Thursday afternoon I felt a little more tired than I thought I should be. Didn’t make a big deal out of it, took a nap in the afternoon which of course gave me a hard time going to sleep when I should since the alarm went off at 1:40 am. I woke up and felt off. I was sweating which I never do in the morning. Took my temperature but didn’t have a fever. So I kept going. Figuring that when I came to work I would have other things on my mind and feel okay again. As the day progressed my throat started to be sore. Not bad really but noticeable. At the end of the day it was to the point it hurt when I swallowed or drank anything. I took two Alka-Selzer before going to bed to ensure my body could take care of whatever this crud was. Usually my body figures this kind of stuff out fast and I’m good the following morning. Not this time. I woke up Saturday morning with the worst pain in my throat I have ever experienced. It felt like my entire throat was on fire! Of course my thoughts went straight to covid. Was now the time? After 2.5 years avoiding it? Took my temperature: 98.9F. So it was just to go to work.

Around 8 am I had a cough with some phlegm. It was just a short and intense cough but I lost my voice. My partner looked at me and wonder what in the world just happened? Mow my mind went to strep. Did I have strep? The pain in the throat just became worse and worse. I am not someone who gives up but around noon I had to get out of the ambulance and sit on the back of the truck to spit because I couldn’t swallow. I started to get dizzy since I haven’t had a full meal since Thursday and had maybe a bottle of water since the same time. That is absolutely not enough to do my job! And that was it. I couldn’t take it anymore. I had to go and see a doctor. UT has a urgent care in Canton, that would probably be my best and quickest option. Called our supervisor and told him the situation. I felt so bad. Not because of my throat but because I had to throw in the towel and go home. But at this moment I was not able to do my job safely anymore. He totally understood and told us to go back to the station. My partner offered to get the truck re-stocked and back to order so I could leave. I got my stuff in my car and went in to clock out. The supervisor was in his office so I peaked in to say I’m sorry and tell him that I was heading to the urgent care right away so this was taken care of before it went south. I remember seeing him asking me a question but I couldn’t hear it and all went black. I guess I was already too late.
The next thing I know there are a lot of coworkers around me. They had called for a truck to take me up to the ER. Once in the ambulance they took my temperature… 101. What? That could not be right. I did not trust that. First of all I did not feel feverish. I was not hot to the touch, not sweaty or anything indicating a fever. I had a blood pressure of 170/111 which is stroke level for me! I had taken my morning meds with a lot of pain but skipped my lunch meds because it hurt too bad. So that I had this high was not good! And it was after laying down for several minutes!
So of course, up to the hospital we go. I had planned to see a doctor but not really this way but looking in the rear mirror it was probably better to be at the ER than Urgent Care with that temperature and bp. The only complaint I had was still just sore throat and dizzy. The dizziness I knew was from dehydration so it didn’t worry me.

The blood pressure went down to normal levels fairly quickly but once at the hospital the temperature was 102.3! What the… I have not had a fever for 20+ years! When I get sick its usually upset stomach that is okay after it gets out of my body. But sore throat like this, hypertension and fever! And I couldn’t even feel it myself!

With that fever I was set up for a full cardiac and sepsis work up. Fluids, antibiotics, steroids, lidocaine solution to gurgle, breathing treatment, you name it I probably got it. The doctor did not hold back on treatments, that’s for sure. Surprisingly the test for strep came back negative… left was covid but they don’t test that anymore at the ER unless you get admitted or transferred. Ha, I was going home! But the doctor thought it was more likely that I had viral pharyngitis than Covid based on the labs.
As soon as the 3 bags of fluids was in me the dizziness went away. The throat though was still on fire. Got some Toradol for it just before I left but it didn’t do very much.
I offered to walk back to the station when I was discharged but the nurse insisted that it was too hot (and she was correct) especially since I still had 100.1 in fever so she called dispatch and they sent a truck to pick me up and give me a ride back to the station. Then, I couldn’t really fight her either, we were having the same glasses!!!

