The Dish

Bennie Bunker - Mar 2, 2009

The average Paramedic will make around $16 per hour. There were 5 paramedics at our house Thursday night. I will explain the way that things transpired: For as long as I have known Tricia, she has had occasional breakouts of hives. Her entire body will become very red and itches uncontrollably. There isn’t much to be done for hives except to take some Benadryl, take a cold shower to try to minimize itching and wait for the miserable few hours to be over. We have never known the cause of these hives and they are borderline impossible to track as they are usually caused by a food allergy (mostly nuts or fish). Within the last year or so, these hives have come to be more frequent and more extreme in nature. She has had these episodes for four months in a row now, each time becoming more extreme. Such was the case last night. Tricia was at a friend’s house for a relief society dinner. She felt the hives coming so she excused herself and drove home. Immediately, she took two Benadryl and hopped in the cold shower. I tossed up a quick prayer (as I usually do when she begins to have these episodes), asking for it to end quickly. After a few minutes or so, I went in to check on her. She was completely red, head to toe and scratching as frantically as she could. She said that her eyes and lips were numb and itching along with everything else. She was complaining that she was not feeling ‘right’. Immediately, we checked her blood sugar levels as she is a Type 1 diabetic. Her levels were at 70 which is a tiny bit low but not quite enough to be feeling really weird. She then started complaining of heavy cramping, stomach pains and dizziness. She got out of the shower and sat on the toilet. She had diarrhea and began to vomit. I have looked up Hives on WebMD a hundred times and I find the same things every time. I felt like I should look it up again. As I did, I found a little sentence talking about bee stings and insect bites and some the symptoms that can be associated with being allergic to these things. It is called anaphylaxis. On a whim, I quickly type Anaphylaxis into the WebMD search window. I didn’t have time to read everything, but I was immediately drawn to the following paragraph, “Anaphylaxis may begin with severe itching of the eyes or face and, within minutes, progress to more serious symptoms. These symptoms include swallowing and breathing difficulties, abdominal pain, cramps, vomiting, diarrhea, hives and angioedema (swelling similar to hives, but the swelling is beneath the skin instead of on the surface).If you have symptoms of anaphylaxis, seek emergency medical attention immediately. The condition can quickly result in an increased heart rate, sudden weakness, a drop in blood pressure, shock and ultimately unconsciousness and death (WebMD).” As I read this, my entire world turned to slow motion. Symptom for symptom, Tricia had measured up. I knew that I had to get her to a doctor immediately or she would stop breathing. I ran into the bathroom and told her to get her clothes on because we were going to the Emergency Department. She said that she was feeling weak. As I attempted to help her stand up, she passed out. I was able to catch her fall and I began to yell at her to wake up. She did, but was becoming incoherent. I stood her up and tried to get some clothes on her when she passed out again…this time crashing into the bathroom sink and mirror. This is where I panicked. I screamed for Tricia’s parents to come help me. Tricia regained consciousness again but was completely incoherent. She could not hear anything, she couldn’t talk and she had no ability to stand or move on her own. We dragged her into the hallway trying to take her out to the car. I ran to start the car while Susan called 911. The car was running and I tore back into the house. It was clear, at that point, that we weren’t going to get her there in time. She was grasping for air and having a very difficult time breathing. David was performing light resuscitation breathing on Tricia to allow her some air (full blown CPR would have cracked her ribs and the paramedic on the phone instructed us to not do that). Susan gave me the phone so that I could fill the operator in on the details leading up to the event while David continued the breathing tactics. Paramedics were on the way and Susan ran out to greet them. Under David’s direction, I ran to get the oil for a blessing. I could hear the paramedics on their way in so I knew I had to act quickly. I put the oil on her head and had time for the most simple priesthood blessing that I have ever issued. “Tricia, I bless you that you will recover” was all that I could get out before the paramedics were on the scene and took over from there. There were five of them and I was unbelievably relieved at the very sight. They checked vitals and got her some oxygen. I gave report to the EMT. After she had stabilized a bit, they put her on an ambulance to take her to a hospital. Susan made it clear that she was to go to Loma Linda and not Redlands hospital. I continued that very line of thinking and didn’t allow them a choice. I hopped in my truck to meet them at the ED. I remember praying while I drove and as I did so, I recall a very cluttered and nervous mind becoming very clear and peaceful. I recognized that I was calm. I know that Heavenly Father was telling me that everything was going to be just fine. It was. Tricia recovered quickly and we were discharged at about 1:30am. A paramedic, on average, will make about $16 per hour. It is impossible to quantify in hourly wages what a person should make to perform life-saving functions, but I am now confident that they should make far more than they do. I am so thankful for the ones that were at my door just a few short nights ago. These were, easily, some of the scariest moments in my life. I know that Heavenly Father allowed David, Susan and I to think clearly during these crucial minutes. I know that, although only one line long, the priesthood blessing was what God wanted to be said at that time. I know that Heavenly Father let me know that everything would be fine. It seems like, sometimes, we feel that we aren’t being watched over very closely…but I know that we are. This whole experience has been completely surreal and almost seems like a bad dream. It has helped us to appreciate each breath a little bit more. Without getting into all the boring details, we feel like we have a good grasp on its cause but don’t want to throw out a bunch of rumors until we get an actual diagnosis from a doctor in a few weeks. In the meantime, we have been prescribed an epi-pen which is to be used if she begins to have another similar episode.