Saturday, July 17, 2010

Pumpkin sightings

So my first patient noticed the baby bump! It was on Wednesday, my mama's birthday. :) Then today a lady at the grocery store asked if this is my first. It took me a second to understand what she was asking!


It's been a rough week for little pumpkin though. Wednesday night we had a nice thunderstorm and he was kicking away. Then Thursday I thought it was a good idea to get my allergy shots (as I have been doing for 3 years). Turns out that was a REALLY bad idea.



I am still waiting to talk to my doctor to see what he thinks happened, because about 10 seconds after getting the same dose shots that I've been getting for a year, my eyes started itching, my face felt like it was on fire, my ears felt full and swollen. Then the nausea hit and I told the medical assistant and nurse that I was not feeling so great. They said I looked warm and red and I said I felt warm and red. They put me on an office chair STAT and wheeled me into an exam room and made me lay down. That made the nausea worse, then the doctor asked for Epi, which just makes you feel even worse (but helps you breathe and nice things like that). Lunch made an appearance and I felt mildly better. Vomiting really sucks when you are around a lot of people you don't know well, but they were all so wonderful to me - wiping my face and rubbing my back! Children's Hospital Allergy is the best. They kept reassuring me that I was going to be fine and I kept thinking that I was feeling calm and not too worried. However, my heart rate was in the 130s, so not so calm. Then I got some albuterol to help with the breathing and some oxygen and then a nice little trip to the ER.


The EMTs were so kind (they even thought it was really funny that my spaghettio lunch was better the first time around-only in healthcare is that really funny!!). I say this even after 4 attempts to start an IV - in their defense, apparently your veins start to close when you are an in anaphylaxis (which makes sense, everything is closing up, airways included!). Luckily I have no problems with needles.



I do have to say that it is kind of cool riding in an ambulance (this is of course because I was stable and in no immediate danger at this point). I spent about 15 minutes in a trauma room while the ER was cleaning a room for me, room 32 in the ED for me. I spent the next 5 hours there. Worst idea of the night: giving the pregnant lady IV fluids. My apologies to the poor tech who kept having to unhook me from all the machines every 45 minutes! My dad met me in the trauma room and stayed with me for most of the night. Jerry rushed over after work - very upset - poor honey. No one really knew what was going on, they only knew that I had reaction and was going to the ER. And of course, my dad beat us to the hospital, so then he was really worried! My mom tried calling my work to see if they knew where I got my shots. They didn't, but my awesome coworkers did some work to see if Froedtert was diverting. All the while, I was being checked in, so the ED was able to update my coworker and everyone else :)



Observation in the ER is really boring. But I guess I needed some boring after the afternoon's excitement. The nurses listened to baby's heart, which was just fine. There was talk of an ultrasound, but the ER doc spoke with my OB and she said there was no need. You can actually get a couple doses of epi and be fine (I was content with my one dose!). I was a little disappointed, because my dad could've seen our lil' pumpkin :)



Jerry and I left for Taco Bell (because dinner in the ER is nothing fancy-and yes, Taco Bell seemed fancy after that). I was given a prescription for prednisone to keep the reaction at bay (which even after one dose made me feel a lot better). So today, I'm just exhausted! A little bruised and tape marks all over, but breathing almost normally.



Now to find a thank you fitting the deed - to the nurses, doctor and MA at the Asthma/Allergy clinic CHOW in New Berlin for saving my life!!! I'm thinking cookies and a lot of thank yous. I spoke with them on Friday. The MD that took care of me there was going to talk to my allergist. Apparently I was on top of the list for grand rounds (where all the MDs get together and discuss interesting/difficult cases) on Friday.

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