Well I had a mostly fun weekend visiting family in Albuquerque this weekend.

I started feeling pretty sick with a fever Thursday afternoon at work. I powered through it though, and instead of calling off the trip I got right on the plane to New Mexico with Tammy bright and early Friday morning.

Things were going fine until we got to my Aunt and Uncle’s house. I was getting sweaty and a little dizzy on the car ride over, and as soon as we walked through the front door my head suddenly got really heavy and I almost blacked out. I have a vague recollection of my uncle holding me up as my legs kept giving way, and eventually being laid on the ground.

Tammy yelled “Call 911!” and before I knew it there were paramedics in the room taking my pulse, wrapping oxygen around my face, asking me what I had to eat that day, and offering me an ambulance to the hospital. They pricked my fingers (twice!) to check my blood sugar and no blood came out! My hands were ice cold and I’m told I was gray as a ghost. They started an IV and I took them up on the ambulance offer and rode to Albuquerque’s Presbyterian Hospital in style.

To make a long story short I wound up spending most of the day in the emergency room shivering under a mountain of blankets with an IV in each arm going through all kinds of tests. X-rays, urine, blood, throat culture…these people wanted it all!

The tests all came back normal so they decided that I was dehydrated. My sickness, the fever it caused, the air travel that day, waking up early to catch the flight, Albuquerque’s elevation, and my lack of appetite all converged in a perfect storm to rob my body of the fluids it needed.

I was released later that evening after they were confident I was able to keep down some apple juice.

I spent the rest of the weekend in a sick fog but happy to be in the presence of family. We flew back home on Sunday night.

I’ve spent the past two days here at home riding out this fever and dealing with a killer cough. The fever’s gone now and Robitussin DM seems to work well enough on the cough, so I’m gonna venture back to the office tomorrow. We’ll see how things go.

Friday was loaded with firsts for me. I’ve never been admitted to an emergency room before. I’ve never breathed pure oxygen before. I’ve never had an IV before. I’ve never been in an ambulance before. I’ve never been dehydrated before. I’ve never scared Tammy so badly before (sorry!) I’ve never not-known what my insurance co-pay would be prior to service before. I’ve never been hooked up to a machine that goes BOOP every time my heart beats before. So many new things.