Whoo whoo long one.

I won an over night stay at one of Grand Rapids most prestigious and popular high rise facilities yesterday. They took me by limo with not only a driver but with a paid companion who waited on me hand and foot. When I arrived there, I was greeted by the nicest people and they ushered me to the room with great fanfare. There on the counter was a nice "welcome" basket filled with nice stuff. I had room service and the staffers were all so nice and anxious to make sure I was being cared for and comfortable. I was greeted by several professional people during the time I was there. From what I understand there were several restaurants in the facility and in the exercise room they had all the equipment and a pool that is usual for a place like that. It was a huge old building. A person could have easily gotten lost but I didn't wander around much. They even came to my room around 11:00 to see if I was comfortable or wanted anything before I turned in for the night. This morning I had "breakfast in bed" even. WHAT A SURPRISE!!!



THE TRUE STORY









I have had a stressful two years as you know. Starting June and through Sept, we coped with a noisy tenant and either they were calling, the police calling, the neighbor across the street or the neighbor who shares the other side trying to get these people under control. I was a wreck every time the phone rang.
Then the trip to Tennessee---I didn't really want to go because I knew we were facing a touchy situation with some bad decisions made by my stepmother. We managed to get that solved.
In the meantime, I had a bad neck pinch and started to become friends with a chiropractor. My neck got better but then it kind of migrated to my groin and every step I took hurt. I couldn't lift my left foot more than 3" without help. I would pull my pant leg up to get into the car etc. That started to get better and then I started chest discomfort. Turned out to be GERD (acid reflux). The doctor prescribed two Zantac a day and Pete and I take 1 aspirin a day for heart health. Took 1 Z, and 2 z + 1 aspirin Thursday. Got up Friday morning (New Year's Day, expecting 15 for brunch and Christmas with our kids that afternoon) and my bottom lip was so swollen I bet it was double. Around 10, went to get groceries. Lip mostly gone down. Got tight feeling in my throat and thought it was beginning to swell. Raced to downtown hospital emergency and by the time a doctor got to me, (they had already done triage and I could breath fine and swallow) all the swelling and tightness was gone. No more Zantac or aspirin after Friday morning. I was sent home with no treatment. Late Monday my left ear began feeling funny, like it was filled with water, pained all night, no sleep, couldn't hear out of it. Dr. next day, prescribed ear drops 3 times a day. Each day I had hives, some on bottom of big toes, some on pads of fingers, heal of my hand, heal of my foot and arch of other foot. Finally Sunday I told Pete I had a day with no hives. Woke up Monday at 4 with tongue swollen half way. Took 2 Benedryl and went back to bed to awaken at 6 with mouth fully filled with tongue. Could hardly get Pete to understand me. Went to med center about 2 miles away at 9. Questions by nurse, same questions by doctor. Dr. started a Benedryl IV drip and gave me two shots and then tells me that shortly the ambulance would arrive and he was admitting me to Butterworth hospital. "Wait, my husband is 5 miles away. I can call him." Kind doctor grins and asks, "Is your husband a doctor and drives a vehicle with life saving equipment?" "UM, no." Questions by ambulance doctor. Admission to emergency. Ques tons by navy blue uniformed person. Then young lady Dr. White Coat person QUESTIONS. Then questions by guy in maroon uniform. Then questions by Dr. Older White Coat. At 2:30 taken to room. Questions by that shift nurse. Attending doctor arrives and QUESTIONS & tells me they are requesting an allergist....New shift arrives around 3---you got it. More questions---from more people. Supper arrives, HMMM