Skip to main content

The perils of the laundromat

My day started off like any other day. Woke up at 4:30, showered, got ready, ate breakfast, got dressed in my nursing scrubs and headed to the hospital. But unlike any other day, my nurse I'm supposed to precept with was not there. She traded her shift and worked yesterday instead. So what did this mean for me? I got to go home and snuggle up to my sweet hubby and our heating blanket while watching a movie! I think that's something worth waking up early for. :) 

It also gave me some free time to write about our laundromat experiences. Sounds like a particularly boring topic but we've had some experiences that are anything BUT boring. 

Experience #1: It was around the last week of September. We tried a new laundromat close to where I lived before we were married We also tried some new detergent. The problem with this experience was Michael could not stop itching the next day. He got some very bad hives and it was crippling his daily activities. We thought it was from the new detergent which lead to our next laundromat visit. 

Experience #2: We took all of our clothes and sheets to re-wash them in our previous detergent we were using. Same laundromat. We were so hopeful this would fix the problem because it became increasingly irritable for Mike. Unfortunately this was not the case and the itching persisted.

Michael and I decided we needed to go to the dermatologist. We were told it was not from our laundry detergent. It was either from medication he was taking (which he was not), a cold he had (which he didn't), or a food allergy. He has not had any food allergies but it is always possible to develop an allergy later in life. So we got a prescription and were told to keep taking benadryl, claritin, and zyrtec. 

October 28, 2012. Michael and I woke up at 4:30 to get ready for work (him) and a nursing clinical (me). We had freshly washed clothes because we had gone to the laundromat the night before. While getting ready he made a comment that his face looked fat. I blew it off thinking nothing of it. Then I walked out into our living room and saw Mike standing there with a blank stare. I talked to him and he wasn't fully responding. When he did, he seemed normal and again, I blew it off. 

Fast-forward to 9:00 and I get a text saying, "Hey babe. So don't freak out. Everything is fine but I had to go into the ER today because of an allergy reaction. I was just discharged and I'm at Walgreens. Focus on school." Do you really think I could just focus on school at this point?! Turns out he got to work and was having trouble breathing. While in a patient's room he noticed his face had completely swelled up like "Hitch." Apparently when he said his face looked fat this morning it was the beginning signs of his allergic reaction. He came to see me for lunch at the hospital and I promise I have never seen that boy look so pale and so sick. Something had definitely gone wrong with him that morning. 

Well the ER doctor told him he was 75% sure his reaction was from some ibuprofen he took that morning... but I'm skeptical to believe this. He started having some sort of a reaction way before he took the ibuprofen that morning. Also, the first time the hives manifested was the day after our first laundromat experience. He had this extreme reaction the day after our second laundromat experience. I think it could be something in the environment near the laundromat. But who knows right? We're going to see an allergist once the corticosteroids the ER doctor prescribed are out of his system. 

On a lighter note I wanted to end with our conversation from last nights laundromat visit (a different location, of course). 

To set the stage I need to tell you we went to only wash our garments and scrubs because we didn't have a lot of time. We only had the two batches. While Mike was gathering the garments from the washer he motioned for me to get the scrubs....

Mike: Grab that basket and start loading them in
Me: I'm waiting for you to finish so I can put them in that basket too
Mike: Just get the other one
Me: Why can't I wait until your done?
Mike: Because I don't like them to mix. Garments and scrubs... I just don't like it
Me: Boy, it's a good thing you weren't born during the 1800s. You'd be all about segregation
Mike: *Laughing* Oh, because the "whites" and "colored" *laughing*

Happy Monday! 

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Laughter is the Best Medicine

I was really looking forward to "labor" on Labor Day. Michael and my mom were scheduled to work this holiday too which was great because that means meeting up for lunch and enjoying 30 minutes together. It's like our version of verbal communication therapy. Also, holiday pay is a great incentive for me to want to work. However, the census on the floor has been really low so many employees have been getting called off. Well Sunday night rolls around and guess what? I got put on-call. I asked Mike why he thought our census was so low right now. He replied "The hospital needs to quit telling people to get healthy!" My husband ladies and gentlemen; the problem solver. Yesterday Michael went to shoot guns with his mom. I had a lot of homework to get caught up/get ahead on so I stayed home. Later in the night I was asking how it went and when it got to the part where he was telling me about the guns he used, he mentioned using a revolver. I knew I had heard the word

Time

Time doesn't stop for anybody. Not for the businessman who barely missed the subway, the reporter who missed the press, the athlete who crossed the finish line second, nobody. I regretfully admit that recently I have been happy about this undeniably true thought. All too often I find myself wishing time would move a second faster, a minute quicker, and a day sooner. With Michael and I both having hectic school schedules and longer hours logged in at work, I was constantly hoping for another tomorrow. But why? We are newlyweds- barely married for 5 months. I am almost done with my nursing program- should I not soak up every opportunity to learn? We have jobs in our fields of interest- at least we have the means to earn a living in a struggling economy. With the 2012 election ending yesterday, (and it's no secret it did not end in our favor) I feel a new sense of the need to enjoy every moment. Time has not stopped and life still goes on. We are still moving forward. Wh