Barrow Regional Medical Center Saved My Life

Thanks to Barrow Regional Medical Center in Winder, GA I am alive today. Last Wednesday (2/23/11), I was stung by a red wasp. This was the third time I have been stung in a matter of a few months. The first sting set up my immune system to fight against me, because the second sting was quiet scary. I was stung on the finger and I swelled up with wheels all the way up to the top of my arm at the shoulder. Then Wednesday, when I was stung, I had a systemic reaction. My lips going numb were the first to give me a clue that I was in trouble.

Soon the numbness encompassed my entire face and then my tongue started to swell. There wasn't enough room in my mouth for my tongue. My family took me to the hospital, and by the time I got into the ER I couldn't talk and secretions were falling from my mouth onto my chin and clothing. My eyes were swelled to where they were almost shut

As soon as the woman at the reception desk saw me she hit the panic button to alert the personnel in the ER that there was an emergency in the atrium. Within a minute or two (it felt like about 5 minutes at the time) a nurse came in; she and my daughter helped me into the ER. I was put into a room right away, and within a minute or two the nurse was back to me with an IV to put into my arm. As soon as she got the IV in place, she started pushing drugs before she could even take time to secure it into place all the way.

The point I am making here is that I was being taken care of before my information was logged into their computer system. If they hadn't been so quick to respond, I might have died right there in the ER, because I had gone into a state of anaphylaxis. My heart felt like it was in a vice; the pressure was intense, and my pulmonary system was involved to the point where I labored to breathe

The first round of meds didn't do anything to stop the reaction, but the second round of medications took the swelling out of my eyes, my tongue was able to go back into my mouth and I was able to talk. I owe my life to those people who took care of me that day. I don't know their names, but I want them to know that I appreciate them for all of their efforts to get me better.

To all the people who helped me, I want to give them a great big shout out of thanks!