looks good seeing I've not eaten ALLLLL day. Take a bite of chicken and dumplings===flat needs salt. Go look and find a packet of New Salt. MMM good. Sprinkle it on and take a bite. About spit it out. THAT SALT IS AWFUL, a replacement because they have me on a no salt diet because of high blood pressure. At least the veggies have a dip, the roll has butter and the orange sherbet is good. Notice evening snack. WHOOPY, two graham crackers. Shots, pills, something in the IV. Not much sleep the night before so after Pete leaves I try to sleep. WRONG----"HI, I'm from the lab. All I want is your blood." NO QUESTIONS....phew!! "Hi, it's time for your meds. We'd better hook you to this machine." Machine clocks blood oxygen and heart rate. And while she's working on that another person attaches 5 sticky snaps to my chest and puts some box thing with colored leads to the snaps. "WHAT's THAT?" "To monitor your heart. Doctor wants a picture of your heart function." OK settle back to rest and maybe sleep. Didn't take my earplugs of course because I didn't know I was going there. 11:30 lady in other bed whose had spine surgery has 4 people banging in to my bed and talking loudly and crashing metal cymbals over my head. They are getting her settled for the night. So finally I get to sleep. About two hours later my heart beat has dropped enough it sets off the beeper on the machine . Beeper stops. I drift off. Nurse comes in, wakes me up and says, "Are you OK? 4 heavy breaths and cough. HM, that looks ok. Call me if you feel ANYTHING different." Back to sleep. Machine beeps and beeps and beeps. Sure enough the rate has dropped again. Noone comes. I feel fine--just sleepy. But can't sleep with beeper. She finally comes in. "I AM FINE. CAN YOU TURN OFF THE BEEPER?" "SURE" and she does. Half hour later awakened by beeper. She doesn't come. I ring for nurse. She comes and I say, "I can't sleep with that beeper." She says, "But I turned it off." "Well it's BEEPING." "Oh must be it just silents it momentarily." And turns and starts walking away. "UM MAAM, I can't sleep with that beeper. Can it be taken off and turned off?" "But then we won't have any record of your heart behavior." "OK, it has gone off about 5 times and reset every time with no treatment or oxygen being given. Every time I doze off that thing beeps. So if the idea is to warn you that I'm going to sleep, I don't get it." She looks a Little ashamed and begins removing it from my finger and says, "We'll unhook it and note in the file it was removed at patient's request." "FINE." 3:00 "TIME FOR MEDS!" 5:40 the platoon for the neighbor arrives with their loud voices and cymbals. She's throwing up. They finally leave and I doze off. 6:40. "Good morning Esther, I'm the doctor for this shift. I understand you had some trouble sleeping." QUESTIONS answered grudgingly. Hate this lady. (well actually a nice lady, just happened to come across me at the wrong time.) Advise me that she came in to let me know allergist would be arriving in 15 minutes. What, does he need someone to announce him like he's king or something. 8 breakfast tray arrives==two seconds later allergist arrives. Very nice. Asks all kinds of MORE QUESTION + the regular ones. In the meantime my breakfast sits there getting cold. Of course it is an egg omelet with cheese (more New SALT), 1 bagel, Orange juice, milk, coffee, AND OATMEAL. I hate oatmeal and coffee. Roommate is being helped to physical therapy with her harem of loud voiced bed bumper, cymbal clangers. At the foot of my bed she says, "I think I have to throw up." You got it. At the foot of my bed while I'm trying to eat she loses her breakfast. OH NUMmY!! My saltless egg tastes even worse. OK back to the allergist. He suspects that my body may have a tendency to have this reaction when I'm run down like I am with the cold and ear infection and finally something comes along that triggers it. Left prescription that is supposed to block these swellings. By the way, all those questions I was mentioning----They were the same ones===over and over.

