Everything went wrong today from the moment I got out of bed after a restless 5 hour sleep.
Last night, I had applied a new flea medicine to my puppy called ZoGuard. As soon as I was alert, all I could smell was syrup throughout the apartment. I wrongly accused my son of drinking syrup in bed. In my defense, he confided in me last week that he took gulps of syrup in the mornings before school. Seriously, I told him to stop and am concerned his "no cavity" record was in jeopardy.
Anyway, the smell was everywhere but most notably on puppy. I goggled "dog smells like syrup" and it kept leading me to diabetes in dogs. Nope. Then I searched Zoguard and no odd smells, just that it didn't work. It dawned on me that it was the new medicine as my eyes hurt and the smell was making me nauseous.
Springing into action, my son and I bathed and bathed the poor pup until the odor was gone. Then all of the contaminated bedding, three separate areas, puppy bed, son's and my bedding and jammies, all had to be washed in hot water 2 or 3 times until clean. Four loads of laundry, all done.
Okay, then I started feeling a different kind of feel after eating a "gluten free" pizza. It, too, had gotten contaminated and the weirdy symptoms of gluten ingestion hit me, hard. I get dizzy, my chest burns and I feel weak and loopy. That didn't bother me too much. Then my arms, from fingertips to elbows and, to a lesser degree, my legs from knee to foot started going numb, not pins and needles from sitting funny or applied pressure, but for no, currently explainable reason.
My chest felt really funny and my heart was pounding. I seriously thought I was having a heart attack. So I made my first trip to the local hospital where I had never been before.
I was scared, alone in a very large, city hospital. I kept asking for directions and was ushered in to a huge emergency room. The nurse was great and talked to me like I was a kid, then, as I listened to what was happening in the adjoining rooms, I realized that's just how these ER nurses talk, slow and low. Okay, I stopped feeling like I looked stupid.
Long story shortened, it turns out that my recent foray into my love of painting had exacerbated my cervical spinal stenosis and was cause my extremities to go numb from the inflammation and use of my arms. It's really a scary symptom and I'll need to see my doctor to get treatment, probably acupuncture, chiropractic care, more x-rays, better medication and maybe physical therapy again. Oh boy...
I'd never been in a big city ER, and I saw and heard traumatic stuff. A guy screaming in pain, fighting the nurses, doctor saying "I'm holding it here so You Don't Bleed Out", omg, omg, omg. The terrible shrieks of pain from this poor soul. Yep, traumatized in the ER, fer sure. Did I mention how frightened I was being in a new place? A new place where I didn't know a soul and didn't know where the exit was or what was happening to me next?
The nurses, all very nice, had something unfamiliar that I hadn't experienced in my small town life...they had a certain professional distance to them, a detachment because that's needed for them to do their job effectively. I realized that I really didn't need to say much and stopped worrying about making small talk.
After screaming guy was rolled off to surgery, the room was shortly filled with a crying baby. Omg, omg, omg, that was almost worse than the previous tenant. It's triggering for me, to be sure.
I wanted out and fast but I found some patience and waited it out. After laying there for a couple hours, my doctor finally returned with the good news. Zero heart problems but big time spine issues along with either a virus or acid reflux. It seems every couple of years, my stomach goes nuts, gets painful and I struggle with appetite and good digestion. This is one of those times.
Finally, I was discharged and made my way to the pharmacy on the way home. I tried calling my son, but the home phone wasn't working, thus I rushed as safely as possible.
The new meds seem to be okay. I have a couple more refills to get tomorrow. I'd like to stop by the health department to see if my nurse is on duty. See, when they put the iv in, it ran everywhere and when they took it out, again, a bloody mess. I'm afraid to take the bandage off. My nurse is wonderful and understanding. I'm hoping she has a couple of minutes to help me. I feel a little bit stupid but I've spent every hour of today frightened. And I'm not afraid to ask for help from nurse because she's nice and has always been helpful and kind. Plus, I need to set up a doctor's appointment to get my neck taken care of.
It's been a truly terrible, scary day. Everything seemed to go wrong in very big ways.
I can sleep in, if I can sleep but I have another big appointment at another new place. I'm trying my best, I really am. It's just harder at times these days. I've really been sick for two whole weeks, first the cold, then infected tonsil and now this.
I'm broken, I'm stressed, I get that....but the trauma dramas are free to stop now.
I'm bummed it's a few more days till therapy. Therapist seems like one big effective bandage these days...just too many days between appointments.
Maybe tomorrow will be better, lighter and smoother. A girl can hope, right?
