Epic Airplane Emergency Adventure

It was about 3/4 through my Atlanta to Phoenix flight yesterday, on my way out to visit my friend Sonya in California, when my stomach began to hurt...a lot.  It was the same pain I felt last weekend, which I had just attributed to stress, only a lot worse.  None of the normal reasons for stomach pain fit this occasion.  Thankfully, I've already had appendicitis so I don't have to worry about that at least.  But the pain was pretty intense, so for some reason I felt the need to leave my seat.  The only place I could think of to go was the bathroom, even though I didn't really need to go.  But I went anyway, and as I was coming out, I felt like I was going to pass out.  I quickly turned and told the flight attendants in the back, who told me they would help me get back to my seat.  We barely started when I sort of just collapsed.  I don't think I was ever completely out, but really spotty, blacking out a bit.  Thankfully, the flight attendant behind me caught me and sort of dragged me to the back.  I sort of just sat there as I heard the conversations of the flight attendants buzzing around me about finding a passenger who was a nurse.  I could remember all those times I'd heard the announcement on flights asking for the help of a doctor or nurse who might be on board.  It always made me worry a little bit and pray for whoever it was.  Was somebody having a heart-attack?  Having a baby?  Or just throwing up?  Now I was "that guy," huddled in a corner in the back of the plane.

I felt nauseous at first, but the passenger-nurse, Laura, who came back convinced me to lay back, and I did, and felt better.  The dizziness got better and the nausea went away, but I still felt weird, and hot, my stomach still hurt, and my fingers were kind of tingly.  They gave me some ice for the back of my neck and a cold cloth for my forehead.  But my favorite part was the oxygen.  They had a small, portable oxygen tank connected to one of those masks that they demonstrate falling out of the plane ceiling in the event of loss of cabin pressure.  That was kind of cool, cause I'd always wondered what those things felt like (and the bags don't fully inflate, just like they say, but it's ok, I breathed normally).  And actually, the oxygen helped a lot I think.  I soon started feeling better but still just laid there and rested until it was time to land.  They'd made a couple people switch seats so that I could sit toward the back with nurse-passenger-lady, along with my portable oxygen tank. :)  After we landed, one of the flight attendants came and told me that the paramedics needed to check me out for liability issues, even though it seemed that I was doing ok now.  This meant that they had to announce that everyone needed to remain seated so the paramedics could come take me off first.  "But they're really cute!" she assured me.  As they came onto the plane, Nurse Laura confirmed it.  "Oh yeah, they ARE cute!"  It was still a bit embarrassing to be escorted off the plane in front of everyone else...but a whole lot faster, let me tell you!  And they carried my heavy backpack for me. :)  At the gate, they hooked me up to a finger clip and other wires connected to sticky things they put on my limbs, and pricked my finger and and asked me lots of questions.  It didn't take too long though, and they cleared me to go, although they said to just call if I had any problems in the airport and felt like I needed to go to the hospital there in Phoenix.  I was praying I really was ok, and headed to find my gate to take my next flight to Fresno.  All went well from there, although the stomach pain did return and is actually still there a bit, but not too intense.  Still trying to figure out what that is with the help of some helpful medical church members, but so far, we're just down to taking an anti-biotic and hoping it helps...?

So thankful for God hearing my prayers in another time of my life where I felt pretty out-of-control and vulnerable.  I'm thankful He sent nurse Laura on that flight, and the nicest U.S. Airways flight attendants and Phoenix city paramedics.  And that was my epic airplane emergency adventure!

P.S.  I still don't really understand why these crazy medical adventures only happen to me AWAY from home, but I'm trying not to let it freak me out too much... :)