Lady comes in and says, "You've been released to go home. Do you want to clean up." "Yeah, I'd like to but didn't know I was coming so don't have anything to use." She say, "What, didn't they set you up with anything." "UM, nope." She gets stuff out and I can wipe up a bit and feel fresher. Pete arrives. Lady brings in papers to sign. Lady with wheel chair arrives and wheels me out..

Prescription was only $12.95 so that wasn't bad. We don't have prescription coverage.

_________________

lol
Seriously, Esther, I hope the new medicine works for you. I know you don't want a repeat visit to that "hotel"!

I know, violins help.

I think this stuff is to guard against this swelling stuff and hives, hoping I'll get back on track before February.

Don't ya just love hospitals? They actually wake you up to give you a sleeping pill.

Ester, I am so sympathetic to your recent medical problems so I hope you don't take this the wrong way or think that I am being flip but as I was reading this I was feeling so bad for you on one hand and on the other I was laughing at the way you described your experience.

You are so clever and comical in your writing. I have noticed that in other posts that you have made. Have you ever thought about writing a column in a newspaper? You may be the new Erma Bombeck

I hope you get some ANSWERS after all those QUESTIONS. Did they do or have you previously had allergy testing done?

My mom had serious problems with hives and swelling for several years. The symptoms began in her early 40's I think.
She was found to be allergic to dairy products mostly, but also some other foods and alcoholic beverages (She passed away in 1997 so it was long enough ago my memory fails as far as some of the details go)so I'm not sure what else. She also ended up being diabetic a few years later.

The doctor felt the allergies causing the hives and swelling were probably triggered because she's had several bouts of tonsilitis as an adult that had been treated with penicillan type antibiotics and somehow that ended up being the link to the allergy to dairy.

The point of my story is that it's just amazing what can cause such things when it comes to allergies.

No, no real conclusion. Just educated guesses. Avoid aspirin or that type pain med, no Zantac. Use liquid Benedryl IMMEDIATELY upon noticing any symptoms. I'm 67 and have not had any type of allergies until maybe a year and a half ago when I had the first tongue flareup. They took me off the Zestril, guessing that was the problem.

Maybe Al Gore will know.

That's one heck of a story, Esther! I hope things calm down for you SOON.

On another note it was an Erma Bombeck/Dave Barry kind of recitation. You should write some more and get famous!

No, no real conclusion. Just educated guesses. Avoid aspirin or that type pain med, no Zantac. Use liquid Benedryl IMMEDIATELY upon noticing any symptoms. I'm 67 and have not had any type of allergies until maybe a year and a half ago when I had the first tongue flareup. They took me off the Zestril, guessing that was the problem.[/quote]

I think it must be Global Warming............. :[IMG]/confused[/quote]

OR...maybe it was Bush's fault.  It seems everything else is.  

I enjoy Esthers stories too. I have been pounding away at the sequel which is why I haven't been here much. I'm up to chapter 12 but still have a way to go.

BF, my first thought was to advise you not to press along too much. I wonder if a person writes as the spirit moves him does better work than when they are pushing. Don't really know. Just a thought.

Esther wrote:BF, my first thought was to advise you not to press along too much. I wonder if a person writes as the spirit moves him does better work than when they are pushing. Don't really know. Just a thought.

To me, this story is just a continuation of the first. I left the door wide open for a sequel. They didn't kill the assassin but did humiliate him. The King's grandson, Felipe and Victoria's son was kidnapped, taken to the castle then rescued. The assassin is furious and swears revenge.

The newly freed slaves have formed new tribes deep in the jungle of Belize. I brought back Rosa the prostitute, Sir Balsala and introduced many new characters as well. The Queen realizes that the grandson's heart can never be won by kidnapping him again and tries a different approach. She sends her most trusted servant with an offer of amnesty.

I don't have a problem with the flow of the story and don't really feel like I'm pushing it. I have 30,483 words so far and the average length of a novel is 90,000 words like my last one. I'm having a lot more fun with this one, Batu and Felipe are pranking each other and it has been a lot easier to write this one.

I'm coming up to the reception dinner in the Grand Hall of the castle to honor Victoria and the grandsons return. Around the table are former slaves, pirates and a prostitute sitting with royalty. It makes for an interesting dinner.

Do you have the characters written down somewhere and what their personalities are and how they're connected or do you know them so well, they just are part of the whole story?

Esther wrote:Do you have the characters written down somewhere and what their personalities are and how they're connected or do you know them so well, they just are part of the whole story?

The main characters that were in the first book have already been developed. JW, Freddie Peepers, Lari, Bartender and others followed the book as it progressed and help me with typos and errors.They were a great help. As you read the book their characteristics and even looks become apparent to you. I feel like I know what Felipe, Jean Pierre, atu and the others would say or do in a given situation.

But in this book their characters have grown, they know each other a lot better so Batu has gotten in the habit of playing practical jokes on Felipe which in turn causes some payback.The newly formed tribe, deep in the jungle of Belize has new characters. I had to Google African names and write them down until I got to know who filled what role, such as the very old, wise Chief Buziba, his main warrior Adisa and his short sidekick Chidi.

Anyone who read the first one can describe the main characters and tell you of the personality of each of them.