Yesterday was one of those days I’d like to avoid going forward. If you don’t follow me on Facebook, then you’re probably out of the loop. You can find my Facebook profile linked at the top of the page. Just sayin’…..

Wednesday I began experiencing a sore throat. Not a huge deal but it was getting worse. I woke up about 3 am on Friday morning and took some motrin for the pain. It felt like a pill got stuck in my throat. When I woke up in the morning, I felt like I was choking and it scared the shit out of me. I was supposed to get the kids to Akron Children’s for the first COVID shot at 10 am. I couldn’t talk without feeling like I was choking. I ended up driving myself to the emergency room because I needed whatever was stuck in my throat, removed.

I was in the ER for a few hours in total.

The doctor looked and said the problem was a tonsil stone. Apparently it was a big one and it was causing me to feel like I was choking. He referred me to an ENT, but I couldn’t get in to see them for about a week. He said there wasn’t anything else he could do for me.

I came home from the hospital and tried to get some sleep. I kept waking up because I felt like I couldn’t breathe. I could breathe just fine but I was freaking out. Choking to death is one of my worst fears and this totally played on that.

There was no way I could make it a week like this. I wasn’t going to make it the rest of the day.

I called the Cleveland Clinic and asked for a same day appointment and they got me in to see a specialist within 3 hours of me making the call. My amazing ex-mother-in-law came and got the kids so I didn’t have to worry about them. I drove myself the 60+ miles to get there and I’ll be honest, once I got there, I was a wreck. I felt like there was a marble stuck in throat. I was overwhelmed, completely exhausted, frustrated, scared, and very much alone.

When I was called back, I had a full on anxiety attack while talking with the nurse. I’ve been through a lot of physically painful things in my life but nothing a scary as this. I knew I wasn’t going to choke but that’s not how it felt and I couldn’t get passed that feeling.

The nurse went and brought in all the supplies the doctor was going to need. That included a scope and while I can’t image being scoped while awake, I honestly didn’t even care at that point.

When the doctor came in, he asked me to describe what I was feeling. I explained that it feels like I’m choking. It feels like there’s a marble stuck in my throat. I told him that the ER diagnosed it as tonsil stones and he looked at me like I had three heads. He said that tonsil stones don’t usually cause the symptoms I was experiencing. He asked if they mentioned tonsillitis and I said no they hadn’t. He was wearing all his protective COVID gear and grabbed a couple tongue depressors. He looked at my throat and said that I don’t have tonsil stones. He explained that my right tonsil was infected and swollen to twice it’s normal size. That’s why it feels like something is stuck in my throat.

He prescribed antibiotics and a steroid. That was it. It literally took him less than 5 minutes to correctly diagnose me and call in the meds. I can’t tell you how relieved I felt in that moment. I know how stupid this probably sounds but it honestly felt like I was on the verge of choking and after about 12 hours of that, I was losing my mind.

Like I said, I was exhausted, overwhelmed, scared and honestly, I felt really guilty about not getting the boys to get their vaccine.

My parents were on their way home from PA and were going to divert to the Cleveland Clinic because we weren’t sure if I was going to be able to drive myself home. I really appreciated that but I was able to get myself home. I still didn’t feel good but I knew it was a means to an end. The drive home took forever because of traffic. My ex-mother-in-law was kind enough to drop the boys off at home and my Dad went and picked up meds from the pharmacy. I came home and crashed.

I started the steroids and antibiotics right away. I slept for a few hours and was already feeling better when I woke up. I got the kids in bed, took the rest of my meds and went to sleep really early. I woke up this morning feeling sooooo much better.

My throat is still a little sore but I don’t feel like I’m choking anymore and my anxiety is back at baseline, which is relatively low. I’m so grateful to have this behind me.

I wanted to thank everyone for all the love and support. It was a rough day for me but between all of you, my ex-mother-in-law, and my parents, I had all the help and support I needed. I also want to say a very special thank you to my amazing kids, my friend Leaan, and everyone else who kept checking in on me throughout the day. I’m telling you, sometimes a well timed text can make all the difference. Mr. Emmett was really worried about me and wanted to go with me. Even if COVID restrictions weren’t a thing and they were, I was a hot mess. He doesn’t need to see that. I’ve no problem letting my kids see me vulnerable or crying, but I was not in a good place and I didn’t want to feed his concerns because he was already worried enough.

Anyway, I’m feeling much better now and I’m so glad I pushed ahead and went to the Cleveland Clinic. If I had waited a week, it would have only become much worse and maybe turned into something more serious.

It all worked out and I’m grateful for that.