It was Thursday afternoon, I had so much to do so I could prepare for the horse-camping trip with my neighbor. First thing first, get new spare tire for horse trailer. So I walked out there, and BAM a stupid wasp that was protecting its nest stung me on the bicep. OUCH! I realized that the nest was right by the spare tire that I had to work with, so I got the horses fly repellant and took care of it. Back to the tire, took it off, rolled it to the truck, tossed it in back, went in the barn, washed my hands and went back to examine the nest. I decided to remove it because it was either do it then or do it the next day when I had to hook the trailer up to the truck. I got a long pole and knocked it off and ran. Hopped into truck and off to the tire place.
I checked the sting, weird, it has two big bubbles, oh well, not like I haven't been stung before, no big deal. As I am driving, I get to a stop light about 7 minutes from my house and realize tiny bumps have formed up and down my arm, "what the hell? An allergic reaction" So I pull a Claritin out of my purse, pop it, and turn around and head home to grab some Prednazone that I happened to have from our recent Nicaragua trip where I mysteriously had an allergic reaction to rubber after hanging out on a n inner tube in the lake for several hours. It's coming together. "I'm such an idiot! I curse myself, I was handling a rubber tire AND got stung, my body is mad" I get back to my house and at this point, I realized that my legs had bumps, my lips were swollen and this was way worse than anything I had ever experienced. So rather than go inside, I figured the ER was the best bet. So I turn back around and head back to where I was (which was only 2 blocks from the ER). As I approached the 3 blocks away mark, my vision got blurry, I could hardly see. I felt like I was going to pass out. I was waiting at a light and had to keep drinking water to help me focus on the task at hand, get there alive without hitting anybody. I took off my sunglasses to see if that would help. It was a bright sunny day, about 94 degrees, all I could see was white. Put the glasses back on and turned left. I decided that my inability to see and function was more appreciated if I drove on the shoulder, so I did, for two blocks. I made it, parked and stumbled in. I walked to the front desk and tried to speak... nothing came out. My throat was closed. I began crying and pointing at the hives, I almost passed out, but grabbed the counter to hold me up. They tossed me in a wheelchair, and off we went.
Immediately, there was a room full of people closing the curtains, asking me questions that I had a hard time answering. They set each arm up with an iv and gave me a shot of epinephrine. I was so scared, it was bad. I had no idea just how bad. The questions continue and all of the sudden I began fighting to breath, I heard myself gasping for air, I asked them to call Mike with my phone by struggling the words "Call boyfriend, missed call" This was about 4:45 pm. They contact him and tell him that I am in the Emergency room and I am having problems breathing. All of a sudden I became really nauseous and tried to vomit. I couldn't, that went on for a few minutes, then I found myself struggling to stay awake. My left leg started convulsing, all I could do was watch, then my left arm, I cried out of fear, What was going on! It was a wasp sting and a tire change! NOT A BIG DEAL.. Right?
WRONG, Finally I gave in to passing out. I could still feel and hear everything. They asked to cut my clothes off, one girl joked trying to keep me coherent, that she hoped my bra wasn't a very expensive one. I probably forced a small. Another lady struggled to get the tape to tape my IV down. I felt the scissors go down my chest and cut my shirt in half, then down each leg cutting my shorts and underwear off. I was stark naked- convulsing, and not breathing. I remember all of it...,well, most of it. They kept talking to me like I was awake, but I know I was unconscious as far as they could see. They told me they were putting the defibrillator pads on me, and the doctor said get the tube ready. Somebody put something right in the middle of my chest "Oh my god! They shocked me!" It went black.
It only felt like a few seconds, then it was orange, and it was calm. I wanted to sleep deeper, but I didn't want to die. "OPEN YOUR EYES SARA" I told myself. You can't die if your eyes are open. RIGHT? My thoughts kept saying, open them, just open your eyes. You can do it. I tried to speak "I don't want to die, I don't want to." I am not sure If it came out, but I thought I heard myself. I was alive, I could live, I just had to open my eyes. Finally I did. It was bright. I closed them again completely grateful to have had the choice. I struggled to stay awake, what just happened? I had to know. I was so confused. How long was that? 12 seconds was my guess.
I tried to speak "what happened?" I asked a nurse. She said, we were about to put you on life support, you weren't breathing. They explained that my blood pressure dropped terribly low, like 45 over something, and my heart rate skyrocketed. I was having about 12 PVC's every every three minutes. I had no idea what that meant. But she explained that I was in anaphylactic shock and I was very close to cardiac arrest. My heart rate was extremely irregular, which can cause death if it lasts too long. SHe then told me that I was like that for 10 to 12 minutes.
