Gettin' REAL Trippy -- at the Hospital

This is a shout-out with special love and gratitude to my boyfriend, my hero, Patrick Sloat, for saving my life, and to the Parkville EMTs and the staff at UMBC St. Joseph's Hospital.

I had a severe allergic reaction Wednesday night to an antibiotic. I had seen my doctor for a mild complaint - that was rapidly becoming alarming. That evening, I took my antibiotic, and 2 hours later, I went to pick up my boyfriend. As I was driving, the inside of my forearms began to itch and break out in hives. And swell. This was a bad allergic reaction! I hightailed it to the nearest pharmacy and got a pack of Benadryl and ate 4 of them. This was based on an experience of anaphylactic allergic shock 25 years ago at the Triangle Y Ranch camp as a horse wrangler. I was stung by a bee and the nurse gave me 6 Benadryl pills. I decided not to exceed that dosage. [This decision ended up saving my life.]

Next, based on the direction of my family doctor when I was a kid after an allergic reaction to a bee sting, I drew a warm bath and emptied a box of baking soda into it. That helped immensely. [This decision made things much worse. The water should have been cool.]

Because allergic reactions can be life-threatening, I was careful to observe my breathing. My mouth and throat never closed up. So I was annoyed, but not worried. However, my heart rate was increasing. My boyfriend said I was making it worse by stressing out. He wanted me to rest and relax. But I couldn't relax because every time I lay down, the itching and burning came back.

I went back again to the bathroom getting ready to soak. As I suddenly swooned, and my vision blackened for a moment, I thought to drop to one knee, just in case I fell. NOW I was in trouble! I told Patrick to call 911. 

Then I passed out, and my hero caught me, and kept his finger in my mouth for 15 minutes to keep my airway open until the paramedics arrived. He said I was choking. 

I came to surrounded by 6 paramedics. My blood pressure had dropped to 68/30!! I had been out for half an hour. They gave me 2 shots of epinephrine, and of course an oxygen mask. I went in and out of consciousness on the way to the hospital. In the ER, they administered more epinephrine. The hives and swelling slowly improved over the next 24 hours. DAMN!! 24 hours later, I still had some blotches patches. They wanted me to stay for the night for observation. I improved steadily.

Hospital hack #1: Ask for a toothbrush, and they will bring you toothpaste and mouthwash, too. Later, after brushing, you can wet down a washcloth and put the mouthwash on it then use it for a sponge bath. Mouthwash is antiseptic* and it smells good.

Then, 2 hours before discharge, I had another minor reaction yesterday afternoon. No doubt all the prednisone they've been giving me really muted it, but they also gave me Benadryl to stop it. The shitty part is that this cancelled my trip back to Switzerland. :( 

Finally, there was real improvement! Last night I slept well, woke up energetic, and was feeling fidgety and bored, so I tidied up the room, took bit of a sponge bath, and put on the real clothes Patrick brought me yesterday. I still wore the gown, though backwards, and open at the front - LOL My designated patient ID. My legs were feeling a little shaky, and my chest was a little tight, so I went for a brisk walk around the halls for 20 minutes. One nurse told me to slow down or I'd get a speeding ticket. 20 mins into it, I found the O2 station: The plants in the visitor's room. I stuck my face in their leaves for a few minutes to get some fresh air. The nurse also took my BP at that time. It was 124/80-something - a bit above my norm, understandably. I'm now eating breakfast. Five meals into my stay, they finally remembered to bring the apple I've been asking for! So I'm hoping to go home before noon today. 

* Listerine is named after Dr. Lister, who discovered microbes in the mouth, and was the first to attribute infection to bacteria.

Lessons Learned:

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Allergic reactions stop your blood pressure because your veins and arteries dilate and can't help your heart pump blood. The heart then races to compensate.

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Both antihistamines like Benadryl and a warm bath also drop your blood pressure.

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Don't take medical advice older than a few years. If you remember tips and remedies from childhood, run them past your doctor for an update.

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Get an Epi-Pen.

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If you have a clean diet and lifestyle, you're more likely to react badly to pharmaceuticals because modern pharmaceuticals are harsh. However, this does not mean you will necessarily have an allergic reaction.

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Avoid the antibiotic Macrobid. It only kills the mature bacteria in your body. Because it leaves the developing bacteria, once you go off Macrobid, the infection will come back and it will be antibiotic-resistant. This is by design - this is how big pharma keeps generating money off the same illness and patient.

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Be mindful to avoid unnecessary drug treatments. The staff kept pushing me to accept a shot of a blood thinner to prevent blood clots even though I am not at risk. I told them I would walk 20 minutes every hour instead.

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They also wanted me to take a prescription for Prednisone to "taper off" of the doses I'd been receiving, even though that is the recommendation for someone who has been on it for 2 weeks or more. I was on it for 2 days, so NO I'm not taking that .

     +++

St. Joesph's is so courteous, there's a light for the monsters under the bed.

I was wired up to so much hardware, I could have piloted the space shuttle.

Hospital Hack #2: the drawers are lined with plastic for your barfing convenience.

The wardrobe has a phone in case you need to call Narnia.

Hospital hack #3: Since there's no pen and pad of paper ANYWHERE, tear off sheets of paper towel and borrow a pen if you need to write.

  ...  Here's the note I left for the staff, who are kind, smart, lovely people!

The fruits of my labor.

They found a new use for Daleks.

Looks like the Catholic Church embraces Darwinism! 

The treadmills here suck.

The Oxygen bar.

This is a Catholic hospital. Since "Catholic" means "universal", as a Druid, I find this appealing. And as a Catholic high school graduate and jack Episcopalian, there's a lot about it I like, though of course institutionalized Christianity has a lot of room for improvement.