If you’ve ever wondered what those barium drinks are like… well they’re not so great.  My boyfriend at the time, Greg, was kind enough to take a sip to prove it wasn’t so bad.  The point was not well proved.  Honestly it wasn’t the taste, berry, that was bad so much as the texture.  My memory of it is that it’s like a yogurt smoothie in thickness but very slimy.  I managed to get it all down and headed off to High Tech Medical Imaging in Fox River Grove.  I checked in and was asked a few questions, “Are you allergic to shellfish?” To which I said no, and then waited to be seen.

I was taken into the CT room and given one last glass of barium to drink.  I’m pretty sure I took it like a shot to get it over with.  The tech put in an IV.  We did a CT with just the barium and then they injected Isovue into the IV so they could see my blood vessels on another CT.  I was told I might feel warm, may even feel like I wet myself, but that I would be fine.  The tech was right, that was exactly what it felt like.  I also felt itchy, especially on my face but was told not to move.  The tech came in and said the one thing you never want to hear a medical professional say, “OH MY GOD!”  Apparently I was covered in giant hives.  Turns out I’m allergic to contrast.  They gave me some Benedryl and wanted me to take in a certain amount of fluids to help flush the drug out of my system through IV.  The worst part?  They didn’t want me to drive home.

What was I going to do?  I thought I was going to be able to go to work, but now that I had to take the Benedryl, I knew there was no way.  I stepped on a bee when I was 19 and found out I was allergic.  The nurse gave me Benedryl and I was passed out for the rest of the day.  I didn’t want to call my boyfriend at work to drive out to come take me home, because then I would have to have him take me back out to get my car later.  I ended up calling my work to tell them about the situation and ask for help.  They called me a cab, which ended up never showing up.  Plus then I was going to have to call the cab company the next day to take me back to my car.  I ended up just driving myself home, I wasn’t  going to wait anymore anymore.  I passed out on the bed as soon as I got home and slept for hours.

I worked a late shifter shift, so by the time I woke up, I could still get a few hours in at work.  I headed out, and was working the reception desk when Dr. Segal, the head of Lake Zurich Family Practice, called me.  He didn’t say why, and I didn’t think to ask for some reason, but they wanted me to go back the next day for another CT.  I assumed there was something wrong, but was told I wouldn’t have to do barium again, thank goodness!  He had heard about my reaction to the IV contrast and called in a prescription for prednisone, which would help suppress the allergic reaction.  I had to take some that night to prepare and some the next day.

Little did I know what he had seen.

Over the next nearly 8 months I had pain off and on.  Nothing really seemed to make it better or worse but it was never very bad so I didn’t think much of it. I assumed that I had pulled a muscle, as I had helped my mom move the weekend before the pain started.  March 19th, 2005 I headed back to Iowa to visit my mom.

I stopped at the I-80 truckstop to get gas.  I had been driving without my coat on and so got out of the car without it.  I filled my car and got back on the road when the pain hit.  I hurt so bad that I couldn’t even take in a full breath of air.  I tried adjusting the way I was sitting, I tried adjusting the temperature of the car but nothing helped.  It was one of the most intense pains I’d ever had in my life and I knew there was no way I could make it home. I called my mom in tears and she told me to pull over.  I’d made it to Coralville by then, and parked in the Kohl’s lot.  I laid back my seat and waited, and my little sister and mom soon arrived.  I know they moved me into the backseat of a car, but I don’t remember what car I was in or who was driving it.  I only remember the pain.

When we arrived at The University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics I remember being helped out of the car and could only get out a few words at a time as they asked for all my information.  I don’t know how long it took to get me back to a room, but it seemed like forever.  The rest of my time there is also a blur.  I know they took some blood and urine and also did some chest x-rays, thinking that it might be a pulmonary embolism but they didn’t find a thing.  They gave me some vicodin and I could finally breathe in all the way.  They gave me a prescription for more, told me to rest for a few days and sent me on my way, with the instruction to visit my primary care physician when I returned to Illinois.