So this is for my Grandpa. He is just dying to know the details of my hospital visit.
Last week, I had gone out for my normal jog (about 1.5 miles). Nothing too strenuous, just to get the blood moving. When I returned home, I walked into the gate of our complex and I felt a little pain in my chest. Almost like an air bubble trapped in my throat. So I coughed and kind of hit my chest to see if I could just get rid of it. By the time I got up to the 3rd Floor where our condo is, the pain had increased so severely that I could hardly breathe. It felt as though I had swallowed a large stone and it was just caught in my esophagus. This made it so I couldn't swallow and even breathing brought a sharp pain to my chest. I stumbled into the house and went straight to the bathroom for some reason. Sat on the floor and tried to figure out what was going on.
I have had a reaction like this once before, when I found out I was allergic to feta cheese. I would eat the cheese and shortly after, it felt like my chest was completely closing in on me. As if my throat was swollen shut. But this time the pain was much sharper and I sat there clutching my chest. I tried to make myself throw up to relieve some of the pressure but couldn't. So my next reaction was to call my husband.
He was at work talking to his bosses and got the terrifying phone call of "I'M HAVING REALLY BAD CHEST PAINS! I CAN'T BREATHE OR SWALLOW!" It totally freaked him out and he instructed me to call 911 and immediately left work (which is about 30 miles away from home). So I called 911 and the dispatcher told me to stay seated and put my head back to open up my airways. That did seem to help as I waited for the paramedics. Within 5 minutes, I had 4 (very handsome) paramedics and 3 (very good-looking) firemen in my house. They asked me to move to the living room and began a process of checking my blood pressure, heart, pulse, lungs, etc. Everything looked completely normal, but I still had the pain. On a scale of 1 to 10, it was probably an 8 or 9. So the paramedics thought since it wasn't a heart attack that I was probably having anxiety. But I don't have anxiety. So there was no real answer and they recommended that I go to the hospital.
Coming from a family of cheap-skates, all I could think about was how expensive the ambulance ride would be. But since my husband was still about 20 minutes away, I decided it would be best to just take it and get to the hospital as quickly as possible. While in the ambulance, they gave me chewable aspirin for the pain and nitro glycerin to slow down my heart rate. By the time we reached the hospital, my pain was down to about a 4 or 5. In the hospital room, they took blood/did an EKG/checked my heart rate/ blood pressure/lungs again. We had to wait about 30 minutes for the results but everything was totally fine and normal. The doctor said "You know, we get about 5 heart attacks a day, but they are not 30-year olds. They are older, obese people with high blood pressure and health problems." I couldn't help but think "Brittney Murphy was only 32!!" but I also knew I wasn't in the same category as her.
By this time, my husband and Mother-In-Law had arrived and I was feeling much better. My pain was at about a 2 or 3 and I was starting to feel more embarrassed than anything! It was all such a fuss for nothing! When the doctor came in to release me, he assured me that it wasn't my heart and I said "I know that! The pain is not where my heart is. It's where my esophagus is." So his educated guess was that I had severe acid reflux of some sort. I asked "REALLY?!! Acid reflux can cause that sort of pain?" He said that occasionally it could and also gave me some literature on Gastritis and Ulcers, along with a prescription for a Prilosec-type of medicine. And home I went.
I'm still not convinced that it was any of the things he mentioned. I have
no other symptoms to indicate Acid Reflux, Gastritis or Ulcers. So my self-diagnosis is that it was a severe allergic reaction of some sort. I had eaten an omelet earlier that day with cheese and milk, so I am betting one of those dairy products got the best of me. Hopefully there is no next time, but if there is I'm going to try using my Epi-pen to see if that relieves the symptoms.
All in all, I'm totally fine. I start jogging again today (I have to, after all the holiday treats I ate!) and the one good thing that came from all of this is now I have an interesting story to tell my Grandpa! Love you Gramps!
And that pretty much covers it! Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday!
Robert Downey, Jr. Jude Law. Rachel McAdams. Oh, and how could I forget? They all have English accents!!!!
Coming from a family of cheap-skates, all I could think about was how expensive the ambulance ride would be. But since my husband was still about 20 minutes away, I decided it would be best to just take it and get to the hospital as quickly as possible. While in the ambulance, they gave me chewable aspirin for the pain and nitro glycerin to slow down my heart rate. By the time we reached the hospital, my pain was down to about a 4 or 5. In the hospital room, they took blood/did an EKG/checked my heart rate/ blood pressure/lungs again. We had to wait about 30 minutes for the results but everything was totally fine and normal. The doctor said "You know, we get about 5 heart attacks a day, but they are not 30-year olds. They are older, obese people with high blood pressure and health problems." I couldn't help but think "Brittney Murphy was only 32!!" but I also knew I wasn't in the same category as her.
I feel so un-merry this year. I am SO not that person... But I think the main reason is that time is just getting away. I talk about that a lot, I know. It pretty much scares the crap outta me!! I'm starting to understand what our parents were talking about. I remember when I was younger, my Dad would always wish Christmas didn't come, because then in the blink of an eye it would be over. As a kid, I thought he was crazy. Of course we wanted Christmas to come! We spent 11 months anticipating it. But now I kind of get what he meant. It's just another representation of how quickly time moves.
11/25 - Thanksgiving was good. Nice and quiet - a far cry from the "usual" Thanksgiving. We stayed close to home and enjoyed yummy food with Paul's parents, his sister and my bro. Topped off the night with a solid game of Scrabble and took turns trying on Dad's glasses. What can I say, we are easily entertained...
