What a Brutal Day

This morning, Sheila and I picked up her dad so we could drive him to the airport.  He's heading to DeSantisland for a long visit with some family, friends and Disney.  This part of our trip went relatively well but it was not without a few concerning problems.

While I was moving my medications and ice packs to the car for our drive northward toward Burlington, my right leg kept buckling under me.  In an instant, periodically, I was briefly losing the ability to control my leg.  This worsened the longer we were away from home.  Losing control of your legs when you have a spinal issue is not a good thing.  It is not good physically.  It is not good mentally.  It is not good emotionally.  This was a new development that is a bit concerning.  

Unfortunately, I've been down this road before when I was originally recovering from my first and second line-of-duty spinal injuries.  At times various times after my injuries, I could not move my legs nor could I walk.  Regardless, this problem of losing control of your legs is still concerning.  There were times after my line-of-duty injuries when neither of my legs would move.  I do not want to experience that again.  My road to recovery was long and painful back then but I was hoping that this time around things would be less severe and resolve relatively quickly with no complications.  Time will tell.

We dropped Will off at the airport and then headed to Hannaford's to do some grocery shopping.  I would really be putting my spine to the test while hobbling around a large supermarket.  I had my cane and I thought things would be relatively uneventful but I was wrong.

The periods of me not being able to control my right leg were getting longer and more frequent.  To make matters worse, my mast cells were not too happy either.  I was feeling my health crashing.  Before long, I was experiencing anaphylaxis while we were in produce picking out some fruit.  

I was lightheaded and my vision was narrowing significantly.  My vision was so impaired that I could not focus on anything.  I knew I needed to get off my feet before I lost consciousness but there was no place to sit.  Instead, I crouched down close to the floor.  I tried administering epinephrine but my cognitive reasoning was screwed up enough that I was screwing this up too.  After attempting to administer epi twice, we attempted to find a seat someplace closer to the front of the store.  The closer I was to the car, the better.

I barely made it to a bench at the front of the store.  I knew I needed to be lying down with my feet raised but the bench was the best option right now.  I dropped my head down between my knees to get some blood flowing toward my brain again.

While Sheila checked out, I did epi twice more before sending Sheila out to the car to retrieve my bag of medications and a drink.  I was feeling miserable...  I knew I could not walk without losing consciousness...  I saw no easy way to get to the car without losing consciousness...  and I was definitely unable to think clearly.  I was struggling with both physical things and simple mental things.  

When Sheila came back with my bag of medications, I took some emergency medications and drank some iced tea.  Then I had to just wait.  I still could not walk.  I was still feeling as though I would pass out if I stood up.  I had little to no confidence that I could make it to the car.  The fact that I was also struggling with rather basic communication skills as well as making a simple decision made me realize just how close I was to complete anaphylaxis.

We just sat there on the bench hoping that the epinephrine and emergency medications would take effect soon...  I continued to lean forward with my head down near my knees.

Within a few minutes, I was feeling the jittery effects of the four doses of epinephrine, finally.  That seemed to take forever!  This jitteriness was a good sign though.  We waited another few minutes for me to feel slightly more stable.  The longer we waited, the more I knew the effect of the emergency medications would help me.  

I kept my head low near my knees for a few more minutes.  

Eventually, we made our way toward another bench outside in front of the store.  Sheila went to get the car and then pulled up at the curb.  I carefully but quickly made my way the ten feet to the car.  I immediately reclined the seat back so I was now lying down.  At this point, I could feel that my emergency medications were taking effect and that was a good thing.  Of course, lying down also allowed more blood to my brain that the extremely low blood pressure could not do on its own so that helped in making me feeling a bit better.

I was starving now too.  I mean I was absolutely famished.  I needed food and I needed it before it would anger my mast cells again. Fortunately, I always carry a couple of granola bars so I ate one of those.

Sheila ordered some food from Jersey Mike's so it would be ready by the time we arrived there.  Unfortunately, even after arriving there, we still had to wait another 45 minutes for the food to be ready.  That was annoying.  We won't be doing that again anytime soon.  I like Jersey Mike's but having to wait upwards of an hour for a freaking sandwich is not something I'm willing to do.  This is also a clear sign that you can't get a good deli sandwich in Vermont if a place like Jersey Mike's is so backed up with orders.

Fortunately, by the time we were heading back toward home, I was feeling a bit more stable.  

On the positive side, when we arrived home and I ate my Jersey Mike's Italian sub, I was feeling well enough to prepare a bit more gear for the upcoming solar eclipse.  I did this on the couch so it wasn't anything strenuous but accomplishing anything after almost needing an ambulance and a hospital was very good news.  

Today was definitely a crappy, brutal day.

I snapped the photos in this blog entry using my little ten year old Fuji compact X30 camera.  This camera is great for quick shots right out of the camera.  The tonal qualities, clarity and color are all great.  Every time I use this camera (which is usually when we are out and about shopping), it impresses me.  This is a great little classic "carry everywhere" camera.