Runner DOWN!

I haven't blogged in quite a while, but it's not everyday that you get to write about almost dying!

Last night wasn't much different than most nights. I came home and walked the dog, then headed up to LifeTime Fitness for a Belay class (Rock Climbing). Following the class I went home and ate, with plans to do some speed work at 9:00 PM. I made a pretty simple salad for dinner. It included mixed greens, baco's, shredded cheese, mushrooms, scallions, creamy light Caesar dressing, and some leftover shrimp. I also heated up a few left-over bites of General TSO Chicken. I finished eating about 7:15 and it was pretty satisfying. I then digested till about 9:00 and headed to the track.

My plan was to run 3x2 Mile at 5K race pace or better, on the Lafayette HS Track. This was my first real opportunity to run outside in new racing flats. I started off with a warm up lap, and then started the clock. My first mile was at 7:19, which is right where I wanted to be, considering the plan was to get faster. I proceeded right into the second mile. Halfway through the third lap of mile 2, my feet started tingling slightly. As I kept going, the tingling increased and it started to feel more like running on a bed of nails. If you were to rate the pain, I was at a 7 out of 10. I finished the third lap and went for the fourth, with plans to stop at the mile mark (Just like a damn runner). The whole time I'm thinking, maybe I needed Saucony instead of the Asics?

I finished up the fourth lap, with a mile split of 7:31, not bad considering the pain. I immediately walked over to the fence and put on my flip flops (pain was at a 10 now). A cool down walk seemed in order, so I started, even though my legs and feet still hurt. Once I started walking I noticed my head was throbbing and my ears felt like they were going to explode. I immediately picked up my gear and headed for the car, I knew something wasn't right. By the time I got to the car, I felt that my lips, ears and head were all throbbing, not to mention the pain in my feet and legs. Now I knew I was having an allergic reaction to something, so I figured I better go get Benadryl.

I hopped in the car and started heading south on 109 to hit Walgreen's. As I started to drive, a whole new symptom creped up on me, I was starting to lose the ability to breath. It wasn't really all that gradual either; I went from normal breathing to barely being able to. Not being able to breath was bad enough, but it scared the crap out of me, as I now realized that the clock was ticking and I might not be able to breath at all soon. I approached highway 100 and made the judgment call; Die picking up Benadryl, or drive another 1/4 mile to the fire station.

I decided I would rather die at the Fire Station, where I could be resuscitated! The last 1/4 mile to the fire station required extreme focus on my part, as I was starting to lose it; little did I know, my blood pressure was dropping. I pulled up to the station and threw my car in park. I grabbed my phone and wallet, then jumped out of the car and buzzed their door, not even taking the time to close my car door. One of the fireman answered the door and asked if I needed help. This would be the first time I had to speak throughout the ordeal, and I was surprised at how hard it was to say "I can't breath".

The fireman took me in immediately and directed me through their hallways and into the garage where the Ambulance sat. In seconds, I had 4 fireman/EMT working on me and asking questions. These guys had their game face on (thank you Metro West)! I still felt like I was dying, but at least I was in good hands. They immediately put me on an I.V., gave me an epinephrine shot, and some Benadryl. After they finished asking questions, they put me on oxygen. Once they had completed what they could, the lights were turned on, and they scrambled me over to St. Lukes. In the 7+ years I have lived on 109, I have seen 100's of ambulances go up the street, but I never thought I would fly by my own house in one!

The ambulance ride was one of the lowest points for me. My blood pressure must have dropped again, as I was fighting to stay awake. I knew if I passed out, I couldn't answer questions, leaving the people trying to help me with no direction. I was having a horrible time breathing, and in an attempt to help with my situation, the EMT (Travis) raised my legs and dropped my head a bit. I started to shake from the Epi shot, and the circumstances caused me to freak out a bit, mentally that is. We arrived at St. Luke's pretty quickly and I was immediately taken to a room in the ER and switched over to a hospital bed.

The hospital staff proceeded to ask me numerous other questions, trying to determine what I was having an allergic reaction to. Once I said shrimp, we focused on that. It didn't make much sense, seeing as I had eaten the shrimp about two hours prior to running, and then ran for 15 minutes, but it was something to go with. Despite all the drugs given to me on the Ambulance, I was still in really bad shape. I was starting to get real dizzy, shaking like a blender, and I felt ready to faint at anytime. According to the nurse, my face and appendages were all red, I personally couldn't tell. I think my blood pressure also dropped again, so he called in the doctor. The doctor came in and prescribed another shot of epinephrine, steroids, and more Benadryl. They shot me up with the additional drugs, and asked some more questions. At some point in this process, I either fell asleep from the Benadryl, or passed out.

When I woke up, a very nice lady from the hospital was there to take me to my room. The doctor stated that due to the issues and more importantly the low blood pressure, I needed to be monitored for 24 hours. She carted me up to my room and at this point, I was feeling a bit better. If we were looking at a 1 to 10, I was at a 14 before waking up, and now I was at a 10. The nurses at my room gave me a nice boost, as they both agreed that I looked to fit to be there :). Nevertheless, I was still in pain, scared, and anxious to figure out what the hell happened.

After answering 100 more questions, and taking in more drugs, I fell a sleep. A few hours later I had a late night snack (Turkey Sandwich, no shrimp). I immediately fell a sleep again after eating, and proceeded to sleep every 15 minutes between getting my vitals checked, throughout most the night. In addition to more Benadryl and steroids, they started giving me Zantac and Pepcid. With all the Benadryl, I could barely stay awake. I was also on an I.V. so I was well hydrated.

By 7:00 this morning, I was finally starting to feel OK. Not great, but good enough to eat some breakfast, and smile at the people helping me. I was still on multiple drugs, so I slept most the morning. At around 11:30 I ordered lunch, and I was taken off all the drugs. I really started to feel like ME again, and was told that I would be able to leave soon. I had a conversation with the resident doctor and we both agreed that the cause of my allergic reaction was up in the air, so they are doing some blood work, and I need to see an Allergist for further testing. They gave me a prescription for an Epi shot and said to keep Benadryl on me.

Looking back on the whole ordeal, I feel pretty lucky. I was completely alone at the track, and could have really lost it there, if I hadn't decided to leave when I did. I also could have stalled my chances of getting help, if I hadn't gone straight to the fire station. Better decisions could have been made if I had known what these symptoms were going to result in; surely I would have just called 911 at the school, if I had known that 3 minutes later I wouldn't be able to breath, but I am not allergic to anything and have never been through any of this before. If it weren't for movies and TV shows, I would have never known that my symptoms were the result of an allergic reaction (thanks Hollywood). I kept it together throughout the ordeal, but I will say that I have never been more scared in my life!

I want to thank everyone that helped me in the last 24 hours:

• Metro West and especially Travis for keeping me alive.
• Staff at St. Lukes! Very impressive service there.
• Shannon for walking Copper late last night.
• Larry (boss) for walking Copper this morning and bringing me a phone charger. He also called the Fire Chief to make sure my car was cool there (that's thinking).
• Karen Sue (Great Friend) for picking me up, helping me run errands today, and taking me to my car. Thanks also to the others that offered!
• All my friends for their support and kind words.

One last thing, throughout the evening I had my Road-ID, so everyone working on me had the means to contact someone if I became incapacitated. If you don't have one, here is the 100th reason to get one. Fleet-Feet has samples and can help you order them if your interested: http://www.roadid.com/Common/default.asp