I have now officially had my first overnight stay at a hospital! Whoo hoo! Saturday my throat slowly continued to swell closed. At one point I started to panic and cry, so Denny called a nurses line after we tried everything we could think of to bring some comfort to my aching throat, head and ears.

I'm so thankful that we called the nurses line, they asked a few questions and then demanded that Denny hang up and call an ambulance. He took me to emergency himself, but God's timing was perfect. By the time I had checked into emergency at just before 4 pm and was sitting in the waiting room, my neck was swollen to about 3-4 inches larger than normal, my breathing was shallow because my throat was so swollen. My tongue was swelling and I was starting to feel dizzy, like I was going to fall asleep. While we were waiting for my name to be called, my lips began to swell and get tingly - so we ended up having to go and ask to get in right away.

They made immediate room for me in the ER and got me an IV and I sat in a chair in the ER for 5 hours. The Benadryl made me SO sleepy, but I was in a chair, so I had to sleep sitting up. After I think 3 hours they told me they needed to admit me for a couple days, but I had to wait for a bed to open up. So, I say there, exhausted for a couple hours.

Denny went home to get me some things and was gone for an hour or so, still no bed. Finally just after 9:00 a bed was available, but I had to stay in the ER section for the night. OY! If it wasn't for the morphine and the drugs, not sure what the point of being in the hospital ER is, cause I wasn't getting much rest!

My nurse said it was the busiest night he'd seen since he started a few months ago. They had 2 stabbings come in, one of them was screaming for nearly 40 minutes. In the end, they opened his chest and actually had to massage his heart, but he died. Then 6 people from his family came in and they were crying for a while. There was drunk and stoned people screaming all night, the doctors were being paged "Code Blue STAT!" all night. The guy on my left had bad the poopers real bad and a phlegm problem, the guy on my right was in restraints because he was crazy. He woke up every 1/2 hour to 40 minutes screaming, "Help! Nurse! Get me out of here!" Plus the "F" word every other word. By the time 5 am rolled around, I made a fist and told my nurse I'd help him. The nurse thought it was funny, but the guy heard me and called me a "B*tch". Good thing he was tied up!

So, I was all excited on Sunday when they said they were moving me out of that room, I thought I'd get more sleep - they moved me to Pediatrics! Still in the ER> So, I got to have a change of scenery and got to hear little children crying and screaming in agony all night as doctors took candies out of their ears, gave them blood tests, stitched cuts - ya, that was better! At one point, I begged my nurse to give me something just so I could pass out and fall asleep, I didn't get more than 40 mintues sleep total at any one time before some screaming or activity would wake me up. Plus, they come in and wake you to check your vitals every hour.

I was so bored because there was no TV of course since I wasn't in the ward and walking around with my IV pole was exhausting, reading was hard because my eyes couldn't focus. So, I sat there a lot. Visiting hours were only from 2-8, so I was EXTATIC when Denny came on Sunday afternoon. He sat with me the whole 6 hours, even when they gave me morphine and knocked me out, he stayed by my side until they made the announcement visiting hours were over. He massaged lotion into my feet, he read my book to me, brought me magazines. Man - he's the best husband ever! I love him so much!

So - when they said I was allowed to come home Monday, I was itchin for them to discharge me. I was going mental in there. My meals consisted of clear fluids, because until late Sunday night I couldn't even swallow my own saliva, so I had to be able to swallow before I could leave. So, I had jello and water, juice and broth to eat for all my meals. My IV was feeding me the fluids I needed and strong antibiotics and steriods for swelling.

I was up at 4:00 am that morning WAITING and WAITING for a doctor to come and discharge me. They didn't discharge me until 10:00. Mom came to get me and I was home by 11:30, filling my perscription for more steroids and liquid antibiotics.

So, my first ever stay at a hospital, wasn't pleasant, but I'm thankful I was there because I can breathe and swallow. They always ask you how your pain is from 1-10, 10 being the worst. When I went to the hospital, I was a 10 (well, I say I was a 12 - drama queen rating) and when I left, I was a 3 - so thank God for drugs and doctors! If Denny hadn't called and made that decision as I was telling him I was getting worse, who knows what would have happened as my throat was closing. I was starting to pass out in the ER, so I'm glad it didn't happen at home - God had His hand on us!

It's 4:30 in the morning and I couldn't sleep, so I thought this might put me out. My nasal passage is still swollen, so I can't breathe out my nose and breathing in my mouth for hours dries it out and makes my throat sore, so I thought I'd get up for a bit and re-hydrate myself. Sounds like I'm a fish that fell out of it's tank!

Tonight was the first night in like close to 2 weeks I've slept in the bed with my husband - that's a blessing I THANK God for! Last night Denny & I watched TV for a while, then we turned on a worship DVD and sat on the floor in the dark and just worshiped together. I couldn't sing, but I cried a little and worshiped and prayed. That was one of the nicest moments I've had since we got back from our honeymoon. It was very romantic, even though I look the way I do and feel like this, God gave us a really nice time together before we went to bed. God is good.