hello! so, within the next couple days ill either be churning out these requests pretty quick or not at all. i had a really scary experience last night.
tuesday, when i got to school for my test, i had a sore throat and a hoarse voice. it wasn't anything terrible, i figured just a throat bug that id caught because i was worrying about this test so much. my body doesn't handle stress well.
however, the next day, my symptoms were worse- now i had a much harder time breathing. i had a shortness of breath and a temperature, so i stayed home from my duties of the day, hoping it would get better. it didn't.
by noon, i was so sick i couldn't nap and had to elevate myself so that i could breathe with less of this incredibly tight feeling in my chest. at around five, i gave in and opted to go to urgent care, hoping they could do something for me. i could no longer take a breath that would sustain me for longer than a couple seconds. it was liveable, but definitely not optimal, and something was definitely wrong. after an hour of waiting and five minutes of actual service, it was passed off as acute bronchitis because i could still get air through my lungs. they gave my antibiotics and sent me home. i watched a movie with my little sister and hoped the medicine would take effect soon.
by nine-thirty-ish, i really just wanted to rest. i knew that probably wasn't possible- my state had gotten worse throughout the day and i definitely could not sleep when i had to gulp for air- but i wanted to try. my parents gave me an oxygen finger monitor for the night so i could make sure it didn't dip below 95. that's when we'd have a problem.
i got downstairs and prepared myself to get ready for bed, and then i noticed something wasn't right and looked down to the monitor. it was 91. it wasn't even that bad.. but it was enough to throw me into a panic attack and watch it drop lower and lower.
i crawled up the stairs, gasping and gulping and trying to scream. things were getting blurry and numb. i crawled to my parents feet, no longer having good control over my body. i felt that i was spasming. i watched the finger monitor go from 90 to 85 to 71 and drop steadily. i was terrified. my parents wobbled me out the door without shoes.
the twelve minute ride to the ER felt like three minutes. due to the lack of oxygen to my brain, i was delirious the whole way there. i was blabbering the whole time (mostly about my boyfriend and dragons) so even when my oxygen level went up to 85 it was still shaky. i was still drifting in and out of conciousness.
i recall thinking to myself "this is what they mean when they say 'your life flashing before your eyes' " as my mind went over everything so quickly. i remembered watching how to train your dragon with my little sister and i remembered the taste of the mac n cheese my boyfriend made me earlier when we thought this was just a throat bug. i remembered ana from the stupid catfish show i watched today. i was incredibly tired, and my head was pounding, but i noticed whenever I closed my eyes they'd stay closed for too long. i wanted to fall asleep so badly, but like i said to my parents, "that's the stereotypical way to die in books so i am NOT doing that".
we arrived at the emergency room clinic and by the time i hobbled to the front they had a wheelchair waiting for me. i must have looked pretty bad because the only way they knew i was coming was seeing me hobble towards them through the windows. I was seen quickly.
they hooked me up to oxygen and gave me some vapor stuff that loosened my lungs. my lungs were still stiff and tight, so they gave me two. then three. they brought in a portable x-ray machine to take a picture of my chest and i don't remember how out of it i must have been because i remember having to take off my necklace for the X-ray and struggling with it. i didn't see it again after that so they probably had to cut it off. bummer.
eventually when i was stable enough they were able to roll me back to a real ER room (the one i had been in was just kind of the first one open that we could use because of my state). i was still somewhat delirious and tried my best to be the coolest patient. i probably just seemed like a huge nerd but i was enjoying myself and the nurses probably needed a little break from serious people. after swab tests of my nose and throat, lots of analyzing me, and 4 pills later, they still didn't know what was up and decided to do a nasal fiberoptic thing. basically- big tube that goes down nose and throat with light and camera on it. it was pretty terrible but i told them i was just glad they didn't have to put it up my butthole.
eventually i was diagnosed with laryngitis and, get this- influenza b. i had no idea the stomach flu wasn't real influenza and that it's actually an upper respiratory disease. not only is influenza b rare, they had never seen it manifest in this way. just my luck.
i was fortunate enough to leave around two thirty in the morning and head home. I was exhausted.
this morning it just feels like a bad cold effecting my throat and the center of my chest. im going to try to get all the rest i can, while i can, but if i am up and around later i guess I'll have like mega time to work on the requests haha. thank you for understanding all of this.