Some people have a vacation home, but we have the ER!!!

I am the world's biggest idiot. Seriously.

Kyley has health issues. She has asthma, pretty bad, and she also has a threatening reaction to fire-ant bites. She carries an inhaler and an epi-pen, and if she gets a cold, her asthma reacts, and she has to take nebulizer treatments. In 4th grade, she was out of school for 2 weeks, and it was TERRIBLE! She had to take the neb. treatments 6 times per day. We've had to take her to the ER twice for asthma attacks, and she also takes morning and night time allergy meds for dust-mites. We pulled out the carpets in the whole house for her, and she has hypo-allergenic bedding.

I recently refilled ALL of her meds, which I do yearly, to make sure nothing is expired when she needs to use it. (mainly her epi-pen). So, She got 6 total. inhaler, epi-pen, daily asthma steroid, morning allergy, night-time allergy, and neb-treatment (just in case). We decided that for her emergency meds (inhaler and epi-pen), she should have 3 this year. In middle-school, they don't keep them in the classroom, and she is not the best at making sure she has the stuff with her. So, we decided we would keep 1 at home, 1 in her purse, and 1 in her locker, which the school can get into if she forgets her purse.

The epi-pen comes in packs of 2. So, I needed to make sure that she had 1 more that was not expired. I was looking in our medicine cabinet, which is a high cabinet in our kitchen. It is high enough that I need a chair to get into it. So, I was standing on a chair in the kitchen and I found it. For some reason, it was not in the protective cover. But, I picked it up with my left hand, and needed to read the fine print to see if it was expired. Some-how, while trying to look for the expiration date, above my head, standing on a chair, my right hand pulled off the safety, and it discharged into the palm of my left hand. Fully. OUCH!!! This is a fairly long, thick needle, and my hand was a bloody mess. My palm immediately created a large bubble of epi-fluid, and I could feel the stuff burning as it went up into my wrist and then up into my arm. OH THE PAIN!!!

I cried. And then I quickly got on the internet to find out what was going to happen. I saw this. Everything said NEVER inject epi-pen into your hand, and you can lose circulation, and seek immediate medical attention. I was scared, and in pain, and Rick and I set out to our home away from home, the ER. Fortunately, we were there for only 2 hours. Fortunately it was an epi-pen "JR.", fortunately, nothing bad happened to my hand. Except for the intense pain, which continues to throb in my hand and up my arm into my shoulder. We left with a good dose of vicodin, and an RX for more, which I am trying not to fill, because I don't have insurance. But, I may just fill this RX, because of the PAIN I am still experiencing. This was last night at 8:30pm, and now is today at 1:00pm, and I HURT plus, I have been working on this post for 2 hours 1-handed. Oh, and the swelling.

The doc. told me to take the engagement ring off, and I almost wish I had listened, because instead of losing circulation to my left hand due to epi-injection, I may just lose circulation to my left ring-finger due to engagement ring that used to fit.