My First Ambulance Ride

At the Sugar Land ER, I was in extreme amounts of pain, and as a result I had my first experience with Morphine. Let me just say…wow. :) They aren’t kidding when they say that it hits you right away. Anyways, I was supposed to be transferred from Sugar Land to Main Methodist Hospital by ambulance because that is protocol. My mom was to ride in the front of the ambulance with the driver and my dad was to follow behind in our car. They had to put me on a stretcher just like how they do it in the movies. They started rolling me out of the hospital, and then that’s when it all gets fuzzy. I remember trying to look around the ambulance and make memories of the ride, but my eyes wouldn’t even focus. It was like a strange dream. Next thing I know, I felt my head roll back and my arms fell off the stretcher. It was the weirdest feeling because I had no control over my body. I remember feeling really dizzy and hearing the paramedic get on the radio and say “Our transport is now an emergency! Give me a nice smooth, ride.” I saw the flashing lights come on and then felt the driver pick up speed, swerve around cars, and beep mercilessly. Apparently, my heart rate was up way too high and my blood pressure dropped far too low. He had to put in another IV, so I had IV’s in both arms to get lots of fluids in, and then he had to elevate my feet and lower my head, so that I was practically upside-down. Then he kept slapping me and trying to make me talk to him. I remember that part. I remember being annoyed…haha…I just wanted to drift away and fall asleep.

We finally got to Main Methodist and it was just like ER!!! That was pretty sweet. They went running in, rolling me along. The rest of what happened is kind of a blur. I do remember that they had to cut off my clothes with scissors (how dramatic!). I think maybe some people did some x-rays and another heart ultrasound. I’m not really sure. All I know is that by this point I needed to be stabilized. I think the rest of the night was spent trying to do that and to figure out what was wrong. Keep in mind, at this point, they still have no clue what is going on. They didn’t realize the extent of the heart condition.

It was February 23, 2006 that I was admitted to the Intensive Care Unit at Main Methodist. I spent the next 4 days in ICU.