A few minutes later, I was pulled back into another room and sat there for about ten minutes. A nurse came back saying that they canceled all my bloodwork and were working on my discharge papers. She asked me to go out and wait in the waiting room for my papers.
In the meantime, Chris and I are standing in the middle of this hell in the ER waiting room because no chairs were available. My cell rings. It’s the plastic surgeon’s office calling to get me in for an appointment the next day. She explained they would fix everything in the office.
“Wonderful!” I said. I hung up and told Chris. We were excited to get the heck out of there and ready to go get wings at the Trail, since it was Monday wing night. The hospital wouldn’t let me eat all day, thinking I would be undergoing surgery that day.
No lie, minutes later, the ER doctor comes out and says, “I need to admit you.” I, confused as ever, asked why? “We believe you could be turning septic and want to keep you and push IV antibiotics.”
What? Huh? I felt great. This made no sense, so I called up my nurse at my EP office and explained everything to her. She called my doctor, and he suggested I stay because if they thought I was septic and did have an infection, he didn’t want to risk my needing the pacemaker coming out. I agreed and didn’t want to take that chance either.
They put me in a room with a dentist’s chair. There I sat until a nurse came in and started me on IV antibiotics. The only thing she told me was that it would take three hours to complete the first dose. As Chris and I sat there watching TV, I noticed my scalp started to itch, like really badly. It didn’t make sense, so I googled the medication I was given, which was called Vancomycin.
That was indeed a side effect, and Lord knows if anything has a side effect, I get it because I am so sensitive to medication. It was starting to burn, so we called a nurse.
Another ER doctor came in to talk to us. I am sitting there, beginning to itch my entire upper body, my lips are swelling up, and no lie, the doctor looks at Chris and asks, “Does she normally look this flushed?”
Chris replied, “Um, noooo.” I told the doctor how awful I felt and that something didn’t feel right.
He said, “OK, well, let’s give it another hour. If your throat starts closing up or you can’t breathe, let us know.” Then, left my room.
*Head smack*
Are you kidding me!?
Minutes, and I mean minutes later, Chris was standing over me, scratching my head, feeling so helpless as I started to cry, laying my head onto his stomach. I looked up at him and said, “Babe, I can’t do this anymore. Something is really wrong. I am about to rip this IV out of my hand!”
As I looked down, my fingertips were bright purple, and by this time, my skin had looked as if I was out on our boat for twelve hours with no suntan lotion on a 100-degree day.
At this point, Chris started to panic. I hardly ever cry, and he knew something was very wrong, but couldn’t find a nurse! My phone rings, it’s my mom calling to check on me. I answer the phone just sobbing, telling her what was going on, and she begins to panic over the phone, yelling, “Tell Chris to go to the nurses’ station!!” I told her he did, but no one was there. Minutes later, Chris found a nurse, and she immediately took me off the medication.
At this point, I was a train wreck and looked like a sunburnt, crazy lady whose eyes were puffy, and hair was a disaster from digging in my head for so long. In the end, I had Red Man Syndrome from Vancomycin. All I wanted was a shower to wash my hair. I felt horrible, and my skin still felt like it was burning from the inside out. I can’t begin to tell you how awful and uncomfortable this was. I had bruises and welts on my body from itching and burning so badly.
The next part I am going to share next week gave me goosebumps. As much as I was going through, God was there, and he showed me. Stay tuned next week for more of this crazy story. Sorry, this story fell over Valentine’s week, but wishing you all a day filled with love!
Last year, this was the meal I made for my family on Valentine’s Day. From heart ice cubes to a decorative table to warm, delicious, creamy pasta to homemade strawberry jam to small gifts to fun games, it was a really sweet and memorable time together.
Happy Valentine’s to you, my lovely readers!
Chicken Tortellini Alfredo
Ingredients:
• 1 (9 oz) package of cheese tortellini
• 1 lb. well-seasoned cubed chicken
• 2 Tbsp butter
• 2 Tbsp flour
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1 cup milk
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 4 oz. cream cheese, cubed
• 1/2 cup grated parm
• Salt and pepper
Directions:
Cook tortellini according to the package; set aside.
In a large pan or skillet cook the chicken until cooked through. Set aside.
Leave all those juices from the chicken in the pan, add butter and melt. Add garlic and cook for about a minute. Then add flour and stir till mixture gets brown.
Slowly add milk and cream, whisk for 2 to 3 minutes until thickened. Stir in cheeses until melted. If it’s too thick just add a little more milk. Pour over torts and chicken and serve immediately.