The rest of my days have been spent either taking pictures or editing them. And this week will be no exception. Better get crackin'!
Yes! The Tonight Show with Conan O'Brien. What a fun taping to attend!! I've seen Leno many times and Kimmel a couple, but Conan was the best. Obviously I've been a fan of his forever, so I felt really lucky to finally get to see a live taping - it was worth the wait! At first, I kept thinking "Man, I really wish we had seen him in New York. This is bittersweet because its the Tonight Show and not Late Night." But by the end it didn't even matter.
And a couple surprises - Andy Richter is really tall! I had no idea. Also, after the cameras stop rolling, Conan sings the "End of the Show Song". Classic. I'm definitely gonna do that again.
It wasn't a total waste of two hours. Did I mention - George Clooney and Ewan McGregor?
I also loved how they really dove in and developed the characters personalities and everything came full circle to represent all the pieces of Max's life. The fact that they could make all that from a short children's book was freakin' brilliant.
When these things happen I am reminded that I could NEVER have been a doctor. This itty bitty hole in my arm was enough to make me light-headed and I had to drink some water and sit down for awhile! HAHA. What a wuss. But really.
2008
A couple weekends ago we went to the Pasadena Old Town Haunt and that was flippin' scary! Not only was it the normal creepy location with scary characters, but we even had to crawl through a tunnel!!! I thought I was going to pee myself. I kept grabbing my husband's feet in front of me, just to make sure he was still there. Yikes!!
Then this last weekend, we had a big group of people make the trek to Santa Barbara for our good friend's 10th anniversary of her 21st birthday. Yes, she turned 31, but we all felt young again going out and partying like college kids. And can I say, I still love being the sober one and watching everyone's antics. Pure comedy.
On Monday, I took a little trip by myself to visit my family in very chilly Hurricane, UT. It was my nephew's 2nd birthday and I just can't believe how quickly time has gone!! He is still adorable as ever and loves having little conversations about Toy Story, Disneyland and drums. Honestly, he is awesome and I'm so proud of my sister and what a great mom she has been. Kids like that don't develop accidentally. He is loved and is taught new things every day. I had sissy leave him home from the baby-sitters for a couple days so that I could spend as much time with him as possible - and I loved every second of squeezing and snuggling and laughing and all that. He is the yummiest. Can't wait until Christmas to spend some more time with him. (Sis, really. Consider moving to CA.)
I also got a chance to hang with one of my bestest gal pals and we ate some 5 Guys, watched a silly-scary movie and stayed up late talking into the night. As always, it was good to reconnect and spend some girly time together.
Today is Halloween and I have been a total party pooper this year. So I'm not even dressing up. Not going to any parties. Didn't even bother decorating. Sad, huh? At least I went to Disneyland for their Halloween Time. Hopefully I'm not like this at Christmas! But Hubs and I decided we'll just go out tonight and check out some local haunted houses. Should be spooktacular. (?) Hope everyone has a safe night.
I still get a little jolt when I look in the mirror but I know the shock will wear off in a couple days. My stylist did a great job matching up the color. And there is something to be said for having darker hair. It's a little more rocker and a little bit sultry too. So I can deal with that. And the beauty of hair color is that nothing is permanent. But those extra $$ dolla dolla billz $$ in my pocket every 6 weeks will sure come in handy.
Be forewarned, if you are religious, he pokes fun at the idea of God and revelation. He is an atheist, so you should just know that going in. I personally am not religious, but still believe in all those things that make up the foundations of religion. I can just see where he's coming from. I feel sad for him, but he's still hilarious.
Even with warmer weather, Mammoth was great. We spent a lot of time in the condo just hanging out, but we also went out to eat a couple times and got out to hike. We took a trail to Rainbow Falls and that was just awesome. The falls were beautiful, especially when we got up close. Along the trail, we also saw a lot of dead wilderness from the fire of '92. It looked cool though! Very desolate. And if you were quiet, I swear you'd hear a pin drop out there. We also stopped to see the Earthquake Fault, which is one of those things that looks really neat in person, but is difficult to translate into good pictures. Always feels good to get back to nature though.
I totally enjoyed the fresh air, but I was also surprised how much the elevation got to me. I guess we were at about 8,000 feet and I felt like my heart was beating so hard the whole weekend. I didn't really have any asthma problems or anything, so that was good. But I got a little light-headed at times. It seemed so silly! I've been in mountains before, so I don't know what happened. Even so, it was nice to be up there and get out of the city for a couple days. Loved it. Oh, and on the way home we drove down the "Musical Road" in Lancaster. That was hilarious and we did it a couple times. It's the simple things in life, ya know?
I must say, all those people who tell you getting tattooed doesn't hurt - all those people are liars! It hurts. It kind of hurts a lot. But after about 20 minutes you go numb and then you're just excited to have it, so I think you forget how much it hurt in the moment. My hands were dripping with sweat and I just tried to carry on a conversation with the artist to avoid thinking about the needle being dragged through my skin. It wasn't my first tattoo, and its probably not my last, but I'll definitely remember the pain when I'm picking a location for the next one.
The only gift I wanted in return was to have my wedding rings cleaned. Huz got them polished and re-plated and they look amazing! Like brand new! I couldn't believe how great they looked. I swear, even the diamond looked bigger because it was sparkling like crazy. So he did good there. He also took me out to a nice dinner and a comedy show. Semi-celebrity, Tom Green, showed up to do a set, so that was a fun surprise. It was a small crowd though, so at times it seemed a little awkward. Especially since some of the comics weren't THAT funny. But overall, we had a great night. As always, a celebration to remember...
