A scary experience
Almsot four years ago, on February 8, 2004, something happened to me. It was perhaps one of the scariest experiences I have ever encountered. To this day I still think about it. Only a select few know about it. I haven't really been able to talk about it, but now, I can say it. It all started out innocently enough. During this time I was heavily involved in a card game, which at the time was immensely popular, and still is to a lesser extent. It was on a Sunday. There was a regional tournament in Mesa. Only problem with that was I lived clear across town. I woke up very early in the morning, around 6 AM, to go to the site early. It took me 40-50 minutes to get to the Mesa Community Center. I had met up with some other friends who were also there to play in the tournament. We wanted to get there early to avoid the lines for registration. At around 10 AM I had signed up. There were a couple hundred people there, and even before the tournament began I knew this was going to be a long day. I had my deck all ready. I trained for this. If only I had stayed home. The tournament didn't start out well for me. I lost my first match when I was locked into a combo which prevented me from launching any kind of offensive. I did manage to score three victories, but another loss. After I had landed my third victory, I went to my car. Suddenly I wasn't feeling too well, and I decided not to continue in the competition. I went inside to withdraw, but as I got out of my car, the next few minutes were the story. For some reason, I had begun shaking. Not like a seizure, but it was bad. I got inside, but the shaking was getting worse. Luckily one of my friends was close by and he called 911 from my phone. I sat down, and not ten seconds after I sat down I vomited. My friend also called my parents. When the paramedics arrived I was still shaking. I was taken to a hospital, which wasn't too far away, just a few minutes. When I got there, the shaking stopped, but as the EMT's helped me into the ER, I was drained. I laid down, and I couldn't move. I wanted to get up and just walk away, but I felt like I had just lost all of my energy. For a second, I thought I was gonna die. To this day it haunts me. My parents arrived soon, but my day wasn't over. Eventually I regained a little energy, just enough to move around a bit, but the doctors wanted to run some tests. They included a CAT scan, but there were many long breaks in between, and as some of you may know I'm not the most patient man. It wouldn't be until about 11 PM that I was released. By then I had enough in me to walk around just fine. Some family who lived in Mesa was there in the lobby, which was cool. I had to stay home the next day to recuperate, but by Tuesday I was well enough. Unfortunately, my psuedo-seizure affected me worse than I thought. That same week I was due to make a presentation in a class, but for some reason I was terrified to the point of missing it. I still don't understand why, but it happened. I wouldn't feel like myself for a while, and I felt lonely and distant. Eventually I was back to my normal self, but memories of the longest day of my life remain. There were many factors resulting in my health scare. I'm a bit of an insomniac, so I didn't get too much sleep the previous night. After arriving in Mesa, I felt a little queasy. Something I ate the previous night may have been undercooked. I was suffering from dirrahea, maybe even a stomach virus. I hadn't eaten breakfast, and someone else thought I was dehydrated. Also, on February 7, 2004 I had just completed an abbreviated course at ASU. What that means is, I completed an entire semester's worth of a course in three weeks. The stress, coupled with everything else, could have very well been a contributing factor. |
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