awning thing that they have in front of that office. 30 seconds afterward we hear a large bang and crash and notice the entire thing collapsed.

[shoei]

Originally Posted by ASBSECU E93

I have run until I passed out (3 times)....does this count?!?!

That's why you're supposed to run with the oxygen tank...

[ASBSECU E93]

Originally Posted by shoei

That's why you're supposed to run with the oxygen tank...

4 flat mile

[zx10guy]

I have a few. Such as being hit head on by some idiot driving on her cell phone. Or a few track instances on a motorcycle...especially the one time I was doing about 120+ and had to check up due to another rider braking unexpectedly.

Or when I used to work at a company which did materials testing with chemical warfare agents. The lab director was loading 20mls of liquid Sarin into a test apparatus and I was on the periphery of the lab as mandated by the two man rule. He for some reason bobbled the vial and dropped it on the floor. Fortunately, the vial didn't break but I was half way out the door and down the hallway when I saw it happen.

Or when I was almost clipped by an idiot driver when I was an EMT unloading a long board from the side of my rig during a motor vehicle accident. Idiot was paying too much attention at trying to see blood and gore and not on his driving.

But the biggest one is being a cancer survivor. Colon Cancer Stage 3B. Nothing humbles you more than facing your mortality directly that way and not knowing when you're going to die and how you're going to die. Especially when I was first diagnosed and they found two lesions in my liver during a CT scan to figure out if I had metastatic spread. All of the above pale in comparison to my experience dealing with cancer and the ongoing issues I still have as a cancer survivor. Even though I'm 3.5 years from my initial diagnosis and things appear to be ok, having to relive the trauma of if the cancer is back every 6 months is enough to drive most sane people crazy. I have to deal with this for at least another year and half but my oncologist wants to keep monitoring me for another year past that.

[bimmette]

Originally Posted by zx10guy

I have a few. Such as being hit head on by some idiot driving on her cell phone. Or a few track instances on a motorcycle...especially the one time I was doing about 120+ and had to check up due to another rider braking unexpectedly.

Or when I used to work at a company which did materials testing with chemical warfare agents. The lab director was loading 20mls of liquid Sarin into a test apparatus and I was on the periphery of the lab as mandated by the two man rule. He for some reason bobbled the vial and dropped it on the floor. Fortunately, the vial didn't break but I was half way out the door and down the hallway when I saw it happen.

Or when I was almost clipped by an idiot driver when I was an EMT unloading a long board from the side of my rig during a motor vehicle accident. Idiot was paying too much attention at trying to see blood and gore and not on his driving.

But the biggest one is being a cancer survivor. Colon Cancer Stage 3B. Nothing humbles you more than facing your mortality directly that way and not knowing when you're going to die and how you're going to die. Especially when I was first diagnosed and they found two lesions in my liver during a CT scan to figure out if I had metastatic spread. All of the above pale in comparison to my experience dealing with cancer and the ongoing issues I still have as a cancer survivor. Even though I'm 3.5 years from my initial diagnosis and things appear to be ok, having to relive the trauma of if the cancer is back every 6 months is enough to drive most sane people crazy. I have to deal with this for at least another year and half but my oncologist wants to keep monitoring me for another year past that.

Wow, just wow

[M_Six]

My boss had Stage 4 esophageal cancer with spots on his liver. Amazingly, they were able to rid him of it. At least so far. It's amazing what they can do these days and yet they're still so far from a cure. Glad to hear yours is in check.

(The silly appreciate button is acting up again, so you got 4 from me. But hell, you deserve 'em.)

[zx10guy]

Originally Posted by bimmette

Wow, just wow

I hope I didn't come off as boasting or trying to one up anyone. Just how my life for whatever reason has panned out. Believe me I rather have lived a more boring life. Especially, the cancer part. I'm actually just recovering from the stress and shock of potentially having a recurrence. So far it looks like a false alarm but I'm still waiting on another procedure to be done along with getting my oncologist's take on what the heck just happened.

[kprocivic]

Glendora Mountain Rd. End story.

[bimmette]

Originally Posted by zx10guy

I hope I didn't come off as boasting or trying to one up anyone. Just how my life for whatever reason has panned out. Believe me I rather have lived a more boring life. Especially, the cancer part. I'm actually just recovering from the stress and shock of potentially having a recurrence. So far it looks like a false alarm but I'm still waiting on another procedure to be done along with getting my oncologist's take on what the heck just happened.

Not at all. That just came out of the blue though and makes all of our stories look minor, especially the ones when we partake in dumb activities willingly.

You actually reminded me that I faced my own cancer scare a long time ago. Waiting two weeks for biopsy results while on my first business trip was very stressful but I was fortunate that it was not malignant.

