Image Map

Tuesday, March 22, 2011

O it was far from magical

I know this story is 4 years old, but I was emailing a with a reader and realized I have never posted about it, and thought it would be fun!

Most people have wonderful memories of their Honeymoon, with a great photos, and exciting stories to retell, I am not one of those people. Allow me to tell you a different kind of story, one I have fondly titled

Disastermoon
We left for our honeymoon the morning after our wedding, we were tired, we were giddy, we were in love, and we were expecting something different. We got up at 4am honestly we never went to sleep, ha I know what your thinking and no thats not why, actually we stayed up counting all of our moo-lah, then could never fall asleep because of the horrible high winds due to the nor'easter that hit on our.. wedding, yea no outdoor photos for us to get to the airport in time to check in for our international flight. Well to make a long story.. longer.. We arrived in the Dominican Republic right on time, it was early Monday morning, almost 80 degrees and breezy, we were so not dressed for the occasion as we had just come from 50 degrees and pouring.

In all honesty Our honeymoon was really grand, we had good weather, gained like 10 pounds  ate at lots of different places, swam in crystal clear water, took full advantage of the open bar, and since were being honest and all, got it on, (cue Marvin Gaye's "Let's get it on" in the background). The disaster began to unroll as we were boarding to come home, we were sitting in the thatched roof open airport with some Big Ass (no really that was the name brand) fans blowing over head. I was wearing shorts, and a tube top, the weather was lovely... we were truly wishing we didn't have to come home.

Here is the part where it all started to fall apart, I felt a small burning sensation around my ankle, and when I looked I saw what appeared to be a mosquito bite. Sidenote: I'm super de duper allergic to mosquitos, I know you thinking...umm isn't everybody.. but for real mine become like grapefruits on the area where the bite is So I didn't think much more about it. We got on the plane, and took our seats. As the rest of the passengers where still boarding, I kept wondering if I had gotten sunburn on my ears, because they felt like they were on fire and I couldnt stop scratching them. So I asked my husband " Do my ears look burnt to you?", he said "Well they are kinda red." I then noticed that my throat was starting to feel a bit irritated, and my cheeks felt warm. You would think me being a nurse I would have realized that something was wrong, but I was still hungover on cloud 9, so I never really put 2 & 2 together.

I got up to go to the restroom right after the plane took off, just to see if maybe I really did get sunburnt. Once I got to the restroom I obviously sat down to go to the bathroom and well my friends, that when I lost it. My legs, abdomen, and chest were now completely covered in hives, so much that my thighs had turned into one giant hive, and were fire engine red. At this point I was sure that this was coming from the insect bite, and figured they had bigger, stronger, mosquitoes then we have in the US. I exited the restroom and asked a flight attendant is they had any benadryl,  of course she asked why and I told her "O I think I'm just having an allergic reaction to an insect bite." She said she didnt think they had any, and asked if I was feeling ok. I said I thought I was fun, just a little hot, and had a few hives, I guess at that point the hives had covered my neck, as she mentioned them, and said my face really looked flushed. Im sure I then looked a bit worried, she said I should go sit down and she would bring me some water.

I returned to my seat, explained to my husband what had happened, of course he was now concerned, and then I heard over the loud speaker " We apologize for interrupting the on board film, are there any doctors, emt's or medical personnel on board we have a medical emergency".... O great maybe I should have mentioned that I was a nurse, and then they wouldn't have freaked out. Well there was in fact a doctor on the plane, who came to my seat, I told him what happened, but by then I was having a hard time breathing... of course I had to be the one going into anaphylactic  shock thousands of feet in the air. The Doctor asked me a ton of questions, including where the insect bit me, and if I had an EPI pen... I didn't have one with me though.

By this point My entire body was covered with hives, I was having trouble breathing, and I could not swallow very easily. The plane had alerted the passengers that we may be making an emergency landing in S. Carolina,  
Just a few minutes later the benedryl the doctor had given me started working, well I'm assuming that mixed with my adrenaline level, seemed to open up my airways, and the hives were going down. They moved me to the front of the plane and had called ahead to have paramedics ready at the gate to get me. We decided I was doing ok at this point to not stop and just head home a few states farther up the east coast.

We landed and the paramedics got us off, we didn't have to wait in any lines or go through customs, they wanted to take me to the hospital, which I would have done, however... I was really feeling much better, and I didn't have any health insurance. I was going 30 days without any, since mine was up for renewal, and I couldnt go on my husbands until 30 days after we were married, I figured nothing would happen in those 30 days... WRONG.

