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spicedogsI take a lot of pills. Most of them are vitamins, calcium, and other types of over-the-counter medication, but in my mind, they are way too many. If I had my way, I would take nothing. However, one of the reasons I am on this Earth this long is because of the prescribed medications together with the prescribed over-the-counter medications. So, in order to be able to take the medicines, I take them all at one. I grab those pills, put them in the palm of my hand, toss them into my mouth, take a swig of liquid, and swallow. One day, in the beginning of June 2006, I did just that, EXCEPT that I forgot to remove my iron pill (SlowFe) from its wrapper. Here's what the pill inside the wrapper looks like:
As soon as I swallowed it all, I realized my boo boo. I started coughing, and since I was at work, I quickly ran to the Nurse's office. Unfortunately, our nurse is not the brightest bulb on the Christmas tree, and instead of applying the Heimlich maneuver, she made me eat bread: Rye bread. The pill descended lower on my esophagus, but not low enough. I was in pain, I became a choke candidate, and I needed to go to the emergency room.
Now, I work in Washington, DC, and the hospitals do not have a great reputation. I found out first hand why they do not have the great reputation. I was a choke (who could possibly die) patient, but nonetheless, it took the emergency staff 2 hours to get to me. I spent 45 minutes waiting in a hallway just to be triaged. Luckily, my husband works in the same office that I do. So he came on the ambulance to the hospital with me. Because he was with me, he filled out the paperwork for me, so my triage experience was only 45 minutes instead of 1 1/2 hours.
My paramedics should have been aware of my condition, but they were too busy visiting other paramedics in the hospital. At one point in the hospital, the wrapper slipped down to my epiglottis. I knew that any wrong move would make the wrapper slip into my windpipe and that would be the end of me. I stopped talking. My paramedics continually asked questions, which I would not answer. Now, I am not a quiet person, and throughout the ride in the ambulance I was talking and joking around. My silence should have alerted them. It didn't. It alerted my husband who tried to get a doctor to pay attention to me. It took more than 1/2 hour for one to come: He was a resident and unable to do anything without his attendant's OK, and the attendant was not available.
Anyway, I arrived at the hospital at 11 am, I was given an X-ray at 2 pm, and a barium test at 3 pm. At first, during the barium test, the technician told me that the pill and the wrapper were down in my stomach. However, I got to see the moving X-ray, and I saw it lodged in exactly where I felt it: On my left side, just below the collar bone area. The technician told me that the thing I was seeing, which by the way looked like this
was something that was part of my anatomy. "NO WAY," I said. They made me swallow some more barium. Suddenly the item dislodged and fell into my stomach. I was right: IT WAS NOT PART OF MY ANATOMY. Moreover, the pain that I was experiencing as the edges of the wrapper touched the walls of my esophagus, suddenly stopped. At 4 pm., I was discharged.
What a foolishly stupid thing to do. I now look three times before I swallow my pills.
As soon as I swallowed it all, I realized my boo boo. I started coughing, and since I was at work, I quickly ran to the Nurse's office. Unfortunately, our nurse is not the brightest bulb on the Christmas tree, and instead of applying the Heimlich maneuver, she made me eat bread: Rye bread. The pill descended lower on my esophagus, but not low enough. I was in pain, I became a choke candidate, and I needed to go to the emergency room.
Now, I work in Washington, DC, and the hospitals do not have a great reputation. I found out first hand why they do not have the great reputation. I was a choke (who could possibly die) patient, but nonetheless, it took the emergency staff 2 hours to get to me. I spent 45 minutes waiting in a hallway just to be triaged. Luckily, my husband works in the same office that I do. So he came on the ambulance to the hospital with me. Because he was with me, he filled out the paperwork for me, so my triage experience was only 45 minutes instead of 1 1/2 hours.
My paramedics should have been aware of my condition, but they were too busy visiting other paramedics in the hospital. At one point in the hospital, the wrapper slipped down to my epiglottis. I knew that any wrong move would make the wrapper slip into my windpipe and that would be the end of me. I stopped talking. My paramedics continually asked questions, which I would not answer. Now, I am not a quiet person, and throughout the ride in the ambulance I was talking and joking around. My silence should have alerted them. It didn't. It alerted my husband who tried to get a doctor to pay attention to me. It took more than 1/2 hour for one to come: He was a resident and unable to do anything without his attendant's OK, and the attendant was not available.
Anyway, I arrived at the hospital at 11 am, I was given an X-ray at 2 pm, and a barium test at 3 pm. At first, during the barium test, the technician told me that the pill and the wrapper were down in my stomach. However, I got to see the moving X-ray, and I saw it lodged in exactly where I felt it: On my left side, just below the collar bone area. The technician told me that the thing I was seeing, which by the way looked like this
was something that was part of my anatomy. "NO WAY," I said. They made me swallow some more barium. Suddenly the item dislodged and fell into my stomach. I was right: IT WAS NOT PART OF MY ANATOMY. Moreover, the pain that I was experiencing as the edges of the wrapper touched the walls of my esophagus, suddenly stopped. At 4 pm., I was discharged.
What a foolishly stupid thing to do. I now look three times before I swallow my pills.
