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An Embarrassing Day

2003-10-18

Friday was a really embarrassing day. Not as bad as I had feared, but bad enough.

Kinda goes along with getting hauled out of the office on a stretcher on Wednesday morning.

Felt fine when I got up on Wednesday. Didn't want to get out of bed, but then I never do.

Did get out of bed. Did take shower. Drove my one mile to work. And sat at my desk for a half hour or so, working up my nerve to tell the boss that I had asked my agency to find them another temp.

Went back to my desk and promptly got the shakes. Felt dizzy and weak. Got up again to tell the boss I wasn't feeling well and was going home. These guys really are pretty nice. He just said goodbye and told me he hoped I'd feel better.

I didn't get more than twenty feet. Stopped at the desk of a co-worker and told her I was leaving. She took one look at me and told me to sit down. I did. Didn't have a lot choice. It was sit down or fall down.

I told her I was going to call my husband to pick me up. She called some official health emergency guy in the building who showed up in less than a minute. He looked at me, took my blood pressue and called an ambulance.

I said 'No, my husband is coming to get me.' He said, 'No, an ambulance is coming to get you.'

By the time the ambulance showed up, I was actually relieved to see them. I knew I wasn't getting out of the building on my own power.

The ambulance guys get there, six of them, I think. The health emergency guy has staff members from that floor trained to handle emergencies herding people away from the area. Two of my managers come by anyway, eyes big with concern.

The emergency techs check my blood pressure and debate trying to put an IV in right there in the office. I do my best to discourage the idea. They ask after my general health. Sotto voce, I tell the tech I'm a lupus patient, but I'd rather it not be public knowledge. He nods and tells the rest of them to get me out. One guy starts to ask I take any medications. The tech I told says "We'll take care of this in the ambulance."

They load me up and out we go. Wonderful spouse runs up just as they are loading me up. I give him my keys and he follows us to the hospital.

I know what this is; at least I think I do. In the ambulance I tell the tech that I think I must have dropped an extra pill into on of my med boxes. You know, those things with boxes marked for days of the week and times of the day. I've used one for the last fifteen years.

I get to the hospital, tell the admitting nurse (a guy, and a good nurse) what I think has happened. They decide they have to start an IV just to keep my pressure up enough.

Have I said before how much I hate IV's? When I was on dialysis, they started with plastic tubing in one arm, then had to put a length in of gortex in the other so they could continue the dialysis. I have small veins. Drives ER techs and doctors crazy. They can never find a radial pulse until I point out where they should try.

This time at least the nurse took my advice when I told her they generally used a child-sized needle on me.

They got the IV in, my blood pressure came up and I went home. Took a look at my pill sorter and sure enough, two of a pill there should only be one of in all of the boxes. Never sort your pills late at night.

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