I know I have been missing in action for about three weeks but I promise I have a good reason. I am going to definitely fill you in. There is so much to be grateful for. I actually missed writing on the blog but sometimes life just gets in the way. But I am definitely glad to be back. Remember Grateful Friday is a weekly thread where I share what I am grateful for and you can feel free to share what you are grateful for as well. The first thing I am super grateful for is my baby girl graduated high school. This has been a long time coming. I was so glad to see my baby walk across that stage. The last few weeks has been preparing for this. Making sure everything was paid and she had everything she needed to graduate. We are so absolutely proud of her. She finished school with a great GPA. Now the next few months we are preparing for her to go to college. She will be the first out of our foursome to actually leave and go to college. I did my college education online. I am super excited for her.
La La Land Mommy: Grateful Friday: Great Emergency Care
Another thing I am grateful for is that it is summer. I truly believe we have actually earned this summer break. It was a very busy school year. I can’t wait to see what the summer brings. I hope we have some amazing adventures.
Now let’s get to the real reason for this post. I had the most freakiest of incidents last Friday. I was out doing my morning walk like I normally do when either a bee or wasp somehow found it’s way between my glasses and my eye. All I know is which ever one it was stuck and it was buzzing. Both of us had the same plan which was to get it out. I threw my glasses down and I was free. But what ever it was got me under my eye. I didn’t think anything of it. I really thought I was okay cause all I had was a little spot under my eye and a little bit of pain. Although, you can never be too careful when it comes to your eyes. I have problems with them anyway, hence why I wear glasses, and I would hate for anything else to happen to them because of a silly sting. I was even contemplating getting in touch with my ophthalmologist, as they have a wide array of ophthalmological equipment that would be able to see if any damage had been done to my eyes. That is what they are there for, after all. But silly as I was, I shrugged off the pain and carried on with my day. After all, it wasn’t a massively traumatic experience at all like a stroke or a heart problem, although I know a stroke is different from cardiac arrest, and I was definitely grateful that what had happened to me wasn’t one of them, it was just a simple sting.
I finished my walk and went into the house. I mean I was even making little jokes about it with my friend who was on the phone when it went down. I also sent a text to my husband letting him know what happened. When I got in the house I grabbed some ice and iced my face for a few hours off and on. Then I went to work. I had no idea that this would turn into what it turned into. By the end of my work day my face was slightly swollen I took a picture and posted to Instagram. Still making light of the situation. I’m thinking you know take a few pain pills, ice my face, and then move on. Nope that isn’t what happened at all.
The next morning I woke up to this:
La La Land Mommy: Grateful Friday: Great Emergency Care
So yeah it was not just a simple sting. It was definitely something way more serious. I began to think it could be an allergic reaction. So I looked up how to deal with stings, and even posts from people that told me all about “how i cured my blepharitis“, just in case something developed as a result of this (a little over-cautious, perhaps, but you can never be too sure when it comes to your health!). Now mind you it was like 6am in the morning. I was in pain and numb at the same time. I woke The Husband up and asked him to get me some Benadryl from the store . Which he did. While he was gone I put more ice on my face. As soon as he got back I took the Benadryl and tried to relax. He and the kids went to hang out. When he came home and saw my face was still the same he rushed me to the emergency room. Nothing I was doing was working so I had to go even though I really didn’t want to. The nurse took one look at my face and took me back. The doctor came in felt my face and confirmed I was having an allergic reaction. Then he told me I had to be admitted. I said “Admitted! What do you mean admitted? He said I needed fluids and medicine intravenously to help take down the swelling. I reluctantly agreed. Not like I had a choice. They gave me a shot of prednisone in the belly to start fighting the swelling. This was the first night since I had my son that I would be away from my family. The Husband went to pick up our daughter from her job and to make sure everything was okay with Tyler. All I could do was wait to be transferred to the hospital area and be admitted. It took about an hour but the ambulance people took me and transferred me to the hospital area. Did I mention I have never been in an ambulance before. All this was all new to me. They strapped me in and took my vitals. They were very nice. When we got to my room I was given an I.v. and they gave me fluids, I believe some pepicid, and something to eat (Cause I hadn’t eaten all day.). I called The Husband and let him know I made it.
La La Land Mommy: Grateful Friday: Great Emergency Care
The next day they drew my blood and tested it. The swelling in my face had gone down a little but not too much. The results came back that I was anemic. Guess what that meant? That meant a blood transfusion was in order for yours truly. I remember being anemic with my pregnancy with both kids but nothing beyond that. But I have not been going for my yearly check ups like I should so of course I wouldn’t know. So now I am not only being treated for an allergic reaction but anemia too. I wound up with two I.v.’s one for fluid and one for blood. The one for fluid went back after awhile and there was a pocket of fluid in my arm that went down after a few days. I just knew I was going home that night but unfortunately that was not the case. I was told that since I was still swollen I had to stay another night and they needed to test my hemoglobin levels to see if I was still anemic. I was a 6 when I came in. So I had to spend another night away from my family. I promise you I was so over the hospital but I knew I had to stay and take care of myself. The Husband and kids had stopped by while I was getting my blood transfusion. I was glad I at least got to see them. I started to get up and move around cause I was tired of being in the bed besides going to restroom. The Husband helped me walk the hallways. I was sad when they left though.
La La Land Mommy: Grateful Friday: Great Emergency Care
On Monday my day started off again with getting my blood drawn so that they could test my hemoglobin. I must say all the nurses who took my blood were great. I felt a minimal amount of pain. Before I could go home I had to test over a 7 . Well when they got the results back I was exactly at a 7. That meant another transfusion for me. I actually tried to talk the doctor out of it but she said if I didn’t get the transfusion I wouldn’t be cleared to go back to work. So I got the transfusion. After that I was able to go home. I was still a little swollen when I left but not as bad as when I came in. I was back to normal after a few days. But I now know I am allergic to bees, wasps, and I have anemia.
La La Land Mommy: Grateful Friday: Great Emergency Care
I am so grateful to all the people who helped me. But I am most grateful for the lesson I learned. You can always take your self-care a little further. I did not want to be in that hospital but if I hadn’t gotten stung I definitely wouldn’t have known I was as anemic as I was. They said it really was bad. It actually explains a great deal of some of the things I have been feeling over the years. Like shortness of breath and low energy. I really do thank all the nurses who took care of me. They were all nice and very gentle. The doctors all answered whatever questions I had even when I became impatient. No matter what, they were always there for me – they really do work harder than anybody else and I could never dream of succeeding at a job like that. So many of us just aren’t cut out for it! Trust me, when you see the hard work and commitment firsthand, it really makes you count your blessings. I’m just so glad to learn that these people have the support of schemes and programs to help them through both mentally and financially, have a look at this reference for examples. I really do think with a job like that, you need external help to keep going as you are! Well done all, and I was probably the least of your worries! On a serious note, this whole situation could have been much worse than it originally was. I am just glad to be back to my old self again. I am prepared to make the necessary changes I need to make so I don’t wind up back in the hospital again. Having anemia is definitely not what I wanted. But I know it can lead to other health issues if I don’t manage them. So I have started doing research on what foods I can eat to help it. I am going to start taking iron pills. Well, I have already been prescribed some but I am going to continue taking them.
