Unfolded Mind

Last night, I spoiled my foster daughter’s seventh birthday party. I was at the Mall of America (Gasp! Horrors!), with my wife, my foster daughter and my niece. We were having awful food at the food court before we turned the girls loose on the rides at the indoor amusement park, when my asthma started acting up. I had no inhaler, the car was parked on the seventh level of the lot at the other end of the mall, and there was just no way I was going to be able to run home and get it.

I tried to just power through it, but by the time the girls had been on two rides, my wife was getting really worried about me. ( After getting mad at me for not having my inhaler with me). She went over to the guest services hut inside the park and called the mall cops on me.

I went into the guest services hut, a mall cop found their first-aid bag, and got an oxygen bottle and a mask. It didn’t help much, and it made things comically hard when three other mall cops, and two Bloomington city cops came over to stand around, and practice trying to remember the proper dumb questions to ask me. I finally just handed my driver’s license to the guy I’d been dealing with, and ignored the others.

Paramedics came, with the sweet relief of the nebulizer. They told me that since they were treating me, they’d have to transport me. I said okay.

Meanwhile, My wife put the girls on the carousel, and got to work with the mobile phone. She got her brother to come pick up the girls, and her friend Mona to come and help her with D, our one-year old foster son. The paramedics took me out the door right past her, and I didn’t get to see her again for about an hour.

I got a second dose of nebulized albuterol on the ride, and stated to feel better. The paramedic also hooked me up to EKG with two ‘trodes on my chest and on on each ankle. I get to the hospital, they get me into a bed, and a hospital respiratory tech come over, notices that by neb isn’t stealing, and gets me a fresh one. Nurse come, introduces himself, finishes getting my history. Insurance card guy comes, introduces himself, gets my insurance info. We joke about me getting an early start on my new, higher deductible for the year.

Doctor comes, introduces himself, asks some questions, and we decide to get me some nice IV steroids. He leaves, I get out of bed for a minute to take a leak, and by the time I get back, my wife and Mona are changing D’s diaper on my bed. I settle back into the bed, we all get caught up on what went on while we were apart, and the I get taken in for a quick chest Xray. Margaret having calmed down a bit agrees to let Mona go, and the remaining three of us hang out for a while.

I get an iv put in, and a bit later get some salumedrol, a steriod. a litle while after that, an ER tech gets me up, takes me for a walk, and then checks my pulse-ox. More waiting. My IV is taken out. More waiting while paperwork is done. A final consult with the doctor, then the nurse gives me a nebulizer to take home! A nice one, too. I get my instructions, a couple perscriptions, and we’re off.

Then it’s drop off the scrips, fetch the birthday girl from my briother-in-law’s in Apple Valley, tghen pick up my meds and home.

Zoinks!

As I’m getting into bed, I notice the electrodes.

Sucks to be 45 and out of shape. Just rode my bike, and it KILLED me.

I know I need to do it more, and it won’t be so bad, but I’m just not good at forcing myself to take a step like that. We’ll see how it goes