Friday, March 1, 2013

Scary couple of days…

Well another week has rolled by and unfortunately this one had a little more drama in it than I wanted. Sunday morning found us arriving at our terminal in Taylor Michigan where we dropped the trailer from Nogales AZ. Since we were very low on hours we decided to do our reset in Taylor. Therefore, it would be Monday afternoon before we headed back out. We decided to do laundry, watch TV, and just chill for the night.

Monday morning found us with a run from Taylor heading up to Quebec and then down toCrossville Tenn. Pretty decent run plus we had not been to Canada in a while so we were both excited. (Actually I was nervous…you know how Irene gets with Border Patrol) Around noon we were getting ready to shower and head north of the border when Irene mentioned that her chest hurt and she was not feeling well. She lied down on the bunk in the sleeper and within minutes was in serious pain. I asked her what hurt and she said her chest, but the pain was moving slowly down. My 1stthought was “heart attack” but she said it was more like extreme heartburn. I decided to drive to the store and get some Zantac or Pepcid to see if it would help. The store was just around the corner but by the time we arrived she was in excruciating pain.

Once at the store I grabbed some Zantac and Pepcid and hurriedly ran towards checkout. Of course…18 checkout lanes and 3 people working. Wait, I know, self-checkout! Of course another guy is just walking in that lane but he happens to notice my urgency and politely says “go ahead”. “Thank you sir” I replied. He then says to me“if you need a restroom they are right over there”. Totally stunned I stared at him and then it hit me…oh no! “My wife is sick in the truck and I am just trying to get out of here quickly,” I told him…I guess he thought I had a potty issue…lol

So off to the truck I sprint and this is where it begins. As I opened the door there were voices coming from the back that I had only heard once before and then I saw her…it was Linda Blaire from the Exorcist in my sleeper. Irene was screaming things at me I never heard before. As I looked at her I asked, who are you and what did you do with Irene…”GIVE ME A PILL” was all I heard. I swear her head rotated 360 degrees just like in the movie. I was so nervous I dropped the 1st pill on the floor as Irene screamed at me to hurry up! Finally I gave her a Zantac and water but it was too little too late…she looked at me and said, “it feels like labor pains”… wait a minute, what do you mean labor pains…”hey Lucy you gotta lot of explaining to do".

Just then a guy beside us was getting into his car so I asked him where the nearest Urgent Care was. He directed me to Oakwood, which was only a few blocks away. “Thank You God”, I thought to myself. Meanwhile, Irene was doubled over and moaning in pain pleading for me to do something. I told her that we were on our way to Urgent Care (while I held 2 pens in the sign of the cross as I drove…just in case Linda Blaire came at me)...ha ha! The next thing she yells at me is “why are you hitting all the bumps, it makes it worse” in which I answered… “Irene we are in Michigan there are no smooth roads”. When we arrived at Urgent Care the staff took one look at Irene and immediately told me to bring her into an examination room. All they asked about were the symptoms, they told me that the name and the usual paperwork can wait…all attention was on Irene. Of course I was praying the Dr. had Holy Water and a Bible because I’m was pretty sure we were going to perform an exorcism…lol.

Anyway after an EKG the Doctor assured us that it was not her heart. They then gave Irene a GI cocktail along with 2 shots one for pain and the other for nausea. Finally Irene started to settle down…The following day we had more tests, but the end result after all the testing was done was a Gall Bladder attack and the Gall Bladder needed to come out as soon as possible. We decided to contact our own family physician and get a referral to a specialist back in North Carolina to get another opinion before we decide. Irene is back to herself and feeling well right now. In fact she is currently behind the wheel heading us to our Lancaster terminal as I am writing.

Irene and I laugh about it now but it was pretty scary at the time…we are both glad that it wasn’t something worse. A lot of crazy things run thru your mind when a loved one is sick or in pain…we are blessed though that everything will be fine and we look forward to better days ahead.

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