#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.