#18 Food Poisoning!

I'll never forget it was a Hardee's burger that did me in. I once remember someone telling me that you can't mistake real food poisoning. There is no doubt about it. The other thing they had told me was that there was nothing for it. That all you really do is wait for it to run it's course through your system. The very thing that I had feared had happened, I had gotten sick and was alone.  As fluids continued to leave my body by any means necessary, I was getting weaker and weaker. The pain was horrible. It didn't take long before I came to the conclusion that I really did need to go to the hospital. But I also knew I was unable to drive as I was doubled up in pain. My closest family member was 3 to 4 hours away and it was after 10pm. Suddenly I thought of Eleanor a close friend of the family who was also a legit Christian woman.

Not only did Eleanor come by to take me to the hospital but she came with Ginger-ale, crackers, & Pepto-Bismol. She was indeed an angel in human disguise. After getting to a point of thinking that there was nothing else left to leave my body, I was ready to attempt a trip to the hospital. I don't ever remember feeling this bad in life before. I was so happy to not have to be alone as I attempted the feat of standing and walking. There was a problem though. I found out that what I thought was insurance that I was paying monthly for, was really a discount program that no one seemed to accept. I was going to be stuck with the bill. But when you think you're close to a near death experience you don't care about such financial arrangements. 

As I waited for the doctor, just knowing that I was getting ready to get fluids, I saw the room spinning. I think they took blood. And if they did, I think it was to verify whether or not I had had an infection. As it turned out I did not. I instead had had food poisoning. I tried not to recall all of the past stories I had read about people dying from under-cooked salmonella hamburgers as I hung on for dear life. The doctor comforted me with stories of employees not washing their hands instead. Relief, I think not! As I waited for fluids, I think I saw the Doctor for a mere 15 minutes, if even that. But of course I had been waiting around the emergency room and in the back for over 5 hours plus for those 15 golden minutes to arrive. Well, the fluids never did come. I was given a prescription to help with the pain of the stomach cramps but of course nothing to help with the food poisoning. When Eleanor took me home, the sun had begun rising. She had stayed with me the whole night. 

Days passed before I was any good again. And I had faced a major fear of living by myself and getting sick. Soon the bill arrived in the mail, the combination of the hospital and the doctor came to over $500.00 for the 15 minutes of info and prescription writing. When I had left the emergency room that night, they had advised me to follow-up with my own doctor, with whom I normally paid $130.00 per office visit. Needless to say I toughed it out and didn't go to see my doctor whom I knew wouldn't be doing a thing for food poisoning. I think it also goes without saying that I have not eaten at Hardee's again since. Sometimes a $5.00 meal really costs $500.00 instead.  

To Be Continued...

The pink stuff!

Two meals in one. 

#17 A Little Birdie & Her Dog

Half a year had gone by before I had gotten a visit from one of my children, the female birdie. By this time I had missed her birthday and my son's for the first time in 26 & 22 years. Celebrating their birthdays had always been a major deal for me. For one birthday we had gone to Las Vegas and for another we had gone to Disneyland. So, to not be able to celebrate with them almost tore me up. However for me, I had almost totally stopped celebrating my birthday because it represented a painful event in my life. No, not growing older but an emotional situation with a loved one. A couple of years ago the children had managed to bring back the celebration of birthdays for me.

My daughter is my oldest child. She had managed to finesse her schedule to be able to visit with her little dog, Ayasha (which means little one in Native American). Yes, Ayasha was small enough to fit in a purse size carrier. My daughter was the black version of Elle Woods in Legally Blonde, but without the wealth. However, my daughter wore red instead of Elle's pink. But I digress. They had flown in and I'm sure Ayasha was ready to be free once and for all from her purse carrier. I was so excited to see my little birdie and my grand-dog. While they were on this side, I had planned a whirlwind tour that included traveling to 3 states to see relatives.  But we weren't the only ones traveling, plans had been made for my 90 year old grandmother and my aunt to come to see us. It's not that we wouldn't have gone to see them, it's just that they wanted to travel with us to go see my mother as a 71st birthday surprise. I have to say that I was a little worried about traveling with my grandmother and Ayasha in the same car. But all of those worries vanished as my grandmother totally fell in love with the little dog. For a moment I was thinking we needed to get my grandmother a little lap dog companion. The dog even got great great-grandparent money like little children get. Ayasha was in like Flynn.

When we arrived in Virginia to see my mother it was known that we were only going to be there for 3 days. After those three days I would also have to say good bye to my daughter and grand-dog. Their visit would be over and I would have to adjust to being by myself again after such a wonderful treat. It was nice to be able to share a house with my daughter after being apartment dwellers for most of her life. Only briefly in Detroit did I ever live in a house with my children and that was when they were young. It wasn't just being in a house that was different, but I was a very different person as well. Over the last six to seven months, I had settled down and become more domestic. I was cooking full meals from scratch. This was something that had been kicked to the curb in California as I was running from work to church and back again. I was now able to spoil my child like I really wanted to do as a stay at home mom.

My mother did not expect us to celebrate her birthday when we all visited her since we were a week before it. So she was genuinely surprised when she came into her kitchen to a cake lit up with candles as 4 generations sang happy birthday to her. I was happy and sad all at once. In the back of my mind I kept wondering, would this be my mother's last birthday? At the last minute plans changed and I had decided to let my daughter go back two days earlier with my grandmother and aunt since they stayed only an hour away from the airport and I was 3 hours away. I can't explain the hurt and emptiness that filled my heart as their car drove away from my Tennessee home. My only comfort was knowing that I would get to do the same type of visit with my son when he made it out next.

To Bee Continued...

Ayasha modeling her bee outfit
(Doesn't she just look thrilled?)