So I signed a waiver and said if things got worse I would go to the hospital. But really I was feeling fine at this point, just itchy with some hive patches here and there. We went out to dinner with the family that night, grabbed some groceries, and headed to our apartment, just like two little lovebirds. Everything was fine... until .... I woke up that night to go to the bathroom.

I went to get out of bed and could barely open my eyes, I though maybe I had left my contacts in, but I knew I didn't.. I stumbled to the bathroom turned on the light... and almost died. My head was double it's size, my eyes were almost swollen shut, and my lips put Angelina Jolie to shame. I ran back to bed woke my husband ans said.. " I've got hives again, my eyes are almost swollen shut, I need to go to the hospital"... he first asked are you O.K., then flipped on the light, and yelled "Holy Shit, what happened you look like E.T.".... really dude, really we have only been married 9 days and your calling me E.T. in the middle of a medical emergency. I'm sure it freaked him out, he goes to bed next to his new wife, wakes up next to E.T.... wondering if he had made a mistake... and also wondering what happened to the physical attraction. We went to the hospital where they took me back right away, and started me on epinephrine and  some steroids for my breathing.

I saw what I looked like in the reflexion of the window and I gotta say I was pretty scary looking. I kept saying "Do you think I look ugly????"... of course he never answered, just kept saying "Were here to get you better".... I'm sure a week and a half into marriage the guy was praying the doctors were right and I wasn't going to look like an alien the rest of my life. Because lets face it no amount of lingerie could make E.T. sexy.

A Nurse came in to give me a steroid shot in my arm, when she did I felt what can only be described as a very strong electrical shock run down my arm, and with the medical knowledge I had I knew exactly what just happened. She hit my nerve....and for the next 3 months I had numbness in my arm (but thats a post for a different day).The doctors found the original bite, that had turned into more of an ulcer and were able to drain the puss from it, run some tests, and found out I was bit by a BLACK WIDOW SPIDER.... seriously?!?! what did I do wrong in my life to deserve that on my honeymoon? .... finally everything seemed to calm down, the hives were mostly gone, my face was back to normal, and I could breath... so about 7 hours later (the next morning) they were discharging me. Yes, we sure did spend our first night back from our honeymoon as a married couple in the emergency room.

They sent me home with some really strong antihistimies, prednisone, and 3 other scripts. They told me the hives would come and go for the next few days and that was ok, just to keep taking the meds, and I would be fine. That afternoon while I was sleeping it off, my husband went to help a friend with some yard work, and came into contact with poison ivy, of which he is extremely sensitive too, so that night we were at the urgent care center getting prednisone for him as well.

We were laying in bed that night, both buzzin on strong meds making us drowsy, the only thing that was helping my hives was cold wash clothes laying over my arms and legs, he was putting ice packs on his poison rashes... it was anything but romantic. I couldn't stay awake from all of the meds, and he couldn't roll over without his blisters opening up, being affectionate, or cuddling were the last things on our newlywed minds.

I joke now that we prolly got the least action of any less then 2 week newlyweds, those few days. (yes, mom & dad... I did say "Action".... I hate to break it to ya... but I do have Emmaline remember?)

But at least we had been through "for worse", and figured.. all we had left now was "for better"... wrong again... as just one year later, we found ourselves right back in that same Emergency Room after we had to come home from our 1 year Anniversary trip 4 days early, because the Mr. Got a horrible case of food poisoning, and became severely dehydrated....... O the stories we could tell... I should write a book!


For those of you who are wondering .. we stayed at the Paradisus Palma Real, it was a beautiful resort, we are actually thinking of returning there.... with an EPI pen this time!

8 comments:

Jess said...

I was fine until I got to the ET part, and then I laughed so hard I spit coffee on my laptop.

This has to be the best/worst honeymoon story ever. Totally made my morning. I mean, I'm sorry that your marriage started out like that, but still. Made my morning.

Steph said...

At least it's memorable!!!!

And you know how much your husband truly loves you!

Thanks for sharing!
xoxox

Laura @ My Thoughts-Uninterrupted said...

Oh my...what a story! That's what memories are made of though.

Suzy said...

WOW - that is definatley a disastermoon! Scary but highly memorable!!!!

Gina said...

Oh my gosh, this made me laugh. Hard. There is so much I could comment on but I'll just say I am glad you are okay. Fantastic story.

Jen Watts said...

This is nuts!! Love your heart!

Momma StJ said...

:) Great post!!! A story that will be passed down for generations...:D

Katie OB said...

no way! i totally went to the exact same resort for my honeymoon! too funny...i'm glad all this went down after your trip was already pretty much over :(...and it makes for a great story now