I came home and my throat was still extremely painful. Ever since I came to the hospital I had been spitting in a bag instead of swallowing. It was too painful. I was so excited when I found some expired Tramadol at home, some of mom’s old but it was better than nothing. They made me a little sleepy but didn’t take the pain. I woke up after three hours since I’ve been swallowing in my sleep and it was too painful again. Back to spitting in a cup.

Of course I was taken off the schedule for today. Ha, no way I could figure this one out and go back to work. I got the note so I can go back on Wednesday which would be my next normal shift. At 3 am I went up and let the dogs out and left the back door open so I could stay in bed as long as I felt like. I was not going for a walk with the dogs anyway. I knew there would be some rough days for Twix so already yesterday at the hospital I ordered another of his absolute favorite toys… a mallard duck!

We will see how long it will last but I tried at least!

Food or water was not to think about this morning. With much pain I succeeded taking my morning meds. I had nothing for voice, and if I tried it hurt. I don’t think I’ve been in this extreme pain since CPR was done on me! It was insane!

Suddenly, out of nowhere my right nostril starts to bleed! What in the world? Why this now? That’s another thing that I have not had happened in 20+ years!

Oh well. It took about 5 minutes and it was over with. Nothing serious but quite surprising. I spent all morning in the recliner trying to figure out how to manage the pain and when to head to Athens to pick up meds. I decided that noon would probably be a good time. That would give them enough time to get it all together. Then I could stop on my way home to get some soup or something easy to swallow.
Well that didn’t go as planned either. I got to Athens and had to wait a couple of minutes for my meds. They also told me that there was no Covid tests to be found in Henderson, Van Zandt or Kaufman counties… but I was going to stop in Canton just to check… But on my way home, between Athens and Canton my nose decided to be trouble again. And this time it was more sudden and three time more blood that came! Out of nowhere my t-shirt and shorts was all bloody, no way I could stop looking like that anywhere. Looked like I killed someone! But there I am, once I got all situated and found gauze in my med bag, trying to stop the nose bleed, spitting in a cup and driving down the road at once… jeez. I just wanted to go home and thankfully I didn’t get pulled over! That would have been something to explain!

Once I came home I unpacked all the meds that I got. I don’t really know what to say. Prednisone for the inflammation in the throat, Albuterol in case I get a relapse and hard to breath and Lidocaine to gurle my throat in. But how much Lidocaine did he give me? This is enough to numb an entire elephant!!!

I took a Prednisone right when I came home and it didn’t take long until I could feel a little difference. First of all, the taste of this tablet is HORRIBLE! To try to get another taste in my mouth I tried to drink some almond milk and it surprised me how easy it went down and how good it tasted. It was really smooth!!! The worst of the fire in my throat started to subside and I could drink some water without scrunching my toes and get runny eyes from the pain. And a couple of hours later I decided to try to eat something. I really don’t want to get any complications because I haven’t eaten or drinking enough. So I made me some intentionally overcooked pasta. That would make them even softer and easier to get down.

And I got it all down. At the end it was quite painful but I numb the pain with some ice cold water. I knew it was important to get it in me but it did bring the pain back. Though not as bad as it was.

So… I am laughing at myself because I actually went to the ER for a sore throat… well and then it turned out to be a lot more to it. But so often we ask ourselves why does people go to the ER for a sore throat and not to an Urgent Care… and here I was. But I didn’t have a choice with the syncope. I’m just trying to give it a fun twist I guess… my bad sense of humor!

Hopefully this continues to heal up and get better. My voice is slowly coming back but is very hoarse and painful. So enjoy the silence while you can folks! I will be back soon, full loud force!

This has really been a surreal experience. When I am sick it’s something cardiac related. I know how to deal with that kind of stuff. But fever and high blood pressure is not on my list of experiences and I didn’t want it to be either. So let’s heal up fast and move on!