OK, I'm thinking of posting this entry later, sometime after I can tell my family about what happened today before they read it here first.

I don't want to spend a lot of time on this... since I'm tired and it's been a long day...

Around noon today, I ate a Cobb Salad from White Hen. Around 1:45, I had to go.. to the bathroom. Things were moving around inside, and I had to... ummmm... get rid of the salad... so I was off to the bathroom...

While there, this WAVE of nausea came over me, and a pretty good pain - belt high on my left side. I was getting sweaty... but I had a teleconference at 2pm, so I... ummmm... finished up as much as I could and got back to my desk...

I was feeling worse... tingly.. sweaty... lightheaded... the pain, like a cramp, was barely subsiding... The telecon was over and I put my head down on my desk...

The next thing I knew, Pam in the next cube was calling my name.. I was OFF off my chair, kneeling at my desk.. feeling TERRIBLE... she looked at me.. I guess I was pale white and my arms were glistening in sweat... Pam got on the phone and started calling 911.

Yep - it was 2:30 and a Schaumburg Engine showed-up (they were close by) and started assessing my situation... which was getting better... the nausea was subsiding... the disconnected-ness was gone... my hands slightly tingled.. and - most importantly - the pain was subsiding.

The paramedics showed in in my cube with a gurney... so at 2:45, i was being hauled out of my cube on a gurney, being taken to a local hospital. At this point I didn't know why, because all of my symptoms eased and vanished - no pain, no nausea...

It was a REAL TRIP getting wheeled-out through your office area. It's hard to say "hi" to people as you're being wheeled-out. I mean, I was waving to people, joking about the White Sox... I mean, I felt fine... Security people holding doors... cafeteria people in the lobby saying "good luck".. WEIRD

the got me outside... in the rain. Strapped to a gurney in the rain. Had to joke about that with the guys..

So.. it was time for MY FIRST AMBULANCE RIDE. Somewhere along the way, I remembered my digital camera in my pocket (I DON'T GO ANYWHERE WITHOUT IT).. So I took a few P.O.V. pictures from the gurney for the blog... and then one of the paramedics offered to take my picture!!! (that's also included in this post)

You see? I felt fine! I have the picture to prove it!

We got to the hospital a little too quickly.. they were still on the radio with the hospital when they where backing into the bay... they wheeled me into the E.R... and since I was feeling SOooo good, i had to get off the gurney and walk into the Waiting Room and get triaged just like anybody else off the street.

Carol showed up about a half hour later.. ( I had called her earlier from my office to let her know what was going on). I was finally in an E.R. bed after about an hour.

And then... the long wait began...

Things done in the meantime: Got int a hospital gown (HATE THESE FRIGGIN' THINGS)... had an EKG... had blood drawn... had an IV port put in (Woo Hooo! FIRST I.V.)... And then... wheeled-in for a CT Scan (Woo Hooo! FIRST CT SCAN) (It's weird when a machine talks to you "Breathe in" "Hold your breath" "Breathe") The IV Port was used here.. to get hooked-up to some kind of contrast dye solution... so that a few scans were taken.. and then the dye was automatically injected into the port by the machine... and then another series of scans are taken.. had this WEIRD sensation of HEAT in my groin and a metallic taste in my mouth...

And then got wheeled back to my bed.. IN ENOUGH TIME TO WATCH THE BEGINNING OF THE ALL-STAR GAME.

OK, this is taking TOO FRIGGIN' LONG. I feel FINE.

So after FIVE AND A HALF HOURS in the ER, I FINALLY get released with prescriptions for two antibiotics.. and a diagnosis of the POSSIBLE start of diverticulitis. The E.R. doctor contacted my doctor, and I have to see him in a few days.

We just wanted to go home... and FINALLY get food.. and eat takeout at 9pm....

Long day.

AND I FEEL FINE.