Living alone
can be pretty scary at times. I was talking to a friend Wednesday night when I
swallowed some water…it went down the wrong pipe and I couldn’t breathe. I also
couldn’t talk. It was pretty scary for a while there. I dropped the phone and
went to the kitchen sink. I wasn’t sure if I’d ever be able to breath again. I
wanted to throw up. I wanted to breath. I leaned over the kitchen sink and
tried to breath. I made this horrible noise. I was pretty sure I was in the
process of dying since I couldn’t get any air into my lungs.
Fortunately for me, and my friend on
the phone, I managed to draw some air into my lungs. Bit by bit, my breathing
became easier and I was finally able to respond to my friend’s anxious
entreaties. She was ready to hang up, call 911 and send them to my house. I was
so grateful to be breathing again, and we had a nice long conversation without
any difficulties on my part.
I have to admit it scared the pee out
of me…literally. I had to go and change my clothes after I got off the phone.
No matter how hard I tried, it was like my lungs were frozen. I couldn’t get
any air past my throat into my lungs. I actually thought I just might die right
then and there.
It’s this kind of thing you don’t
really think about when you are living on your own. Every morning I swallow an
entire handful of vitamins and pills without thinking about what would happen
if they didn’t all go down. Well, now, I’m thinking about that. It’s probably
time I separated the pills out into several different groups so I can take them
safely without having to worry that I might choke and fall to the floor to be
discovered whenever.
I have a friend who posts every single
morning on Facebook. The purpose of her post is to let her friends know that
she’s survived the night and is ready for the day. That seems pretty smart to
me, although by the time family and friends realize there’s no post, it’s
probably far too late.
There’s an earlier post where I wrote
about taking care of myself at home alone. It never occurred to me that I’d need
to think about what would happen if I choked. Well, now I’m thinking about it and
am going to be much more careful when it comes to drinking and talking simultaneously.
I’m also going to take my pills in several batches so none of them get stuck.
Ah, the things I continue to learn on
this new journey. Have any of you widows or widowers had things like this
happen? Would you share your experiences and thoughts with me? I’m always on
the lookout for new information.