Yup, that's my hospital bracelet and here is my 911 story. Keep in mind we were in Death Valley and miles from anywhere. Around 10 PM I started having terrible abominable pains. Since I am seldom sick I figured it might just be a gas bubble and would go away. 4 hours later the pain was worse. I was now throwing up and so cold I couldn't hold still. Ron decided it was time to call 911. Since there is no cell service in Death Valley he had to go to one of the local pay phones to make the call. The EMTs arrived with lights flashing. That was a little embarrassing, as I was still sure this really was nothing. They immediately decided that the pain was so severe that they wanted to medevac me to Las Vegas where there was a larger hospital that could do surgery if needed. Unfortunately a weather front had moved in and the chopper couldn't get into the valley. The next best thing was a small hospital about an hour away in a small town called Pahrump, Nevada. They loaded me into the ambulance and away we went. Hmmm, I'm wondering what that ride is going to cost me. They got an IV set up and started me on morphine. After that I don't remember much of the ride. Once at the hospital they continued the medication and began the tests. Evidently the doctor asked me some questions, but I don't even remember seeing her. She told Ron I must not be used to meds as she gave me a small dose of morphine and it knocked me out. Anyway, they did an MRI and found that I had a kidney stone. Fortunately it wasn't anything more serious. By Monday afternoon they decided I could go home. I still had plenty of pain meds in me and they gave me a prescription for more until I could get rid of this little thing. It's now a week later and I feel better, but am still a little shaky. Not only did I have the kidney stone, but I had been drinking LOTS of cranberry juice as I thought I might have had a bladder infection. Oops, not the thing to do. I was in a very dry climate, the cranberry juice is a diuretic and it was taking all the fluids out of my body. Now my potassium was dangerously low, thus the weakness. One thing just leads to another. However, I seem to be doing OK and feeling better everyday. It's just one adventure after another when you are on the road.
