Wednesday, October 24, 2007

sometimes, i wish i was making this stuff up

Here is my trip to California in a nutshell (a very, very large nutshell).

Day One
(Wednesday).
I flew out of Dulles at 8 a.m. on Virgin America. It was my first time flying with them and I was impressed. I really liked the atmosphere on the plane and the seats in coach had a lot of room. Plus, we all had our own TVs at our seats, like JetBlue. Unfortunately, the satellite wasn’t working, so the only channel I could get was Fox. Boo.

The flight to SF is normally 5.5 hours. About two hours in, I was feeling incredibly uncomfortable in my seat. I was freezing cold and my body was achy. It wasn’t long before I realized that I was feverish. I put on my down jacket, asked for a blanket from the Virgin flight attendant and hoped that would help. Ummm…nope. Let me tell you how much it sucks to have a fever on a plane. It’s awful. It’s hell. So at the 5.5 hour mark, I was anxious to land. Except we weren’t. We were circling and circling for what felt like an eternity. Apparently, the folks at San Francisco Airport weren’t letting us land.

All of that circling led to one little problem—the plane I was on was starting to run out of gas. So, we headed over to San Jose Airport to get some gas and hang out on their run way until we were cleared to land at SFO. Still feeling feverish, I willed myself to sleep. When I woke up from my nap (feeling incredibly rested so it had to have been at least an hour), we were landing at SFO.

Day Two (Thursday, AKA my birthday)
I had a hard time getting up and an even harder time getting ready to go to my conference. My body was so incredibly achy and I had developed a cough. I really wasn’t feeling well, but I had to work so I forced myself to go.

I left the conference early because I really wasn’t feeling well. I thought maybe if I got some fresh air and tried to enjoy the day, maybe I could salvage my birthday. So my friend Kattie (who flew up to keep me company) and I headed into the city (Union Square) to do some shopping, my favorite pastime and usually the cure to all of my ills. Unfortunately, not today. I didn’t buy much (a pair of shoes, a necklace, and tank top) and I felt so miserable while going from store to store. But I wanted to enjoy my day, I really did. Finally, we left H&M and headed to dinner at a restaurant called Colibrio Mexican. OH MY GOD. The food was so good. And the dessert was even better. And the sangria helped me forget about my misery for a little bit. But then, once sober, it all came back.

Day Three
Right after the conference, I left for the airport for my flight to L.A. When my mom gets out of the car to hug me, I beg her, “Please make me feel better. Please.”

Day Four (Saturday, AKA, the day of my Cali birthday party)
I was determined to have a good time despite how horrible I felt. I learned that coughing up phlegm was making me feel better, albeit temporarily. Shortly before my friends showed up at my mom’s house for the festivities, I threw up phlegm in the bathroom. I thought I was done because I started feeling better.

While talking to my friends, I felt like I couldn’t breathe. The coughing came back. But I put on a smile and made the most of it. I had a great time with my friends. And then, little by little, they left. I rushed to the bathroom after the last person left and coughed and coughed and threw up some more phlegm (I know the difference between coughing up and throwing up and I managed to do both). This time, it came out red. Damn it. I told my mom and she said, “We’re going to the hospital. NOW.”

Day Five
At the crack of dawn on Sunday, I was in St. Joseph’s Hospital in Orange. Turns out I have pneumonia.

Day Six
Sleeeeeep. Mmmmm…

Day Seven
Back to DC (cough, cough, wheeze, wheeze).

Ok, blog peeps, I really want to post pictures and blog about the wildfires (many of which I saw) but it took all I had to write this post. I’m going to go back to sleep. G’nite.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

HOLY CRAP GIRL!!!!!!!!! *HUGS*

I hope you're doing better and taking care of yourself! And happy birthday again!!!

Anonymous said...

So you have pneumonia and you get on a plane???? Weren't you miserable? Plus the fact that you were exposing everyone on the plane to your germs..... Sorry, but it bugs me when sick peeps don't take care of themselves and pass it around......

Hope you're feeling better and enjoyed your BD. It's my BD too and me I have a killer foot to contend with, not contagous though.... : )

an orange county girl said...

madame--thanks! i'm feeling much better now. i need to learn to take it easy.

anon--i didn't know i had pneumonia until i was in the OC. yes, i knowingly had pneumonia when i got on a plane from long beach to DC. but the doctor had cleared me to be on that plane. i made sure to ask him before i was released from the hospital. and since i didn't think it was an important part of the story, i didn't mention it in the post.

my BD was lots of fun, thank you. i had a good time and i'm feeling a lot better now.