Misery in its finest

February 4th, 2009 / posted by Jake

What do you get when you combine bronchitis, 4 ear infections, barf, 2 ambulance trips, and sleepless nights?  Us.  We’ve been sick, plain and simple.  Tyler and Kaitlyn both have bronchitis and 2 ear infections in addition to sore throats, uncontrollable coughing, heavy flowing noses, interesting diapers, and lots of love.  Because of the circle of life, I too have developed bronchitis.  I was pretty optimistic in the beginning thinking I’d make it through this, putting Tyler to bed each night as he coughed and spit all over me was a pretty clear sign that mine was yet to come.  Now, a week later, we are about 80-90% full recovered but it’s been hell.  Thank goodness Lindsey is awesomeness – yes awesomeness.

NOTE: Our theme song for the week –

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Today was a more adventurous day for Tyler.  This morning Tyler, Kaitlyn, and I were running around in the court playing chase.  Tyler decided he no longer like the eggs and oatmeal he had eaten for breakfast and threw them up all over our neighbor’s lawn.  Of course it wasn’t the inconspicuous throw up either – It was the kind where you hear it coming before you see it and before it’s too late chunks are everywhere.  So after about 3 minutes of him yaking his brains out on their yawn I made sure no one was looking and quickly scooped them up and ran inside.  I’m certain the neighborhood animals will be eating well today no thanks to Tyler.  Later this evening he decided once again that he wasn’t feeling well in yet another awkward place.  We were shoe shopping and in the middle of a shoe aisle he was at it again.  I had hoped that this time it would be a light showering or spray so I coerced him to puke into the bowl I had made out of his sweatshirt.  Unfortunately the bowl didn’t hold strong and his dinner ended up all over the place.  I scooped up the kids and rushed to the car while Lindsey pulled a rug over it and made a mad dash for it. Suffice it to say we’ve had our hands full.

With all of this going on Lindsey and I have been attending the gym on a nightly basis.  We have been going to the spin/cycle class for 1 hour a day, 6 days a week, for a combined total of about 3 months now.  It’s a great cardio workout and we feel refreshed after each class.  About 30 minutes before each class I take N.O.-Xplode which is basically a pre-training supplement which gives you energy bursts during your workout.  It is comprised of lots of caffeine, taurine, and other big worded ingredients.  Well on Monday I wasn’t feeling particularly well and I therefore had no desire to eat or drink at all during the day.  I took my supplement and we attended the spin class for an hour.  Upon arriving home, I started to cook dinner.  About 2 minutes into it, I started to feel dizzy, faint, and my heart felt like it was going to burst.  I looked Lindsey square in the eyes and in the most serious tone ever I said, “Lindsey.  Call 911 NOW”.

Paramedics arrived within 3 minutes and rushed me to the E.R.  When the doctor finally saw me he took my vitals and then proceeded to read the ingredients on the N.O.-Xplode bottle Lindsey had brought with her.  With a large grin on his face he basically said, “Idiot.  Man up, go home, get some food and water in you”.  Even though my blood pressure had increased dramatically to 185/100, and my pulse had gone up to 120, it was expected and actually not as bad as it could have been.  Basically due to the amount of N.O.-Xplode I had taken and the lack of food and water in my system, my body was having a similar reaction to one who is on methamphetamine’s and I just had to let it run its course which could take a few more hours.  What this meant was that every 10-15 minutes my B/P, pulse, and breathing would increase dramatically for about 20 minutes and then drop back down to normal and repeat for about 6 hours.  Upon arriving home I took a long shower and continued to try and control my breathing but something still felt horribly wrong.  After being home for 2 hours straight, my heart was still pounding, trying to get out of my body.  I felt dizzy, light headed, had broken out into sweats, and so once again 911 was called.  This time my blood pressure was over 190, and my pulse had increased more.  The doctor, surprised to see me again, gave me some sort of tranquilizers, discharged me, and 8 hours later I awoke in my bed feeling better.

What do I expect you to gain from this?  Nothing really.  But I would encourage everyone to take a CPR course.  My paramedic teacher who has been in the service for over 20 years said he could count on maybe 2 hands the times he has performed CPR and it has actually saved someone’s life.  From those few instances, most of the time a family member or witness to the event had initiated CPR prior to his and other paramedics’ arrival.  Is this to say CPR is useless and ineffective? No.  Is it more effective when performed immediately after seeing someone collapse instead of having nothing done during the 3-4 minutes it takes for units to arrive? Yes.  Lindsey and I are both CPR certified and confident that if something were to happen to us, our kids, or even a stranger, we could initiate help instantly. Classes are a few hours and you only need attend once.  Some are free, others are a couple bucks.  Do it.

Lindsey has been supermom/wife in our recovery process and will probably have her own talk show in the near future called “I am awesomeness.”