All the best to you.

[PJinCA]

Originally Posted by zx10guy

I hope I didn't come off as boasting or trying to one up anyone. Just how my life for whatever reason has panned out. Believe me I rather have lived a more boring life. Especially, the cancer part. I'm actually just recovering from the stress and shock of potentially having a recurrence. So far it looks like a false alarm but I'm still waiting on another procedure to be done along with getting my oncologist's take on what the heck just happened.

Not at all bud, great story. Glad you made it through it all
Best of luck, hopefully it stays gone.

[M_Six]

Originally Posted by kprocivic

Glendora Mountain Rd. End story.

That bad, eh?

Sounds like Hurricane Mountain Road in NH.

[zx10guy]

Originally Posted by M_Six

My boss had Stage 4 esophageal cancer with spots on his liver. Amazingly, they were able to rid him of it. At least so far. It's amazing what they can do these days and yet they're still so far from a cure. Glad to hear yours is in check.

(The silly appreciate button is acting up again, so you got 4 from me. But hell, you deserve 'em.)

Thank you. I was just responding to Bimmette's reply to my post. I had to deal with my life flashing before my eyes these past few days when my oncologist sends me a text message on Sunday telling me the CEA test (it's a tumor marker used to track if there is a presence of Colon Cancer) was high. It's not accurate for everyone but is used in parallel with scans. For me CEA is pretty indicative of Colon Cancer as my reading was 13.9 before surgery and has been hovering around 4 to 5 since finishing chemo. Just imagine the shock when my oncologist tells me my last reading was 9.7 and upon a recheck it jumped to 11. Just this morning I had a PET/CT done to see if there was any metabolic activity indicative of cancer going on in my body which the CT with contrast I had done a month earlier missed. I got the radiologist report this afternoon giving me the all clear. A side effect from the PET scan I had this morning is I'm currently radioactive from the radioactive glucose tracer they injected into me for the test. I can't get near my 18 month daughter for 24 hours.

[M_Six]

Originally Posted by zx10guy

Thank you. I was just responding to Bimmette's reply to my post. I had to deal with my life flashing before my eyes these past few days when my oncologist sends me a text message on Sunday telling me the CEA test (it's a tumor marker used to track if there is a presence of Colon Cancer) was high. It's not accurate for everyone but is used in parallel with scans. For me CEA is pretty indicative of Colon Cancer as my reading was 13.9 before surgery and has been hovering around 4 to 5 since finishing chemo. Just imagine the shock when my oncologist tells me my last reading was 9.7 and upon a recheck it jumped to 11. Just this morning I had a PET/CT done to see if there was any metabolic activity indicative of cancer going on in my body which the CT with contrast I had done a month earlier missed. I got the radiologist report this afternoon giving me the all clear. A side effect from the PET scan I had this morning is I'm currently radioactive from the radioactive glucose tracer they injected into me for the test. I can't get near my 18 month daughter for 24 hours.

This is the kind of collateral damage that folks who have never dealt with cancer don't realize. My family has been ravaged by cancer and I've seen the side effects. My poor Mom had breast cancer back in the late 70's when the only option was carving away a ton of flesh followed by chemo that nearly killed you. God bless her, she's still alive and well at 85. Surviving cancer is no small feat. Serious respect to anyone who has dealt with it.

[natedog7700]

My wife came home to a dirty house after i was told to clean it. Very close to seeing the end of times.

[bimmette]

Originally Posted by natedog7700

My wife came home to a dirty house after i was told to clean it. Very close to seeing the end of times.

Jesus Christ, you're a fortunate one!

[UncleWede]

So, only the non-medical ones?

[bimmette]

Originally Posted by UncleWede

So, only the non-medical ones?

Any, if you almost died.

[atinybug]

I was in Biloxi the weekend right before Katrina hit. Not really a near death experience though, since we kinda knew it was coming and got out around 2am, several hours before the hurricane actually made landfall. I saw pictures of the beach house we were staying at a week later and that thing was flattened.

[UncleWede]

I had gone on a rather strenuous hike, came home and took a nap. Somewhere after that my blood sugar level crashed. I came back to near-conscious level to find my dad bouncing me on his bed (he was trying to do chest compressions, ON THE BED!) Soon paramedics arrived and gave me a glucogon injection, then tested my blood:28. They tried to strap me to the gurney and I fought them. Took six guys to get me strapped in, they were sure I was on PCP.

More than once, I have started driving and experienced low blood sugar. I come to at random places, with no idea how I got there. One time I was at work and woke up at Costco eating a hot dog. It's about 12 miles away.