16 June 2022

Heat wave emergencies

Right now, I've got a lot of the windows wide open to let some cool morning air in. We're expecting a week of high temperatures in the upper 80s and 90s in ºF. — or even over 100 on Saturday and Sunday. Yesterday afternoon, the sun burned at least three plants in the greenhouse to a crisp. Literally. One was an aucuba that had been doing really well in there, and another was a schefflera (umbrella tree) that had been happy in there too. Now they are both compost. I'm afraid Walt's basil seedlings are completely fried too.

I wasn't here to do anything about those plants, at least not soon enough, and Walt was busy with other things too. Preparing food for my return was one task. Tuesday morning I had bought carrots, cucumbers, and beets for salads, but I wasn't here to peel, grate, and dice them on Wednesday. So Walt did it. Predictions had indicated that the really hot weather wouldn't start until today. Already this morning I have some kind of heat rash on my arms, and I just noticed that it is present on my legs as well. It itches.

Where was I? Well, in the emergeny room at the hospital in Romorantin, that's where. I had to spend the night, and that was the first time I've ever had to spend the night in the hospital. On Tuesday, I had taken Natasha out for her afternoon walk. Outside it was hot, or at least very warm, and the sun was blazing hot in a clear blue sky. I didn't walk for long — maybe 30 minutes — and I took a route that kept me and the dog under shade trees as much as possible. But even before I got back home at 5:00, I noticed some swelling in the left side of my face, near my mouth. I got home, had a glass a water, and told Walt what was going on. He said he was starting to see it. Over the next hour, the swelling continued to spread across the lower part of my face. My lips were puffy and tender.

By about 6:30, I realized I had to call for help. What if my throat starting swelling closed? Or my nasal passages, or my tongue? I called an emergency number for the little hospital in Saint-Aignan, which doesn't have an actual emergency room. The woman who answered the phone asked me to describe my symptoms. When she heard what I had to say, she told me she was going to transfer my call to a doctor at the local fire department's SAMU (Service d'Aide Médicale Urgente) — what I call a rescue squad. The doctor picked up in a minute or two, and asked me to describe my symptoms for him.

He especially wanted to know my age and whether I was having any difficulty breathing. He said he was sending out paramedics who would examine me. A few minutes later we started hearing the siren of an approaching rescue vehicle. When it arrived here, a nurse was one of the four men on board. He started checking my vital signs. The whole crew was astonished and impressed with how swollen my face was. One man started laughing every time he looked at me. He apologized, and I told him I realized that I looked like a freak or some kind of clown. I laughed with him because it was all good-natured.

In a couple of minutes a SAMU doctor — probably the one I had talked to on the phone — drove up. He examined me too — I was flat on my back on a gurney inside the vehicle. The doctor made a phone call and then told me he was having me taken by ambulance to the emergency room in Romorantin, a town of 20,000 about 20 miles east of Saint-Aignan.

The paramedics strapped me to the gurney, turned on the air-conditioning, tooted the siren a couple of times, and off we went. Nobody could tell me whether I'd need to spend the night over there or not. I didn't have anything with me except my French national health insurance card, and the prescription form from my doctor's office listing the pills I take regularly. No wallet, no money. I was dressed in shorts, a t-shirt, and sandals. I should have taken a cell phone with me, but that idea got lost in the shuffle. We headed toward the east, rocking and rattling, siren blaring at every intersection, and cooled by AC.

Here's what I looked like. I had snapped a selfie just before the paramedics got here.

22 comments:

  1. I’m so glad you’re OK. And, yes, it’s difficult to not laugh at that image. If you wanted an air-conditioned ride, there are much less risky ways to go about it.

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  2. Goodness! What a worrying turn of events. Hurrah for the SAMU! I'm glad you are home and feeling better now.

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    1. I really agree on what Susan has to say.

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  3. Oh my, I hope you are doing better fast

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  4. Laughing comes later when you are all better! That is frightening - so glad you acted when you did and thought about how far it could go!!!

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  5. oh wow that is impressive swelling. glad you called the rescue crew

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  6. My daughter looked like that the last time she ate mango. Do you know what brought on the attack? Glad you've avoided hospitals for so long in your life!

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    1. I keep leaving comments and they keep disappearing. I hadn't eaten anything for about 3 hours before I went out on the walk. I once had what a California doctor thought was a skin rash attributable to a diet too rich in tomatoes, but I've never had that again.

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  7. Hope you feel better very quickly.

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  8. Sound like you are recovering, a scary story! To your quick healing. Our last Afghan, got stung on her tongue, and it swelled hugely, went to the vet, and she got a shot of something, and the vet told us to to use as much Benadryl as the dog would eat next time.

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  9. That was quick thinking on your part, Ken, to think about your esophagus swelling. I will make a note of that among my 'little grey cells' and I hope I can retrieve it if necessary. You are home; the Dr. must have felt it was safe now, so please keep us informed about what was discovered. Phew!

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    1. The scary part is that I don't know what caused the reaction, which means I can't really know what precautions to take. I have to go see an allergist and show him my photo.

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  10. Such good medical care in France! Get well soon.

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  11. Sounds like you came in contact with poison oak or sumac, while trying to stay in the shade and away from the sun.

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    1. I don't think we have such plants here in France. But I may be wrong. I've asked CHM if he knows.

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    2. You do have something called hogweed, though, which is quite poisonous and prolific. It looks a bit like Queen Anne's Lace. Hope they figure out what it is so you can treat it.

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    3. I'm pretty sure it's an allergy... but to what? Two friends, one in Arizona and one in northern Calif. sent me e-mails yesterday saying they have had similar allergy symptoms that came on very quickly and inexplicably. One thinks tomatoes were the culprit, but she says she eats tomatoes all the time and has had the allergy only twice. The other says those kinds of sudden allergy attacks run in her family, from generation to generation.

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  12. Hi Ken, I haven't been online very much these past few months. Just taking care of essential things. I try to catch up with you and Walt every week, or so, but haven't been leaving comments. So, I was surprised to see this post. I'm so sorry. It seems to be an allergic reaction, very severe! I'm glad help was able to reach you quickly and get you to the hospital. I hope you find the source of this reaction and can avoid it in the future. Take care!
    I haven't posted anything on my blog since April, right after my accident and I didn't go into detail about the ER at Saint-Antoine in Paris. I think I'll get to that, today!

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  13. Read your post, Ellen. I'm glad you're doing okay now. Two people I know, one in Calif. and the other in Ariz., have written to me to say they've had similar allergy incidents over the years. One suspected tomatoes, but said she has always eaten them and still does. She's had a bad reaction twice. I had a reaction that a doctor in Calif. told me was probably caused by tomatoes, but it didn't involve swelling, just an itchy skin rash. I hope I never have swelling like that again. The ER drugs brought it down pretty fast, however, and I never had any difficulty breathing. Do you know that my sister, age 71, fell and ended up with a really nasty fracture to her left arm? She volunteers at a food bank and was there when she fell.

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