When you spend your 30th birthday in A&E

So it seems the birthday gods do not favour me very well. This year, on my birthday, for the third year running, I spent it in hospital. Two years ago, hubby fell on a path down to the beach and he damaged some nerves in his back and neck and so we spent the time in hospital and with him dosed up on tramadol. Last year, you may remember that I had been induced the day before my birthday, so again, I was in hospital and then last week, the day I turned 30, a memorable day, I ended up in A&E.

As you can imagine, with the past two birthdays, not so great, I really wanted this year to be special, especially with it being my 30th. I have had mixed feelings about being 30 and so in one way I was looking forward to getting home from work, opening some pressies and cracking open the bubbles with a Chinese take away.

The day started off well; I opened a few cards, especially ones from hubby, Charlie and the stepdaughter and got a few goodies off a friend at work. I had a pleasant and uneventful day at work for a change, due to parents day and then we picked up the step daughter and came home ready to celebrate. I got some really lovely gifts and we opened up the bubbles. I got to choose what we had for dinner and I had already chosen Chinese, so the hubby went and picked it up.

And that, was where my evening went downhill.

I love Chinese! I have, in the past, been guilty of ordering the same thing every time we go, so I have been trying to be a bit more adventurous and I have been ordering different stuff. That came back to bite me this day! I ordered Cantonese crispy chicken with sweet and sour sauce. Anyway, I had almost finished it (thankfully!) and I felt something sharp in my throat. I tried to swallow it but started choking but managed to cough enough to move it. However, there was something definitely stuck and it was sharp and it was hurting. I didn't think too much of it at first, I thought it would go down. But, it didn't! It got worse, I couldn't swallow properly and it was really hurting and making me retch. In the end, hubby said we would have to go to the local walk in centre and see if they could see it. I was really reluctant to go as it was my birthday and I felt that another one was about to be ruined!

Hubby's sister arrived with pressies, so we dumped the kids with her and flew round the corner to the walk in, fortunately we only live two minutes away from the walk in! They had a look and couldn't see anything and as it was after 7, they had no x ray department open, so they sent me to the local A&E, which was half an hour away! Hubby's sister had to go, so I dropped hubby home and set off to A&E on my own. By this point I had resigned myself to an evening in A&E, so I was feeling pretty miserable!

When I got to A&E, they said that one way to try and move objects stuck in the throat is to gulp coke! So they sent me off to the hospital shop to buy some coke. I returned with one 500ml bottle, which was laughed at and dispatched back to the shop for as much as I could get! They told me to sit in the toilets and gulp the coke as it would probably make me retch or vomit. It didn't, thankfully. But apparently, vomiting might have been better as it would move the object. Anyway, I sat there and drank 2 and half litres of coke and by the end of the first litre and a half I was starting to feel ill. Imagine drinking that much coke in such a short space of time! It was horrible and it's safe to say I am certainly off coke for a long while. I did feel that it had moved slightly and it didn't feel as stuck. So I told them as I thought they would then let me go, but no! The nurse said that since I had driven all that way, that it was a good idea to stay and see the doctor. I finally went from triage to a room in A&E to be promptly told that a major trauma had just come and (quite rightly) I would now have to wait even longer. I sat there, for what felt like an age, and then the doctor came in, asked if I was being sick, asked if I could breathe and if the coke had moved it. I answered these questions satisfactorily apparently as I was then told I could go home and to go back if it was still there in the morning.

So I managed to get home before midnight on my birthday and I also managed two more glasses of bubbles! This seemed to do the trick as all of a sudden I had a massive coughing fit, and the object moved and went down! It was horrid, it felt like I was swallowing a twig!

After that, my throat was very very sore, I could hardly swallow as obviously whatever it was, had scratched  it or damaged it. Ever since then, I have had a horrible cough which I presume is a result of that, although with my current health situation at the moment, I don't know if I am just ill again!

So, safe to say that my 30th will certainly be a day to remember, and not for the right reasons. Although, silver linings - I got some beautiful pressies! (pictured below)