I sobbed, because I now knew that I wasn't imagining my choice to stay here. It wasn't a dream, or my imagination, it was what had really happened. They had the EKGs to prove it.
Mike walked in, he had missed all of the action by 15 minutes. Thank god. That would have been hard to see happen to the person you love. The nurse joked with him "It was just like the t.v. show ER in here, you have no idea how lucky she is".
After that, it was even more of a blur, I was drugged up. They stabilized me, with a very low and still very irregular heartbeat, called an ambulance to transport me to the Intensive Care unit in a hospital about 30 minutes away. The swelling was down, I could talk. I knew I couldn't stand up, but I really wanted to. Even more so, I wanted to go home and cry and be scared. By now it was about 7 pm. The ambulance drivers were awesome. They got me there safely and fast and kept a smile on my face. The ICU wheeled me right in, and my nurse was great. Her name is Victoria. She asked what happened, and I told her. Turned out that she rides horses too, so we had a lot to talk about.
I have to say, the beds in ICU are quite comfortable, but they are meant for people who are bed ridden, which I didn't think I was. My blood pressure stayed really low, like 75/61 when it should have been closer to 110/65. It was like that all night, which I spent most of getting up and peeing eveyr 30 minutes for the 4 IV's they had given me at the ER. In the ICU, they had my IV's hooked up, heartrate monitors, and a blood pressure cuff that was set to check every 30 minutes. An alarm went off every time it was under 80, which was all night long. I learned that there is no sleep to be had in the hospital. Although, I couldn't have slept anyways.
I just kept thinking how it was so surreal, and wondering what just happened? I almost died! I cried to myself quietly. I wanted my mom and dad there. I missed them so much. They had no idea what was happening. Don't worry mom and dad, I didn't die, I thought. How would I tell them. How would I tell them without breaking down and crying. I was so scared. I have never faced death. Never even considered how it would make me feel. I had so many emotions. Had, that is not the right word, because I am writing this the following night and I am crying as I type. I have a new life threatening issue to deal with. Bees, and wasps. What else might catch me off guard? What if I am 100 miles away from an ER while camping with my horses? What do I do then? Do I have to change my life for this? There are so many emotions and thoughts that go along with such an incident.
Anyways, back to the science part. Apparently all of that activity really messes with your system. My heartbeat was irregular (and still is), some damage was caused to my heart, Atropin is a blood test used to measure damage to the heart after a heart attack or cardiac infarction. Normal is .03, mine was .05, then increased to .175, then dropped to .08 when they finally agreed to release me from the hospital. So lots of damage, but it is most likely temporary and healing. While in ICU, they sent in a cardiologist to talk to me. He ordered an ultrasound of my heart, which determined a possible hole in my heart between the top left and right ventricles. I will return in a couple of weeks for a bubble test to determine how large the hole is.
So after 4 hours in the ER, and 1 night and half of a day in ICU, they released me. I trotted off to the pharmacy picked up new favorite accessory, did some "heart healthy" grocery shopping and then headed back to the ER hospital where my truck was. I decided to head in to say thank you to the wonderful ladies and gentlemen that dedicated 3 hours to saving my life and not giving up. As I walked in, a man asked if I needed to be seen. I explained that I was the bee sting victim from yesterday, others overheard and walked over "we haven't stopped talking about you!" I heard from behind a wall. A woman ordered a man to walk me back to say hello. Immediately I was approached by a woman who i vaguely recognized. She started crying and gave me a hug "it is so good to see you walking and talking!" Another man walked out and hugged me. They thanked me so much for coming to visit. Apparently they never get to see how patients are after they see them and they aren't allowed to reach out because of privacy act. He then began to tell me that I experienced 12 PVCs in 3 minutes. and that they weren't sure that I was going to make it. They were prepared for the worst. That was very hard to hear from them. I began to cry. Thanked them again and left. As I was driving, I noticed some hives appearing on my arm. I started to worry, but then learned that it isn't that abnormal after what my body had just gone through.
I got home and ironically saw that the pest control guy had been there (day late buddy!). But, within 20 minutes of walking in the door, not one, not two, but THREE vases of flowers were delivered! Then another vase the next day. THANK YOU DANIELLE, ANNA, ROB, LOU, RINALDO, AND THE GREAT PEOPLE AT VAREN! You are all so kind, thoughtful and generous, I have such amazing people in my life, and I am so glad to be here with all of you. So here's to you all, and me being a part of this world and to hiring a more accurate and prompt pest control specialist!
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