10 years ago, I became friends with a guy, Sid, thru my roommate. He was in his last semester of college, and he wanted to go to Florida to his grandma's after fall semester was finished. He has originally asked Chris to go, but it didn't work out for him, so he invited me to go.
I was stoked, going to Florida, for a week and a half over Christmas break sounded like a great vacation to me. We left on a thursday night, after his last class, which was about 8:30. Normally, it takes 24 hours to get to where we were going from my town. He drove thru Michigan and Ohio, I got the joy of driving thru Tennesee and Kentucky, at night, in the mountains, and it was foggy. Let me just tell you that I will NEVER do that again. Oh yeah, and we were towing a Jet Ski, and by that time, I had discovered I had left my drivers liscense at home in my other purse. (I should have just turned around and gone home...) We stopped at some point in Georgia and slept in a hotel parking lot for a few hours, and continued on our way. When we finally got to New Port Richie, which is north of Tampa, it was midnight on friday. Finally got to Grannie's house, and crashed for several hours.
Pretty much by the time we got there I started having problems with my asthma and allergies. But I chalked it up to the climate change and got some cold medicine thinking that would help.
We spent our days working on Grannie's house, and picking fruit off her trees, sight-seeing or going to the beach. Nights were spent getting drunk and or high. Which wasn't a good thing for me, but I was 24, what the hell did I know.
As the days progressed, the coughing continued, which made breathing harder, but I just kept taking the OTC drugs, hoping that would work.
It was Christmas Eve, and there was a big party at some bar in town, and Sid wanted to go, but I knew that the bar was not a good enviroment for me, so I declined and stayed home. One thing that has always helped me sleep if I'm having breathing issues, is if I prop myself up. Well, Christmas Eve, I couldn't get comfortable, no matter how propped up I was. I knew that something bad was happening, but I didn't know what to do, I had no insurance, let alone any kind of cash to go to a hospital.
At some point I did fall asleep, but when I woke up, I could barely breath. It felt like someone had put an 1000lb anvil on my chest, constricting even the smallest of breathes. I got to the phone and started calling some of the hospitals and urgent care centers and found a hospital that would take me, even though I had no insurance.
I woke Sid up, and he got me to the hospital. The nurse at the front desk of the ER took one look at me, hunched over, barely breathing, and they got me on a gurney and into triage and gave me oxygen right away.
After close to an hour of oxygen and breathing treatments, I got to have a chest X-ray taken. That was fun, I had to stand up straight, with my arms over my head, for the damn X-ray. Not easy for someone who was still having a hard time breathing.
Got back to the ER room and the doctor comes in and tells me that he is going to admit me, because I'm obviously ill, but they can't figure out why. Well, being stubborn and tough, I was having none of that, especially with no insurance. He took one look at me, and I don't remember exactly what he said, but it was along the lines of if I leave and didn't get treatment, I could die.
Oh.
Well, I surely didn't want to die in fucking Florida, so I stayed.
I was in the hospital from December 25th to December 30th. They had me on several drugs, both in pill and inhalers. After a CAT scan the second day, they discovered I had popped an alveoli sac in my left lung from all the coughing I had been doing since I got there. The doctor figured that there was something down there that I had an allergic reaction to.
Sid called my parents the first afternoon that I was there, and dad wanted to get on a plane to come down and be with me. Dad also was looking into flying me home, but the doctor said that wasn't a good idea, with having air pressure changes in the cabin, could be potentially dangerous for someone like me.
Dad called me everyday in the mornings and in the afternoon before he would head home from work, and then he would call in the evening to check on me. Mind you, besides Sid, I didn't know anyone there. So imagine being 1000 miles from your family, and being told you could die if you don't get medical treatment.
Slightly scary.
Sid came and picked me up on the 30th in the morning, and we had to go back to Grannie's to close the house up, but we left that evening to head back home. We ended up getting back into town just before midnight on the 31st, and I stayed at the parents house for close to a week after that recovering.
Final bill for my stay: $6776.13
How much did I pay: Nothing.
Dad had gone to work one morning while I was in FL, and slipped on some ice. Dad was approached by someone from the hospital, and basically he was told that my medical bills would be paid for, if he didn't sue the hospital. Obviously, it wasn't that blatant, but you get the idea.
So that's my story of my brush with The Grim Reaper.
You would think that an experience like that would change the behavior, and it did. From previous posts, you know I very rarely drink, and if I do, it's only one. As far as smoking, I haven't smoked pot in over 4 years, and I have no desire to ever do it again.
Yes, I was stupid at one point in time, and started smoking cigarettes, but I don't do that anymore either. In fact, I went out with some of the girls friday night form work, and I had no desire to bum a butt off of anyone. I can barely stand being at my parents house anymore.
I know, this is actually a day later, but technically I haven't gone to bed yet, so I'm still good for the 10 year anniversary.
But on that note, I am off to slumber...
