Jinx

So, I think I jinxed myself by writing about what to do in a medical emergency while on travel a while back. As I said in my previous posts, the trip to Chicago definitely took a turn for the worse but the worse wasn't over for me. Wednesday morning I woke up feeling moderately OK. I was still tired but I thought I could make it going to work and I had an appointment with my allergist who is downtown so it was easier to just go in. Unfortunately, by the time I made it to my doctor's office I was in serious trouble. I couldn't breathe, my pulse skyrocketed and I was quickly becoming incoherent. My doctor was afraid that the previous breathing problems and the fact that I had flown the night before were pointing to a possible pulmonary embolism. He immediately sent me to the emergency room which was thankfully only two blocks away. I safely made it there and after 12 hours of uncontrollable coughing and several instances of nearly passing out they admitted me to the hospital. Initially, it was only to be over night but I ended up being put into the pulmonary care unit for three days under constant observation. I had to receive IV steroids, round the clock breathing treatments, supplemental oxygen as well as a barrage of other medications and testing. The final diagnosis is that, as in Chicago, it was a severe uncontrollable asthma attack. I'm now at home but it seems like it is going to be a long road to recovery as I'm still not "recovered."

They cleared me to go to Kentucky for Thanksgiving, but this means that I am going to have to severely limit where I can go when I'm there as two of the three houses we hang out at are unfit for me to be in at this time just because of previous allergic reactions I've had. I have to admit that for the first time I'm afraid of what might happen on a trip. I don't think I'll be wacky but I think from now on Im going to have to be hyper-vigilant about my allergies and my asthma. I've also considered getting a medic-alert bracelet so that if anything does happen people can have access to all of my important medical information. The hard thing to admit is that there is the potential that I could have died if I hadn't gotten medical attention. I literally could not breathe. My lungs were working but I could tell I was not getting enough oxygen. When I realized that I just couldn't even think in a coherent fashion because of it I knew I was in trouble. Had I let it go who knows what would have happened. I hate having to change my life around, I hate having people worry about me and I hate having to worry this much about what might happen, but this is life and you can either choose to throw in the towel or keep on going. Just for the record, I've still got my bags packed.