1st Trip to the ER (circa 2006) Pt 2

by | Jan 11, 2016 | 0 comments

“Erica.”

The sound echoed in the nearly empty waiting room when my name was finally called and I rose slowly to my feet and made my way to the waiting nurse. I was taken to a small triage room just beyond the open door where my vitals were taken and I was shocked to see my blood pressure register so high. I chalked it up to anxiety and began to try to explain how I felt.  My symptoms had gone from a minor stomach ache and feeling worn out to extreme nausea, short term fevers, and body aches.  The symptoms resembled the flu, so I wasn’t really concerned, but they had lasted for more than 3 weeks and I was sick and tired of feeling sick and tired.  I had been to the doctor a couple of times in the last couple weeks, but I didn’t seem to be getting any better.

1st Trip to the ER (circa 2006) Pt1

by | Jan 9, 2016 | 0 comments

I suppose there is no better place to start than the very beginning, with my first trip to the emergency room, at the onset of my first auto-immune disease. This is an excerpt of what I recall from that day, a lifetime ago.

It should have been raining.

In the movies, whenever “the plot thickens,” it rains (cue dramatic music – bump, bum, bahhh). The characters are mad or sad or afraid and the storm brings about a change in the mood of the movie. Blurred images of rain drops are slowly sliding down the windowpane, nature’s tears reflecting the internal emotions of the character.