. . .and then things got weird. . .

I have a saying that goes like this:  You never know when you wake up in the morning what God has planned for you.  It's not deep but some days are more of a surprise than others.  Take, for instance, this past Thursday.  I am a fairly new employee at a local credit union and I am still in training.  To be more specific, I was in Training Camp last week and the culmination of Training Camp is a field trip to one of the CU branches and lunch out.  Wouldn't you know, the branch for half of us to visit is the one that is walking distance from my house so of course, I volunteered to drive.  We took 2 cars for 6 people and left for the branch about 10:15.  I was kind of excited to see the "inside" of the branch and who doesn't love a field trip.  As fate would have it, I also gave blood that morning in the bloodmobile.  I have been giving blood at any opportunity I had since I was 17.  I give every time a blood bank comes to my place of employment and I have gone to the blood bank in New Braunfels a few times between employers so it's about as routine to me as anything.  After my donation on Thursday, I drank my sports drink and ate some peanut butter cookies.  I had had my usual breakfast so all was in order.  Back to the branch.  We were in the lobby of the branch being told by the manager of the branch about how members accessed their safe deposit boxes and it occurred to me that I probably ought to sit down.  I didn't exactly feel bad; I just wanted to sit.  Shortly thereafter, we moved into one of the offices for a demo of the video conferencing that allows members to open accounts and close on loans and I again expressed that I probably ought to sit down.  I began to feel really strange.  It was not hot in the room but I was sweating and apparently most of the color had drained from my face because my pregnant instructor took a granola bar from her purse and offered it to me.  It did not look good and I could not eat it.  A few seconds later, I fainted.  A first for me!  I was sitting down in a rolling office chair so I did not fall but I sure don't remember being moved from the office to the lobby area at all.  

I came around pretty quickly but it was too late - my co-trainees, instructor and the branch manager were all pretty freaked out.  They had already called 911, credit union headquarters and Hollis.  The fire station is only about a mile away so the fire truck and ambulance were there in very few minutes.  By this time, I was awake but shaky and apologizing profusely for being the problem child of the field trip.  The EMT's hooked me up to a heart monitor, took some blood for a blood sugar reading and took my blood pressure.  Head EMT guy said he was going to stand me up, take another BP reading and that would determine if I was going to finish the rest of the branch tour.  I flunked that test big time.  They thought it best to take me to an ER and I was not in a position to argue.  

Hollis could have come and gotten me but he would want me to get checked out.  One of my coworkers could have taken me and my car the very short distance to my house but that would have meant they had to come off the clock and I didn't think I could ask them to do that and I wasn't really sure I wanted to be home alone for the afternoon so I went with the EMT recommendation and let them put me on the ambulance.  

I have only been in an ambulance on two other occasions.  I rode with my handicapped uncle once from his nursing home to Silver City for some tests and Harris and I rode in two in one day when he was moving from Augusta GA to San Antonio when he was hurt in Iraq.  Never have I been a patient in one.  I talked to Hollis before we left the branch and assured him that I was aware and coping and that I expected the ER would put some fluids back into me and I would call him when it was time for me to go home.  He also agreed that I should go get checked out.  It's about a 15 minute drive from the branch to the New Braunfels hospital.  When you go by ambulance, you avoid the ER waiting room - you know, the one filled with people with the flu.  That was a plus.  I was seen shortly by a doctor who ordered some blood work and as I had predicted, they started an new IV (the EMT had started one in the ambulance) and I just wanted to sleep.  Once it was determined that I was in working order, I was released about 3:30.  Hollis had come to the ER and we went to get me some lunch and then went home.  The doctor said I should stay home Friday but I am headed back to work tomorrow with no lasting effects that I am aware of from the adventure.  I did call the blood bank on Friday to let them know about the "reaction" - their word, not mine and they said it would be noted.  It was not at all the Thursday I had anticipated when I woke up.  It's okay if it doesn't happen again.