{London from EVERY angle}

London is the best...but between all the site seeing, classes, shows, shopping, etc. I just didn’t feel quite complete. I want to see London from every angle, so why not spend a few nights in the ER (or the A&E as they call it here)? Sounds like a good idea right? No! But I did it anyways, and believe me, it was not by choice. Just a question mom…when I was little, did I break a few hundred mirrors, see any black cats, or walk under any ladders? It kind of seems like it because I just seem to have the BEST luck. Haha. Anyways, I am writing this entry partly for my own memory’s sake and partly to answer any of your questions. So here goes nothing, a brief synopsis of what I like to call “Hell in a Hospital” (pardon the language!)

After a fun game of soccer in Hyde Park on Saturday night, I was sitting at dinner feeling slightly itchy. Grass has always irritated me a little so I thought perhaps I spent a little bit too much time outside. But what was itchy before dinner had transformed into massive hives by the end of dinner. So I took some Benadryl and went to bed hoping they would be gone in the morning. Well on Sunday they definitely weren’t gone…in fact each hive had grown to be about the size of my hand, and I was covered. Fun stuff. So out came the Benadryl that night. Benadryl completely knocks me out, so I slept like a baby until about 3 in the AM when amid my sleep confusion I realized my upper lip was about the size of my head. Not normal people! Luckily the program director’s wife is a nurse so I went and knocked on her door in sheer panic. She reassured me that everything would be okay, to take more Benadryl, and try and get some sleep. Well come 7:00 I knew I was in trouble. Have any of you seen the movie “Hitch”? When I saw the movie I remember thinking “Okay there is no way anyone’s face could swell up that much”...well I guess I should have knocked on wood because the way I looked that morning made Hitch look like he could have won a beauty contest. Anyway, my throat started closing up so an ambulance was called and I was rushed to the hospital. They immediately put an IV in my arm and pumped me with adrenaline, and who knows what else, and gave me an oxygen mask (I think…perhaps I should know what they were having me breathe in haha) and then wheeled me in to the ER. Here I got to have lots of fun with needles, steroids, unidentified machines measuring random body functions, and about 10 doctors—none of which felt like informing me what was going on. After a few hours when I started settling down they moved me to a new room. Aside from being completely loopy and out of it I was starting to feel a lot better. They even told me I would possibly be going home that night. Fat chance! Apparently I wanted to see more of the hospital because my throat started swelling and it was back to the ER before I knew it. The doctors were still trying to figure out what I was reacting too…they did a great job narrowing it down to: Amoxicillin, Tylenol, Ibuprofen, Sudafed, and the Ostrich burger I had eaten earlier that day, haha.

My night was…interesting to say the least. Forgive me for bringing politics into this—but socialized medicine, really? Maybe Obama should spend the night in a Hospital here and then decide what he wants to do about health care…because it stinks! The hospital was seriously so sketchy: No pillow; no food and no IV pumping fluid into me; nurses taking my blood and disappearing for the night leaving my blood samples on my bed; no towels so I had to use a pillow case to dry myself off; doctors treating me who didn’t speak a word of English; basically it was nothing like our health care—which I personally think is the bomb. Okay I kind of feel like I am ranting now…maybe because I am. But I really am so grateful for my doctors and for the hospital. It was such a blessing that the hospital was so close and they helped me get better so I should not be complaining. After 2 nightmarish days, I left the hospital, still covered in hives, but with loads of medication and a smile on my face. I made it! I still don’t know exactly what it was that I reacted to, the doctors were leaning towards penicillin or ibuprofen when I left. But it has almost been a week since all this happened and I am almost all better. One of the medications I take is like heavy duty Benadryl meets laughing gass, so basically I feel exhausted and like I am floating 24/7…only a few more days of it and it will be over though so I am pretty excited about that.

So that’s my story. Like I said, I just wanted to experience London from every angle. And get this…the hospital I stayed at is the hospital where they invented Penicillin…coincidence? I think not! Wow I still have so much more to tell you about but I think I shall save it for another post. Before I go though, I just want to give a shout out to all the girls in the London center who got me flowers, and welcomed me home with excited arms; The worthy priesthood holders who gave me multiple blessing between my sinus infection and my hospital visit; The Professors who are helping me catch back up in the school that I missed; And my family who was praying for me at home. I love you all! Xoxo

P.S. There are NO pictures on this post for good reason!