I had quite an interesting day today…so interesting, in fact, that I’ve decided to put my story into words so that in a year I can look back on today and laugh hysterically at how absurd today has been.
Let me start two weeks ago when I got bitten by an unidentified bug on my hip. We assumed it was a spider because we have quite the spider problem and when it swelled up to the size of a tennis ball, I put some cortizone cream on it and went on my merry way.
This morning around 6 I woke up and felt my elbow itching, I looked down and saw that I was bleeding. It was clear that the unidentified bug had struck again. I shrugged it off and went to school, not thinking anything of it.
As I was sitting in class I noticed that I was getting kind of sick to my stomach and a little bit dizzy, so I got up and got some gold-fish to eat to settle my stomach, assuming it was nerves because I had a huge Functional Anatomy test coming up. As I sat through class, I started to notice that my throat was swelling up a little bit and that I was having trouble swallowing. I got a little nervous, but because I wasn’t having trouble breathing I just shrugged it off and waited for the break. I then got up and told my professor what had happened and told her I was going to go to the clinic to get a Benadryl. She flipped out and started talking about calling 911 and made two of my friends walk me down to the clinic. I didn’t think much of it, assuming the clinic would give me the Benadryl and send me back to class.
So, we walked across campus to the clinic and when I walked in I told the girl at the front desk that I had been bitten by something and I was having a little trouble swallowing. She told me that I needed to go to the ER immediately. I told her that I didn’t need to do that, and the doctor who worked at the clinic asked me a few questions and kept saying I needed to go to the ER. I kept saying no, mostly because I was worried about having to take the test and because my insurance doesn’t cover anything other than the hospitals back home. She was insistent and took me to the back where she took my vitals and called 911 and the EMS.
So, I called Tyler and he came down because I knew I was going to have to go to the hospital and I didn’t want to be by myself. Then, within about 5 minutes of getting there…there were 3 cops, 3 firefighters, and 2 EMS in the room, all wondering why on earth they were responding to a girl who was clearly not in any apparent danger. I was wondering that myself.
So, Tyler and I got to go on a very expensive 2-minute ambulance ride to the hospital 4 blocks from the campus. We sat in triage and when they finally called me back and I told the nurse what happened and she said “So how did the benadryl work?” I replied by telling her that they had never, in fact, given me any Benadryl. She seemed amazed that no one would have thought to do that, especially a doctor. So, I went and sat in the ER room and waited to be seen by the Physician’s Assistant.
He came in, took a look at my throat (which was no longer swollen as badly, just sore from when I was trying to swallow when it was swollen) and took a look at the bite. He offered no assistance as to what kind of bite it was, or what I should do about the bite, and he gave me two (over the counter…not prescription) Benadryl tablets and sent me on my way.
So, I missed my test (because lets be honest, a children’s Benadryl puts me to sleep….two adult ones knocked me out for almost 4 hours…I was not in any shape to take that test.) and wasted plenty of money (my family’s and the government’s) for an ambulance, fire truck, and police officer to come and take me to a hospital 4 blocks up the road. All because I needed one Benadryl tablet that it took me 2 hours (and lots of money) to get.
Someday I’ll look back and this will be funny, it’s slightly humorous now, but it will always make for a good story. I understand that everyone was looking out for my best interest, and they all wanted me to be safe…but it was really a bit of overkill just to get some Benadryl that I could have taken the trolley up to CVS to get for $5. Oh well…