Destination: Emergency Room

Before I begin my dramatic (more like traumatic) tale, there are two things you have to know about me. 1) I don't like showing public emotion other than crying at a movie or book. That's fine, but I don't like people to see me upset about me. I don't do it. 2) I will most likely never tell you just how sick I am, until I'm not that sick anymore. It's more like a confidence in my eyes you knowing just how sick I am at that moment. I don't know why I do that, I just do. I am telling all this so you will understand why no one in Akiak knew just how sick I had gotten - not even my roommate.

Last weekend, I woke up and was having some sinus problems. More like, I felt like I was punched in the sinuses. I stayed in bed all day that Saturday and felt much better on Sunday. By the start of the work week, I felt fine.

On Saturday, I woke up feeling sick again. But I couldn't pinpoint exactly how I felt sick. So I decided to not waste two Saturdays in a row being sick. So I decided to not act sick. I took a walk on the riverbank, I washed dishes, we had a very nice movie marathon going...whatever. But I kept feeling worse and worse. By that night I was feverish.....I'll not go into all the details but by the end of the weekend it was very clear that I had either strep throat or tonsillitis. Either way, work was not going to happen on Monday. So I walked to the school, lysoled my classroom & got my lesson plans ready for Monday. I was sick but I was doing all the home remedies in my Healthwise Handbook and I was okay. Well, sorta okay. My appetite had disappeared. I just wasn't hungry - a first for me. But I looked at that as just a perk and moved on.

By Monday, I was starting to suspect those home remedies were a hoax. I mean gargling with warm salt water, using saline spray, lots of fluids....I wasn't feeling any better, in fact I felt worse! (Totally joking about the remedies being bunk by the way.) The problem was that swallowing was getting to be very painful. I didn't get much sleep either. I was in too much pain.

I called the clinic and got an appointment for later that day. So here was my issues: couldn't sleep, now I couldn't eat even if I wanted to, and it was starting to hurt to much to drink. I could drink tea but only at a temperature that would burn my esophagus. This was getting bad. So I would force down a couple of sips. I froze my vitamin water to make a kind of slushie & that helped but I couldn't take a lot. But I had my appointment, I just had to get through until then.

My appointment time came (thank goodness!!!) and I was miserable. I could no longer talk or even open my mouth, my tonsils were so swollen. I was barely hanging on. I knew the drill. They would see me, I would get a very painful from what I hear tell shot of penicillin and be on my merry way, feeling better sometime soon. That's not what happened. They did a strep culture right there and it was positive. Great! Gimme my shot. "Wait....Let me just see something." And she felt my jaw. She told me she was concerned because my tonsils were almost touching. So she calls the doctor in Bethel. This next question almost made me burst into tears: "Do you have a way into Bethel?"

Am I that sick? Where's my god awful shot? Aren't you just going to give me the shot? (In your bottom no less).

Bottom line: The doctor and the Health Aide suspect that there might be more than just strep. They suspect an abscess, which I didn't know what that was but frankly I hurt too much to ask.

I was given the number of the guy in Akiak who arranges flights and got myself booked on the next flight to Bethel. Well, okay...that was easy. ($150) (Don't worry - medical insurance covers travel expenses here.)

They didn't treat the strep but they did give me Tylenol with Codeine. I was feeling no pain for the next few hours, let me tell you. That's when I spoke to my coworkers. Which is another reason none of them knew how sick I was. They saw me on pain meds. But I totally left without writing lesson plans. I had never, ever done that before. That should have been a huge red flag to anyone who knows me....I may be sick, but I always cover my responsibilities at work.

I'll have to admit....I think Alaska was trying to make me feel better...cause here's what I saw on my flight: 4 moose, 3 caribou, 5 huge beaver dams, and 2 hunters on the tundra. And it was snowing in Bethel. Maybe I should have rethought the flannel pj's but I had a warm coat & my snow boots, so whatever.

I was told to go to the ER and my information would be faxed over waiting for me to get there. It wasn't. No biggie. Except that the triage nurse did not understand why they sent me here at all. She was rude from the get go. Then she asked me if they treated me in Akiak. When I said no, she said, "Well, why not?" I don't know!! (A colorful word came into my mind, but I'm trying to keep this kid friendly) but seeing as I was still feeling pretty good from my pain med (which I told her I was on), I didn't let Nurse Ratchet get me down. She said she didn't see anything odd & kinda rolled her eyes. But she told me to let her know if my situation changes.

