Wednesday, November 10, 2010

I met death again

I met death last Monday and managed to put him off. This was not the first time I have had a visit from him, but the fourth. Each time, he gets closer and this time, he was standing beside me.
The panic I felt was the most intense and scary thing I have ever been through in my life, because this time I thought it was actually the end. The other times were quick and I didn’t have time to realize what was happening. So far I’ve managed to survive.

Monday morning on the First of November, I was running late for work. I didn’t take time to eat breakfast, but would stop for a McMuffin and eat it on the way. I put my vitamins in my shirt pocket as I didn’t want to get sick by taking them on an empty stomach.

I finished my muffin and pulled into my parking spot. I unscrewed the cap on my water bottle and it shot out of my fingers, never to be found again. I drank a big swallow of water and then reached into my shirt pocket and grabbed the vitamins. Tossing them all into my mouth I took another big drink of water and swallowed. One of the vitamins got stuck sideways into my throat, and I was having difficulty breathing. I opened the door to the car and started heaving and choking. I was alone in the dark and felt I was about to die. The panic was completely indescribable. I actually thought I was going to die out in the parking lot before school started.

It subsided somewhat when I realized I could still breathe, although with difficulty. I was very scared up to this point when I figured I would not die, but still in a state of panic.
I went to the restroom and stuck my finger down my throat, and started heaving some blood with the bile. I could feel the vitamin with my finger but could not budge it.

I then decided I had better go to the emergency room at the hospital about 4 miles away. Some people had started arriving by this time and one of the teachers at the school asked if I needed a ride. Not being able to clearly think at this point, I felt it was important for him to be at class on time so I said I could drive myself. That was a mistake as about halfway there, I wasn’t sure I was going to be able to make it as I started choking again.

I made it to the hospital, but could not find the emergency entrance as it was not very clearly marked as which way to go. I walked in and wandered around until I could find a nurse who took me to the E.R. I was able to explain to the ER nurse my predicament and he got me situated. My blood pressure was 190 over 120 and I was asked, “Do you have a blood pressure problem?” I could say I about choked, but that goes without saying.
After a couple of hours of choking and heaving in the E.R., I told the doctor to get me a pair of needle nose pliers and I would get it out myself. They had given me a shot to relax my esophagus so the pill would go down, but it seemed that it was moving upward and a lot more painful than before. They decided to put me out and take me to the outpatient operating room where they would go in with an endoscope.

When I woke up, they showed me it wasn’t a vitamin, but the bottle cap! The water bottles you get at Walmart or the grocery store do not have the regular sized caps, but very thin ones.

My mate Fingers was figuring odds recently and I might need his help in calculating the odds that this cap shot out of my fingers and into my shirt pocket.

One thing has changed. I take my vitamins one at a time now.