LAST Sunday, July 12, 2009 at around noon
I had an
ANAPHYLAXTIC reaction
WHAT'S THAT?"Anaphylaxis is the term for a severe allergic reaction. I may begin within minutes (which it did), up to an hour after exposure to the substance you are allergic to ("allergen"). Symptoms include nausea, vomiting, diarrhea or stomach cramps, itchy rash (hives), swelling of the eyes, lips, face or tongue, wheezing, difficulty breathing and swallowing, throat tightness, chest pain or fainting
This kind of reaction can be life threatening."
According Banner Estrella Hospital (the hospital I was admitted to).
The Story
'Round 12 o'clock noon, I poured some
KIX cereal into a cup and started eating some
KIX business as usually. Normally I would of been at church on Sunday, but I had a paper to write and got hungry. And in about 5 mins of a couple handfuls of
damn KIX cereal... I felt funny. I've never felt this way before in my life: my face was itchy so I was scratching it, my throat felt
unusual and scratchy and I started wheezing [the symptoms of
Anaphylaxis if you weren't paying attn] and after washing my mouth out for about 3 mins in the bathroom & looking in the mirror at my hive stuck face, I told my dad "I think I'm having an allergic reaction to Kix." I wasn't in a pretty good state.
So we immediately rushed to the hospital which was about a 15 min drive. All the while my symptoms are getting worse:
just like the definition, my eyes, lips, face and tongue were swelling and swollen to the MAX! I looked grotesque... Lips bigger than
Jigga man! (so not funny at the time tho) and my throat was tightening to the point where after 5 mins after leaving the house I couldn't talk or breath from my mouth (only my nose).
We get to the hospital, I'm taken immediately to
ER where they gave me an oxygen mask because the
Anaphylaxis was cutting off my air supply & without any air > I die. Even there they were surprised at how
badly swollen my face & lips were. They shot me up with IVs in both arms, took my blood, got my vitals all that hospital stuff. I was given Benadryl (antihistamine to fight the allergy), Epinephrine to open my airways, raise my heart rate & other excitatory functions because technically my body was dying due to the lack of oxygen because of the
Anaphylaxis. FYI Epinephrine is pure adrenaline & I was given Pepcid cuz all these drugs were gonna FUCK with my stomach and they didn't want me in gastric pain on top of
dying.
Due to the adrenaline (Epinephrine) my heart was beating so hard & fast I honestly just wanted it out of my body. And due to the Benadryl, I was in and out of consciousness (Benadryl> causes drowsiness). After I stabilized a bit I text'd a few ppl (friends & fam) about how I was [didnt twitter a soul]. I had 2 visitors: my bestfriends
Vero &
Katelynn (KK). I remember talking to
Veronica but honestly only remembering saying "hi" and "bye" with
KK (so sorry it was the drugs haha). But I still had mad Twitter luv & shoutouts from the bestfriends
@GL0,
@veroooo,
@frankenstein_23 and the homegirl
@menaababyy22 &
calls and texts I really could respond to being either drowzy (asleep knock'd up on meds) or couldnt speak.
Anyways long story short, I spent the night in ICU, was constantly being checked upon, always sleeping & watching the "ER" marathon
oh the irony.
In and out of consciousness, I was unaware of the fact that I honestly could of had DIED! which my parents kept reiterating because they were so glad I was alive and well after being discharged Monday, July 13 2009 @ 1:30PM Mountain Time (I live in Phx).
Throughout the whole
Anaphylaxtic episode I wasn't really scared or thought I was gonna die. No ply major plea bargains with God expect help me. I just wanted this to be fixed NOW and wanted to go home NOW! instead of spending the night there for monitoring.
Having this near death experience truly makes me appreciate life a whole lot more... more than even this blog can express.
-Mikeman
PS
I'm good now but I AIN'T
NEVER EATING KIX AGAIN IN MY LIFE
They can KICK ROCKS for all I care