01/01/2020

The evening before I was having some serious chills and felt super feverish. I also could barely breathe or move. I realized that I might be really sick and looked for a clinic that was nearby to visit.

Unfortunately, it’s New Year’s Day and nothing but the Flagstaff ER is open. I tried the Uber and Lyft apps to get a ride because it’s like bitter cold outside and about 20 degrees. But there’s no available drivers and so I bundle up and we venture out to find the ER.

It’s about a 9 minute drive through the historic downtown area and I find the ER, which doesn’t look crowded. Before I even get inside, a coughing fit forces me to my knees and I promptly throw up in the snow just feet from the sliding entrance doors.

I can barely stand at this point and I check in and tell them I believe I have the flu. I only waited a few minutes when I get my vitals done, which is in a space right behind the check in window. The nurse hands me a face mask right away and starts taking my vitals. He tells us that his brother lives near San Antonio, in La Vernia. I croak out that it’s farm land and he says everything is farm land in Texas.

After the vitals, you go in a separate room to wait. It’s high backed chairs with the hooks for IV bags but it lets me rest my head and I doze off until they call my name.

My room is your usual ER single room with a sliding glass door and I get to hear the city’s other emergencies. A guy with a scratched cornea from a firework; a lady with hives everywhere, a girl still in party clothes with a twisted ankle.

A nurse comes in and asks me the usual questions: do you smoke, drink, do illicit drugs, etc. I answer all his questions without trying to laugh and as he elevates the bed to put a tag around my wrist, I drift off to sleep.

A very young looking doctor comes in and listens to my lungs and because of my asthmatic history, is concerned about pneumonia. He says we are to do a chest x-ray and a flu test nose swab. I agree, and moments later a radiology tech comes and says I don’t have to walk to the x-ray room, he’ll just wheel me. So up the rails go on my bed, and he wheels me out. My daughter motions that she’ll stay behind in the room, and he reassured me she’ll be okay. I really don’t have the energy to argue.

I coast by many, many more rooms and triage areas. An EMT unloading someone off a gurney. Small children being patted on the head by mothers. An elderly lady with tubes up her nose. This place is busier and bigger than it looks on the outside.

The x-ray doesn’t take long at all, and he wheels me back. I hear a snippet of a lullaby on the intercom but then it stops abruptly. Weird.

I get back and my daughter is fine. The other nurse returns and warns me the swab will be uncomfortable so for me not to grab him as he does it. The swab goes up both nostrils and it feels like a needle all the way up towards my eye area. Ohhhhhh man, it stung!! I tear up and sneeze immediately. The nurse says the lab will take about 1-2 hours to get my sample tested. I’m surprised because at the medclinics back home, it only takes 15 minutes. After he leaves with my sample, I fall asleep hard.

About 1 1/2 hours later, the doctor is tapping my leg to wake me up. He says my chest x-ray is good, but I test positive for the B strain of the flu. He calls in the prescription for treating the flu at a Walmart, and gives me the first pill to take there before I am discharged. The nurse returns with the pill and some crackers, and I take it.

I’m so grateful to have health insurance and that I’m able to be seen so far from home and get the meds to be treated. The sleep at the ER helped and I find the Walmart and pick up the pills. I also feed my poor kiddo, who hadn’t eaten all day.

Back to the Airbnb and my host is so kind and makes sure I’m comfortable and that I have water. Our room has cable so I get to watch a lot of tv.

I wish there was more to write about this trip, but there isn’t. I spent the rest of the week sleeping and recovering enough to drive back home.

**I found out the lullaby music in the hospital was when a baby was born. I heard it twice! New Years babies!

So my Arizona adventure was cut short! But no worries. I’ll be stopping by the other places I wanted to go this summer. For now, I’m happy just to get better and plan my next adventure.