The ER waiting room had one thing going for it. The History Channel was on. Time flies when you sit me down in front of TV (which I haven't seen in two months). But after two hours, I notice that my magic pill was starting to wear off. The pain was coming back. Not unbearable, but it was a change in my situation. I informed the chick at the front desk. She told Nurse Ratchet but she wasn't concerned. When I sat down, I noticed it was weird I hadn't needed to go the bathroom yet. But I dismissed it. My saliva was thicker too....okay...I realized I was starting to become dehydrated but I was already in a ER. So I let it go.

Two more hours go by. By now, my pain med has worn off. It was agonizing every time I swallowed. There were only new people in the waiting room. Everyone else had gone in before me. I curse that woman with four hours of extra child labor...I really do. She didn't take my condition seriously and maybe I should have put up more of a fuss. What can I say? Drugs are bad, kids. So here's what I did. I went up the front nurse and burst into tears. Okay, I didn't plan that last part, it just happened to my horror (see things to know about me #1) I told her I can't swallow, I can't drink, I haven't been able to eat, and before I could finish, she was up out of her seat & grabbed a different triage nurse.

Boy, men sure don't like tears. My new nurse was a man. He first thought I was overreacting. He told me he understands I'm stressed and upset. I told him in my most calm, rational, tears pouring out way that I wasn't upset, I was in pain. I told him my sad tale & he read what the other lady had said. He checked my tonsils and then said, "Wait...Let me just see something." And checked again. He gave me some regular Tylenol and after watching me swallow those pills down (I couldn't help it...a high pitch sound of pain escaped) he moved to to the head of the waiting list. See why I curse that woman???

A half hour later, I was in. It was now past midnight. If I wasn't in so much pain, I don't think I would have minded the wait. Cause there was another problem. The planes were no longer flying out. I would have to find a hotel room if I was in and out from this point. I didn't have anywhere to go until morning. But as my mother says, don't borrow trouble, so I decided to cross that bridge when I got there.

I told my story to the doctor who asked me why wasn't I treated in Akiak? Why did they send me here? Oh no, I thought. Well, just give me my shot and I'll be on my way. Then he says, "Wait....Let me just see something." Then I knew it was going to be okay. Because those were magic words by this point. I knew he would see whatever everyone else saw to realize that something else was wrong.

I finally got my shot, which didn't hurt me one bit. See the trick is to already be in far more worse pain and you won't notice the shot. I wasn't expecting the barrage of blood work he ordered or the CAT scan for my throat though. Or the shot of steroids to deflate my tonsils. Or the IV - they found out I was dehydrated. Or the pain meds they put into my IV. Or the second set of antibiotics he had put through my IV. Or the heated blanket they cover you with - heaven!

After a while, I had fallen asleep. The doctor woke me up and asked if I thought I was able to go home. Yeah, sure I said. I was already feeling so much better. Of course I had no where to go, but I overheard the nurses worrying over all the taken beds. The truth was, I was okay now & I didn't want to take up space for someone who needed it. The nurse was worried about me because she knew I wasn't a local and that meant I didn't have anywhere else to go. It was 5:30 in the morning.

I had decided to hang out in the waiting room until the cafeteria opened at 7:30. I called my mom to let her know I was okay. By the way, if you ever want to freak out your family, get really sick 2,000 miles away. Especially your mom. That'll do it. I called my favorite bush airline Renfro Alaskan Adventures (the one with the really cute pilot - but i didn't want to see him today) and got myself a 9:00 flight back home ($200). Yeah, they're more expensive, but they're known to be very good. If I was to be in a bush plane crash, these guys would have the least damage done to the plane and everyone would walk away from it. So I'd feel safer crashing with them. Weird way to look at it, I know, but these guys are awesome pilots.

Man, I was looking so forward to breakfast. I had pancakes, eggs, & fruit. It felt like I hadn't eaten in days....wait, I hadn't. I felt refreshed and so much better. I'm still sick....but I'm only 30% sick.

I made it home safe & sound (thank you Renfro) and have spent the day resting. I am going back to work tomorrow. I plan on taking it easy. I hear it was crazy yesterday....so I think a nice relaxing orderly day tomorrow is in order. I feel kind of guilty that I didn't have any sub plans (I just said, pretty much do the same thing as Monday but in the next chapter in Math), maybe that didn't matter so much since the sub didn't show up anyways. And my kids just went to class like they normally do with no teacher. I have no clue what happened from there.....I imagine it was discovered rather quickly that there was no teacher in the room. I can't decide if it's better that I just don't no how bad today went for them or if it would make a really great story. But man, I can't get sick again - my kids need me!!!