What doesn't kill you...

What doesn't kill you could still make you very red, itchy, nauseous and put you in the ER.

So after work i had to rush to Old Town Alexandria--Taylor and Ashley might remember it as that place we got ice cream the last day they were here. Aaron's parents are in town and wanted to take us out to dinner at this nice restaurant, which always nice.

We were a little late, and when we got there Aaron and his family had already ordered an appetizer. I was going to take a bite, but Aaron's mom let me know there was shrimp in them and so I told her "Oh no thanks, shrimp makes my lips tingle." And then she glared at Aaron and asked "Why are we here then?!" and I assured her I could eat things on the menu, just not shrimp. Some awesome foreshadowing....

All of the food was super good! I had a bit of Zack's crab soup; I had a lot of bread; I ate pecan crusted chicken with crab on top and then had a chocolate hazelnut creme brulee (so many things I like!) Then we decided we'd walk the mile back to the metro to walk off dessert. That was fine. Then, since I was short on my step count, I paced around the metro for a while. I noticed my armpits were like crazy itchy. But, I figured that it was just because I'd been out of the house for like 14 hours at this point and I just needed to take a shower and change.

What I imagine I looked like

I went to sit with Zack and Aaron and Zack tried to wipe what he thought was a bead of sweat off my face. Nope. Not a bead of sweat. It was a hive. My warning hive was already HUGE and my whole neck and chest were already covered in hives. But, the train was coming and there's a Rite Aid right by the metro so we figured that was the fastest means to get relief. I wasn't super worried at this point, but got kind of nervous when the train just stopped moving in between stops--I knew it was gonna get worse before it got better.

We went to Rite Aid to get Benadryl, and Aaron knew exactly the right aisle and type I needed, which was super helpful. And I popped two pills while in line and we started to walk home. Benadryl is some pretty good stuff! In the 10 minutes it took to walk home, I was already feeling better and my hives were leaving! My plan was to lay down and just chill and watch some Dexter while I recovered. BUT, I was super itchy and literally could not stop scratching myself, so I decided to take a bath.

I don't know if it was because of the bath, or that the timing just lined up, but I started to feel really sick. Then I threw up all of my dinner. It was super gross. And Zack seems to have spidey senses about when I'm at my worst and came into the bathroom. So then I tried to rinse off, but couldn't really stand and was super miserable. So then Zack came in and saw me hunched over in the shower unable to stand and called Aaron's (she used to be a peds nurse) and asked if they thought it was time to go to the hospital. She said yes, definitely.

So then I had to get clothes back on, try not to puke, walk to the car, and go to the GW Emergency room. I had to remind myself that it was important not to faint. And I'm super glad I didn't, because Aaron and Zack seemed really nervous already. Luckily it's really close to us--like 10 minutes driving. and it was nice to have Aaron to navigate and walk me into the ER while Zack parked the car. Also I had Zack call my mom and let her know my allergy is for real. She had been joking earlier in the night that all I needed was a shower, some water and rest. Typical my mom--she's pretty sure most things will fix themselves. Usually I am too, but this felt different! I'll never understand how people in super rural areas can get by living 30 minutes from anything, let alone a hospital.

The coolest Friday night hang out

It was also super lucky that they saw me very quickly. I mean I still got to see the homeless man try to scam the hospital out of pain killers--he refused to give his id, and just wanted the intake people to give him drugs for his back. I also got to see a very well dressed French lady declare she was having a heart attack, lay down in several places on the waiting room floor and yell at the intake people that even though her vitals were all fine, she was most definitely dying. It was an adventure.

When they took us back the nurse told me he thought I was right on the cusp of needing an iv or taking some medicine orally, which seemed like a good sign. They also said they weren't sure how much of the Benadryl was actually absorbed because I threw up so soon after taking it. In the end, they decided I needed an iv. My first one! The nurse apologized to me after he put it in and said he was kinda messy doing it, but I don't think it seemed that bad. The nurse was really nice. He got me blankets when I got cold and shaky and explained a lot of stuff to me, which I know they don't have to do when they treat you.

Then Zack and I waited. And waited. They said they'd let us go around 1:30 after my hour of observation was over. Right around 1:30 they came to take my registration information. At 1:45 the doctor came back and explained what he was going to prescribe me and said he'd be right back and I could get going. At 2:00, two gunshot victims came in. At 2:15 a girl that got caught drunk driving and then fled from the cops came in and was making a real big scene about being cold, not speaking English (though she clearly did) and not wanting to be deported back to Brazil.  Also, that's about the time all the way too drunk people show up too. So, I fell way down on the priority list.

I was really sure they'd just forgotten about us. We were in this huge private room with the door closed. I KNEW there were people who needed my room more than me. Especially because at this point all of the redness was gone and I felt a lot better. I wanted to use my call button and ask for water and maybe remind them we were ready to go, but Zack told me I wasn't allowed to.

Eventually at 3:00 my nice nurse came back, gave me the prescriptions and took out my iv. Taking it out hurts so much more than putting it! Then we walked to the car, came home and passed out until 11:00. Then I went to CVS, filled my prescriptions and came home to load up on pills and take a nap. I feel pretty good...but so hungry! Also, my joints feel awful. No one warned me about that! Hopefully Michigan wins and I can count on that to cheer me up!

So now Zack and I are an epi pen couple. Except that he let his expire, so it's really just me. I'm not really looking forward to having to tell all my waiters to extra for real make sure none of my food touches shellfish. But, I don't think I can super handle another reaction like that!