so this is what death feels like (take 3)

Journal Abm0raz's Journal: so this is what death feels like (take 3) 10

Journal by Abm0raz on Tuesday December 23, 2003 @11:08AM

Well, I nearly pulled it off for a 3rd time, dying, that is.

For those that don't know, I have a SEVERE allergy to peanuts. It is my kryptonite. The mere smell of ANYTHING with a peanut product in it makes me nauseous and weak. Actually eating them has been fatal (twice).

So, let's turn back the clock 24hrs and venture into the realm that is ceasing to live...

My secretary at work brought in a BIG box of mixed chocolate samplers for the office to share yesterday. It had approx. 200 choclates and a little roadmap to show what was filled with what. All kinds of stuff like cherry cordials, solid chocolate, coconut filled, caramels, maple chews, toffee, truffles and more. All chocolate covered.

Now, when I saw it in the morning, I took an almond nougat and wend back to my desk. I did a morning's worth of work (rare for me, as my job work-load really only warrants a part-time position, so when I have the work, I relish it).

At noon, I make my lunch (pulled pork sammich and a cup of soup) and grab a chocolate truffle. On my smoke break at 2:30 is when the trouble begins.

As allregic as I am to peanuts, I LOVE almonds. I can eat them by the pound. Now this sampler had chocolate covered almonds as well, but, they also had chocolate covered peanuts. Now, in their infinite wisdom, they put the compartments for both next to each other. I grabbed 1 chocolate covered nut (according to the map legand, the compartment it was in should have been an almond) and tentatively bit down. Oh, joyous rapture, it was an almond. So I grabbed a small handful (6-7) and went back to my desk.

I ate one more and got a phone call back from the tech support of a software I manage. They aren't the brightest people on earth[1]. The phone call took nearly an hour and didn't solve anything. After the call was over I took the 4-5 chocolate covered almonds I had left and popped them in my mouth as I walked to the kitchen to refill my water glass. I half chewed (basically enough to break the nuts open once, but not grind them down) and swallowed cause I need a drink.

This is when I realized something was really wrong. As soon as I swallowed, my tongue swelled to twice it's size. I could barely talk. My 'skin' lining my mouth dried up completely, yet I was drooling. The back of my throat (near the tonsils) also swelled and I could barely swallow. I realized right then and there that at least one of the nuts had been a chocolate covered peanut.

I ran back to my desk where I keep an emergency stash of benedryl. 6 pills later (approx 45 seconds) I'm starting to break out in hives. I have an inhaler from when I had asthma issues that I keep around in case of allergic attacks. I took 2 hits from it to try and keep my lungs open.

By this point my face is visibly swollen and my secretary (who was walking by) asked if I was alright. My tongue had become so swollen, my speech was uncomprehendable to her. I started to break out in hives all over my arms, and torso.

I ran to the soda machine down the hall and got a lemonade out of the machine. Now, I have a slight (very slight) allergy to citric acid, but in the event of a severe reaction, it does help reduce the swelling in the throat and hastens the digestion of the benedryl. Pure lemon juice is best, but, seeing as that wasn't available, I went with what I had.

It had been about 6 minutes since I had taken the benedryl/lemonade and I could already feel it acting. My pulse was over 110 beats per minute and I could feel my blood pressure dropping (light headed, nausous, ... trust me, I can tell ... it happens a lot). Half the office is at my desk now ande they're screaming to call the ambulance. I decline. One guy asks, "why not?" I say (in the best that I can), "Because it's too wate fo' them to do anything now. They can't give me any mo'e anti-histimine or it could stop my heawt. That has happened to me sevewe' times befo'e and it's no fun. Aww we can do is wait and hope the bened'y' takes effect in time."

Needless to say, it did. Today, I look like a strawberry and feel like I got hit by a truck. Every joint in my body aches and aches. I have a disgusting rash all over my arms and torso. The lining of my mouth and tongue is bright red and inflamed still Eating is a near impossible feat. Today is liquid diet day (feel your pain, Sol). I wish I still had some sick/vacation days left so I coulda stayed home.

I did see a doctor eventually. One of my co-workers ran accross the street to the allergist's (ironic and opportunistic, no?) and told a nurse what was happening. The doctor ran over with a full epi-shot (like in the movie pulp fiction when Uma Thurman ODs on heroin). The amount of benedryl I took prevented him from using it in anything but the most dire of circumstances, but also, in his words, probably saved my life. I have an appointment with him to have an allergy test done the first week of Februrary. I haven't had one done since I was 12, so it will be interesting to see if I outgrew any or developed any new ones.

There's one bright spot in this whole event. I seem to be growing out of the allergy. 5, 10, or 20 years ago, I'da been declared dead for the same thing almost instantly (for the 3rd time). My airways did not close off (as much or as quickly) as they have in past reactions. There may be hope for a normal life yet. One of these days, I may even get to try real fried rice.

-Ab

[1] Tech support boy actually said at one point, "I think your problem is in your script that you have the variable messagepassthrough instead of MessagePassThrough." Considering the script is in Perl, I told him (at a friend's urging on IM) that, "Oh, Perl isn't case sensitive if you import the Luser::Clue and Doc::RTFM modules." The tech support guy actually said, "We can't support you if you use 3rd party modules." Idiots.

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