Cocoa saved the day
20 Apr
Cocoa the rescuer
All has been forgiven. At 3 a.m. on Sunday Cocoa woke me up again, but this time it was because I really wasn’t breathing. This is almost too bizarre to be true after writing my last post, but I developed a severe allergic reaction to a prescription this weekend and when Cocoa woke me up I was in the midst of anaphylactic shock. I know the signs and symptoms of an allergy attack because I’m severely allergic to peanuts. It causes an immediate sense of dread and anxiety, then itching, nausea and hives, and then cardiovascular collapse (if it’s not treated right away). In short it’s not recommended, and I’m not sure I would have been so lucky if Cocoa hadn’t woken me up when she did.
Afterwards, during a trip to the emergency room, where they pack you full of adrenalin, steroids, and Benadryl to treat the shock, Doug got to watch me shake, sweat, turn red as a beet, turn white as a the sheet, and finally stumble out of there after four hours feeling like I had had a good beating.
Turns out that wasn’t the last of it. The medicine I took (one pill) will stay in the system for 250 hours so I had to go back for another round of steroids last night. Doug patiently watched my pulse and blood pressure rise and fall and I told him about the meditation I learned from the book, “Eat, Pray, Love” where you try to smile in your liver. It worked. I brought my heart rate down by 10 points doing it.
Anyway, I think I’m on the mend even if it will be a tough week and the only thing that I can think of to laugh about right now is western medicine. If it doesn’t cure you, it will surely kill you. Also that to a person, my family members all said, “Now you have something to write about on your blog!”
I’m so grateful you’re ok. It’s terrible you’re allergic to peanuts. I need to learn that meditation.
I’m glad Cocoa was there for you. Cats can be great companions. I’ve heard that some have a “sixth” sense. They can tune into something, whether it’s chemical I don’t know, that we aren’t sensitive enough to discern. It’s good to remember that.
I was just complaining about my cat waking me three times a night wanting to be lifted onto the bed because he’s too old and decrepit to hop on it himself. Can’t you just stay put, I asked him? But I’m grateful to have him.
They are pretty amazing animals. Most of the time I’m not so pleased when they wake me up, but this time it was a good thing. Janelle
call me – I will give you a prescription for an epipen – you should carry one at all times just for the peanut stuff – what if cocoa had been out proselytizing or something – if you get my drift – Leah