An overexciting Saturday night

Last night D. and I were gearing up for a typical Saturday night, which is to say that I decided to run to Costco and buy, among other things, a pizza for that night's dinner, which we would eat while watching a video. Because that's how exciting our lives are here in Adventure City.

But instead what happened is that, as I was standing in line to checkout, I suddenly started feeling very bad indeed -- cold sweat, clamminess, feeling like I was either going to throw up or pass out. I crouched down, holding onto the conveyer belt, and the cashier asked me in concern if I was all right (since I clearly wasn't!), and I asked if she could get me a cup of water. I stood up to take off my jacket since I was feeling so clammy ... and the next thing I knew, I was lying flat on my back, with a ring of concerned faces around me.

Yep, I passed out, falling straight back and hitting my head very hard on the concrete floor -- and possibly on the cart behind me, although no one could say for sure whether that was the case. I was apparently out cold and twitching a little for about 6 seconds and then came to. Costco employees called 911, stayed with me until the EMTs took over, called D. twice to let her know what was going on -- I'm definitely writing the store a thank you card!

And then I had my very first experience with EMTs, ambulances, the whole nine yards. They put me in a neck brace and strapped me to a backboard, just as a precaution since I'd hit my head, and I've now had my first ambulance ride, which made me a little carsick but was otherwise interesting. The EMT who was working with me in the back was really nice and reassuring and kept calling me "honey," which is the kind of thing that might annoy some people but made me feel very safe and cared for. (I'd love to know what they call men, since I'm assuming they wouldn't call them "honey.") After I got admitted to the ER, the EMTs stopped by to say goodbye and "hope you feel better" before they left -- very nice men indeed. In the store and in the ambulance, they kept asking me all sorts of questions to assess my cognition -- my birthday, what day it was, did I know where I was, etc. -- and then they asked me my age, and I said "43. Wait, no, 44. I think. Hmm, let me do the math -- yes, 44" and then assured them that my uncertainty on this point had nothing to do with hitting my head but simply with having reached the age where I don't tend to keep track of my age so much.

And then I was at the hospital for hours and hours because they wanted to check everything and monitor me for awhile. Fortunately, D. had brought all sorts of things that she thought might make me more comfortable (especially if I'd been admitted), so I had a little neck pillow that made those hours more comfortable than they would have been otherwise. Folks were very nice to me, but it was a long night, and my head was bleeding and hurt, and I was really cold despite the warmed blankets they kept putting on me (at one point I had a serious shivering attack, which I think was maybe an aftereffect of the adrenaline from the whole experience, as were my tears once D. arrived in the ER and we were alone for a moment), and mostly I just wanted to go home. Plus, the nearest hospital, which is the one the EMTs took me to, is a Catholic hospital, which I didn't realize until I put my glasses on and realized there was a crucifix on the wall, which gave me an unpleasant St. Martyr's flashback, such that when the intake person asked my marital status I hesitated for a moment before saying "married." But in fact they were all totally cool and treated D. as the spouse she is in this state (which was another one of those moments when I realize that, although I'd love to live closer to my family, I don't want to give up the status of being legally married to my spouse, which significantly limits the number of states I'm willing to live in).

I got a catscan, and everything looked fine, so they eventually released me after 11 p.m. that night. They don't know exactly what made me pass out, but I was slightly anemic, so I'm supposed to follow up on that with the doctor. My blood sugar was really high when they brought me in, which is weird since normally when I feel kind of faint the problem is low blood sugar and I eat a little something and am fine, but apparently the stress of the whole experience could have made my sugar spike after the fact, so they can't really tell what my blood sugar was at the time I fainted. I'm also supposed to follow up with the doctor about possible diabetes, although that's more of a "ruling things out" issue, since the doctor didn't think that was what was up.

I also wound up with a skull laceration from the fall and now have 9 staples in my head, which I'll get removed on Friday afternoon when I go to see the doctor for all of this other follow up. Getting those staples put in was far and away the worst part of the whole experience -- "you'll feel a slight pinch," my ass! Plus, getting the wound cleaned out hurt like hell -- not just the stinging but also the whole area is terribly bruised -- and in fact I threw up from the pain, another little bonus of the experience.

The whole evening pretty much sucked, of course, but I'm kind of jazzed at the possibility that it was all caused by anemia, since that might explain a few other symptoms I've had lately: terribly heavy periods in the last couple of years; and in the last few months, shortness of breath just from going upstairs, even though I'm in reasonably fine shape, and a general lack of energy such that I'm pretty much always wiped out. It looks like anemia is pretty easy to treat (and D. went out today and bought me Cream of Wheat and blackstrap molasses for iron-rich breakfasts), and I'd be quite pleased to discover that these other symptoms that I assumed were just about aging are instead about a lack of iron in my blood that could be taken care of fairly quickly. Of course, I would just as soon have made that discovery without fainting and hitting my head, but I guess beggars can't be choosers.

Fortunately, this is a long weekend, so I've got a couple of days to rest and recuperate before going back to school on Tuesday. I'd be perfectly willing to call in sick if I had to, but I don't think that will be necessary. I get to take a shower tomorrow morning (I'm supposed to keep my head wound dry for 24 hours), and I've done a little reading and a little grading today and am feeling okay, so I see no reason that I shouldn't be just fine for Tuesday morning. But none of this is exactly how I was planning on spending my long holiday weekend!

Comments

[Nicoleandmaggie]

That happened to my mom. The final verdict was she was dehydrated from drinking too much green tea and not enough water. I'm prone to anemia too, but it is thankfully easy to fix!

Hope you heal up quickly!

[meansomething]

Oh dear! That was way more adventure than you wanted. I hope you have a couple of restful, iron-rich days and that you're feeling much, much better overall very soon!

[Carin]

Yikes, WN, glad you're ok! Keep us posted on the diagnosis!

[meg]

Good lord, honey! No more of that, you hear?

[What Now?]

D. has for years claimed that I should go around in a full-body oven mitt to protect myself from all of the ways I manage to get hurt, and now she's threatening to make me wear a helmet the next time I go to the store!

[heu mihi]

Oh my! Well, if it *is* anemia, and it turns out that treating it *does* treat your other problems, then that's good news...although, as you say, there are surely easier ways to find such things out, right?

Glad you're feeling OK! That's a scary adventure.

[Bardiac]

Ack! That sounds scary! I hope it is anemia, because I think you're right that it's fairly treatable.

I hope you feel much better quickly!

[nik]

I'm glad you are, in the end, OK. But there is no drag draggier than an ER visit. I hope it is anemia and fixes all those ailments. Perhaps I'll get my iron checked too!

[New Kid on the Hallway]

Oh my goodness! Poor you - what a distressing experience! So glad you're ultimately okay. (Staples! Ouch!)

And I'm betting they EMTs call guys "buddy." I have no evidence for this, it's just a guess.

[susan]

Oh my! I'm so glad you are now OK.

Politica had anemia that got diagnosed shortly after we started dating. It was an excellent diagnosis b/c it's a problem that--for her, anyway--was easily fixed and made the symptoms so much better so quickly. Hope you are OK soon too.

[Flavia]

Oh no! I'm so glad you're okay, and hope that any bigger issues are easily and speedily addressed.

Nice show on the parts of Costco & the EMT.

[Julie]

I'm so glad that you are alright. When you are caught up on grading and such, you might consider writing a note to the hospital admin with a cc: to the head of the ER dept. I'm sure that MANY people have similar reactions to the crucifix on the wall, and they need to know that. (They also should know that the ER staff did an excellent job of overcoming the catholic discomfort).