I think we've been watching too much HOUSE.
Last week, my mom told me about how she almost choked while she was drinking her strawberry Frapuccino. She was in the mall, walking around in a store, drinking her Frap, when she suddenly coughed and couldn’t breathe.
She said she felt her throat tighten and she struggled for her air.
She grabbed onto the first person that came in the store, who happened to be the sales lady reporting for work. The sales lady was carrying a bottle of mineral water. My mom pointed at the bottle and the sales lady gave her some water to drinking. She soon recovered and was able to breathe normally. My mom thanked the lady and found out her name was Jona.
Couple of days later, she said that the same thing happened, but it wasn’t as bad as the first one.
This prompted her to go to Medical City where she underwent several tests, including a pulmonary exam.
So, she was telling us about all this during dinner last Sunday.
Monday. 4:30am. My mom barged in my room and I could hear her wheezing, pointing at her throat.
I jumped out of bed and didn’t know what to do.
I offered her water, but she pushed my hand way.
She pointed at her back.
So, I started to slap her back, thinking it would dislodge whatever it was she was choking on.
She started to suck in a little more air, but she was still wheezing, like she was having an asthma attack.
She motioned with her hands that I should get the car.
I dressed up and ran into her bedroom.
She wasn’t there.
I could hear her coughing in the bathroom.
I looked inside and saw her standing in front of the toilet bowl, where she was spitting out a glob of red phlegm.
She then looked up at me and I stared back at her.
She pointed at the nearby trashcan, where I saw three pieces of tissue with more bloody red phlegm.
It’s at this point when we usually smash-cut to the credits of HOUSE and we’d hear Massive Attack’s music creep in.
But it didn’t.
At 5 in the morning, we rushed to Medical City and committed two (maybe three) traffic violations.
They quickly hooked her up to an oxygen tank, x-rayed her and took a blood sample.
By that time, she was already able to talk and breathe better.
While waiting for results, the ER staff started to play trivia games. It was strangely soothing and annoying. Me and my mom were trying to answer the doctor’s trivia questions, but at the same time I was hoping someone would give us some answers about her condition.
Her x-ray showed that her lungs were clear. So, the doctor ordered that she undergo a CT-scan. (Medical City’s CT-scan machine was under repair, so the next day she had to be brought to Cardinal Santos via ambulance. My mom texted me: ITS MY FIRST TIME TO RIDE AN AMBULANCE. EXCITING!) Yup, she was feeling better at that time.
When she got back from her CT-scan, she started to break out into hives. My mom, who has never been allergic to almost anything in her 62 years, suddenly had red rashes all over her body.
FADE-IN: omni HOUSE music
ECU of House’s face, looking confused and concerned.
But that didn’t happen.
The doctors gave her some anti-allergy meds and the rashes subsided; but would soon come back after several hours.
The next 24 hours were spent trying to figure out what was causing the allergies.
Was it the antibiotics?
Was it the bed sheets?
Was it because she was made to lie under the hot lights of the CT-scan machine for 15 minutes?
Was it due to the combination of meds she was being given?
Today, my mom went the bathroom for the first time after four days and as soon after she stood up from the toilet bowl, all her rashes disappeared. So, was it some weird toxic-septic-rash?
Her CT-scan results showed her lungs are healthy and clean.
Her pulmonary exam did show that her windpipe capacity is lower that normal. A month or so ago, her bathroom needed repair and the plumbers had to cut through the cement tiles. Cement dust filled her room for three days. It’s possible that the cement dust she inhaled is the cause of her decreased windpipe capacity. The doctor gave her some meds to help her bring things back to normal.
And so, we’re finally home and we can all breathe a little better.
Thanks for all the texts, twitters, email and prayers.
Last week, my mom told me about how she almost choked while she was drinking her strawberry Frapuccino. She was in the mall, walking around in a store, drinking her Frap, when she suddenly coughed and couldn’t breathe.
She said she felt her throat tighten and she struggled for her air.
She grabbed onto the first person that came in the store, who happened to be the sales lady reporting for work. The sales lady was carrying a bottle of mineral water. My mom pointed at the bottle and the sales lady gave her some water to drinking. She soon recovered and was able to breathe normally. My mom thanked the lady and found out her name was Jona.
Couple of days later, she said that the same thing happened, but it wasn’t as bad as the first one.
This prompted her to go to Medical City where she underwent several tests, including a pulmonary exam.
So, she was telling us about all this during dinner last Sunday.
Monday. 4:30am. My mom barged in my room and I could hear her wheezing, pointing at her throat.
I jumped out of bed and didn’t know what to do.
I offered her water, but she pushed my hand way.
She pointed at her back.
So, I started to slap her back, thinking it would dislodge whatever it was she was choking on.
She started to suck in a little more air, but she was still wheezing, like she was having an asthma attack.
She motioned with her hands that I should get the car.
I dressed up and ran into her bedroom.
She wasn’t there.
I could hear her coughing in the bathroom.
I looked inside and saw her standing in front of the toilet bowl, where she was spitting out a glob of red phlegm.
She then looked up at me and I stared back at her.
She pointed at the nearby trashcan, where I saw three pieces of tissue with more bloody red phlegm.
It’s at this point when we usually smash-cut to the credits of HOUSE and we’d hear Massive Attack’s music creep in.
But it didn’t.
At 5 in the morning, we rushed to Medical City and committed two (maybe three) traffic violations.
They quickly hooked her up to an oxygen tank, x-rayed her and took a blood sample.
By that time, she was already able to talk and breathe better.
While waiting for results, the ER staff started to play trivia games. It was strangely soothing and annoying. Me and my mom were trying to answer the doctor’s trivia questions, but at the same time I was hoping someone would give us some answers about her condition.
Her x-ray showed that her lungs were clear. So, the doctor ordered that she undergo a CT-scan. (Medical City’s CT-scan machine was under repair, so the next day she had to be brought to Cardinal Santos via ambulance. My mom texted me: ITS MY FIRST TIME TO RIDE AN AMBULANCE. EXCITING!) Yup, she was feeling better at that time.
When she got back from her CT-scan, she started to break out into hives. My mom, who has never been allergic to almost anything in her 62 years, suddenly had red rashes all over her body.
FADE-IN: omni HOUSE music
ECU of House’s face, looking confused and concerned.
But that didn’t happen.
The doctors gave her some anti-allergy meds and the rashes subsided; but would soon come back after several hours.
The next 24 hours were spent trying to figure out what was causing the allergies.
Was it the antibiotics?
Was it the bed sheets?
Was it because she was made to lie under the hot lights of the CT-scan machine for 15 minutes?
Was it due to the combination of meds she was being given?
Today, my mom went the bathroom for the first time after four days and as soon after she stood up from the toilet bowl, all her rashes disappeared. So, was it some weird toxic-septic-rash?
Her CT-scan results showed her lungs are healthy and clean.
Her pulmonary exam did show that her windpipe capacity is lower that normal. A month or so ago, her bathroom needed repair and the plumbers had to cut through the cement tiles. Cement dust filled her room for three days. It’s possible that the cement dust she inhaled is the cause of her decreased windpipe capacity. The doctor gave her some meds to help her bring things back to normal.
And so, we’re finally home and we can all breathe a little better.
Thanks for all the texts, twitters, email and prayers.
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