The Adventure of Pam and Megan

At least it was an adventure for me. Poor Megan's dad had a stroke and he was in the hospital 3 hours away. She had no way to get there, so I volunteered to take her if she paid for the gas. She readily agreed. I was happy to take her because I haven't been anywhere for a couple of years, partly because of my health and partly because of the price of gas.

We left this morning and had a good time on the way up just talking away. It surprised us both when we got there because the ride went so quickly. I only had one wrong turn the whole way and I corrected it immediately. I also took healthy snacks so I wouldn't be tempted by high salt fare but that didn't last. She had forgotten to eat so we swung by Burger King and I couldn't resist, so I got a whopper jr. At least I didn't get the big one so that was am improvement.

We got to Morgantown and I was following my directions from the internet to the hospital when Megan saw a sign that said we were going the wrong way. I turned around and we figured out pretty quickly that the hospital wasn't going to be in out in the sticks somewhere so we turned around again. We were wondering if we were going the right way again when Megan saw the "big H" signifying we were on the right road to the hospital, so we went on our merry way.

We decided to stop and ask some guy where the hospital was and happily we were only a couple of blocks away. We forgot to get gas though and we had even asked for directions at a gas station! I dropped her off at the hospital and told her to call me in an hour and let me know if she wanted to stay or leave. If she wanted to stay that was fine but she would have to come out and buy my gas so I would have enough to get home. I went to find somewhere to stretch my legs.

I was looking for a store where I could blend in or something but I couldn't find one. I ended up making a wrong turn and riding over the hills and valleys which Morgantown is famous for. I kept driving until I happened upon a strip mall that I remembered seeing when I first left the hospital. I was thrilled. I wasn't lost anymore.

I decided to go to a Pizza Hut and eat a few wings. Mostly because I needed to use a restroom and I knew wings were on sale on Wednesday at Pizza Hut and I had always wanted to try them. I saw when I went in that they had free wifi and that thrilled me because I had brought my laptop with me and I was worried that I had used too much data on my mifi. I ended up not using it though. I took the time to call ntelos and ask them what happened if I went over my data plan and I found out I had read my bill wrong. I had only used 8% of my time so I can mifi all I want to apparently.

By this time I was getting tired and wishing Megan would call and she did. She didn't want to leave her dad so I picked her up and bought gas and dropped her back off. So far, so good....but that was the end of so far, so good.

I got back on the interstate and had driven about 20 miles when I started to think something was wrong. I wasn't using good judgement in my driving, so I put on my oxygen. I felt better. I wore it awhile and took it off. I wanted to stop at a rest area but it was closed so I had to drive 40 miles to another. I thought I was doing fine until I got out of my truck. I was dizzy. I was so dizzy I had to hold on to my truck.

I got a bottle of water out of the back and sipped it. I ate some carrots with ranch dressing thinking they might pick me up. I made myself relax and breathe some good cold air and I knew I had no business driving but I was still 2 hours from home. I had no choice but to press on.

I got in the truck and cranked my O2 as high as it would go and felt better again immediately. I took off for home with the knowledge that I needed to make sure that I made every move perfectly and double check every thing I did. I played silly games to keep myself aware and I changed my oxygen to the pulse setting that normally irritates the hell out of me but I knew it would keep me alert. It did.

I made it home, proud that I did it without mishap. Then I got out of my truck to come in and once again I was aware that I was doing terribly. But I'm home now. I put on my oxygen and bipap so the high powered air hit me (portable oxygen isn't as good as the home oxygen. it doesn't have the same power)

I wasn't home 5 minutes and I feel fine. I am resting. There will be no more road trips for me. It was too much. Thankfully all the excitement happened after Megan left. She didn't need my drama on top of her dad's right now. He is in ICU and could use your prayers. For those of you that say,"well, she could have driven." She can't drive a standard.

EVERYBODY SHOULD LEARN TO DRIVE A STANDARD!