Any Blogger Worth Her Salt...

... would be blogging immediately upon her arrival home from the hospital. I am taking out a vendetta on the Independent at Meadowlands and Merivale for labelling as "Cashew Pieces, $7.99/lb" a bulk bin containing, yes, some cashew pieces, along with a lot of peanut pieces. But I am fine, and still wearing my hospital bracelet.

At about quarter to eight, I put the curry I'd had for dinner (okra and tofu, yum) into a plastic container and sprinkled some "cashew pieces" over top for later, then popped a handful into my mouth. About forty-five seconds later I started feeling decidedly itchy and hive-ridden in the throat and mouth, and called upon the gallant services of Emily and Katherine. They promptly called TeleHealth Ontario, which told me to use my Epi-pen and put us through to 911 at incredible speed. The ambulance was out front by eight o'clock and we watched them come in on the closed-circuit camera.

By this time the Epi-pen was kicking in but good. Epinephrine is not really a fun trip. It's basically a terror hormone, as far as I can tell -- you start feeling quakey and too-fast, and as it wears off your teeth chatter, your muscles tense up, and you shake. Much to Katherine and Emily's amusement, the heart monitoring equipment the paramedics had me on sped up every time I was asked a question. Decisions are, yes, scarier than potential bodily harm. I elected to go to the hospital, just for safety. It turned out not really to have been necessary. We rode to Ottawa General in an ambulance, but with the sirens off which made me feel that probably I was okay. The wait time was six hours, increasing to eight after Katherine and I arrived. So all we did was get me checked in, say goodbye to our charming new paramedic friends ("I hope I never see you again, okay? Take care."), and sit around for three hours or so trying to avoid the no-doubt exotic germs of the other E.R. waiting room denizens.

At quarter to midnight, Emily and Nate came and drove us home, which was very and extremely nice of them and much appreciated.

I'm going to bed, because the scary injected adrenaline high has worn off. But on that note, I would just like to proclaim my high opinion of whoever designed the wonderful and user-friendly Epi-pen. I'm hoping never to use it again, but it is pretty fabulous when you need it. The same goes for our friendly neighbourhood paramedics, Colin and Warren. And rest assured I will be paying the Independent a visit tomorrow.