Monday, August 15, 2011

Scariest 15 seconds of my entire life

As you know, my family has gone through a lot the last year.  2011 has only had a few bright points to it and as I mentioned this morning, life at our house apartment was rather hair-raising before we left for vacation.

We had spent a pleasant few days at a KOA in Port Huron visiting with my aunt and cousins who had come in from North Carolina for a week.  We returned home to our normal(ish, anyone who knows Adam and me, we are far from normal) routine and Monday morning was no different.  We started getting ready for our Century Training Ride when Adam noticed that his back tire was flat.  Upon further inspection he discovered that his faithful road bike tires that had been with him since the beginning kicked the bucket and there was a hole in his back tire and tube.

I went for my ride, because if I wait until the evening, I just don't feel like doing the work outs.  Adam went on to finish getting ready to head to work.  I got back from my ride and Adam left for work.  He took the blown back tire with him, planning to stop at MSU bikes to get a new one on his way to the lab.  I was chillin' on the couch, recovering from my ride and watching Gilmore Girls when Adam comes back in the apartment.

This happens about once a week, he forgets his wallet or his phone or some other little thing, no biggie. This is the exchange that follows:

J: "Forget your wallet again?"

A: "Well, no.  I kind of crashed on my bike."

J: "Oh, baby, I'm sorry, are you ok?"

A: "Yeah, I'm fine, a little banged up."

J: "I'll clean you up, let me grab the first aid kit."

I started cleaning his cuts and scrapes and he starts telling me about the crash.  The tire he was carrying on his handle bars caught in his pedal and yanked the handle bars, sending him flying.  He scraped his right knee pretty bad, his right hand had a lot of cuts and scrapes and his left thumb hurt a lot (sprained).  I was cleaning his hand when he said he was feeling dizzy, so I made him sit on the couch while I kept cleaning and bandaging.

He told me he felt dizzy and a little nauseous but he kept talking about the accident and was in the midst of telling me how he thought he hurt his thumb when he made this un-earthly groaning noise and his head fell on his chest and he fell forward into me.  I pushed him back on the couch and he was twitching.  We hadn't talked about whether he had hit his head or not yet and I freaked out because I thought he was having a seizure.  I kept talking to him trying to get him to respond to me while I frantically searched for my phone and called 911.  I was on the phone with the operator when he came to.  He was out for about 10-15 seconds, I guess, it all happened so fast.  I was dialing 911 when he came to and he was lucid almost immediately and asked me why I was crying and calling 911.  


You know that feeling when you're in a REM cycle so you're paralyzed so you don't fall out of bed and you're dreaming a situation where you have to scream but all you can get out is a lower oh god or something similar? Yeah, that's what my chest felt like, it felt like a boa constrictor was squeezing my chest.  So, I'm on the phone trying to talk to the 911 operator and get Adam to understand that he can't get up because he just had a freaking seizure.  In the confusion I accidentally told the 911 operator the wrong apartment, I'm glad I didn't give them the entirely wrong building. (Fricken moving)  Adam started having the same symptoms again so I made him lay down and put his feet up on the armrest until the paramedics got there.  They arrived and I got them to the right apartment and they checked him out.  His vitals were fine and his blood sugar was normal.  The head EMT said that it was vasovagal syncope, at least that's what he thought and that Adam should get in for some blood work, etc.  Based on that, we refused the ambulance and got him into the doctor he normally sees in an hour.


The doctor said the same as the EMT, he fainted (vasovagal syncope) caused from trauma and dehydration.  There were other factors, but we're going to leave the rest at he's ok and has to have some other tests which he's getting tomorrow.  Based on his family and personal medical history it shouldn't be anything to worry about.


I only had one gray hair before all this happened, but I may have several more now.  I may catch Adam in that department before the end of the year.


But needless to say, I am going to be very happy to kick 2011 out the door and hope that 2012 is a little less heart-wrenching, even if the world ends on December 21.

3 comments:

LabGirl said...

I am so glad that Adam is okay!! I can't imagine how terrified you were!

Sarah @ ExPat Bride said...

How terrifying! I can not even begin to imagine!! So sorry you had to go through this but glad he is doing better.

Unknown said...

Thanks ladies, much appreciated! I am so glad he is ok too.