an interesting morning...

i went in for my weekly allergy shot, which is very routine. same drill every week. they give me the shot and then i sit there for 1/2 hour "just in case," and then i leave. i always thought it was really dumb that i had to sit there.

except today, after i sat down, my heart started RACING and i got really hot and my throat started closing! i tried to stay calm and i went back to the nurse (who is REALLY nice) and said, "marcia, i feel kind of strange," and she looked at me and jumped up and pulled me into an exam room and started taking my vital signs, calling for the doctor. the doctor came running in and they told me they were going to give me an adrenaline shot - i was having a bad reaction and was going into anaphylactic shock! i had just watched pulp fiction again a few days ago and had this scary image of that GIANT adrenaline syringe being jammed into uma thurman's heart, but thankfully it wasn't that. anyway, they gave me the shot (which i wasn't even really aware of in the chaos) and i started feeling better right away, but then the adrenaline made me all crazy and jittery. my body was shaking/shivering, as though i was really cold (which i wasn't). that lasted awhile and they kept monitoring my pulse, temperature, blood pressure and breathing for about 1.5 hours, and finally let me go.

anyway, they told me i should take a sick day, so i am home, but i'm actually doing some work now because i have an interview tomorrow in ruckersville. i was kind of oddly hyped when i got home, and i am starting to come down from the adrenaline now -- they told me in a few hours i will completely crash and just need a nap bad, which is why i didn't go to work.

all in all, i feel fine now, and it all happened really really fast, so i didn't even have a chance to be too freaked about it. but i definitely learned the importance of waiting that 1/2 hour after the shot in the dr's office (last week i actually cheated and went down to starbucks in the lobby during my 1/2 hour... never again...)!

so that's my wacky morning story. whew!

(excerpted from an email to my sister, about noon...)