spit up, throw up and cut up aloha style

My Hawaii trip was nuts. I had a tickle in my throat before I left but I had a lot of hot fluids that made me feel better before we got off the plane. Tuesday and Wednesday were good - we went barhopping and to Matsumoto's for some shaved ice and saw some basking sea turtles. We went to the beach for some sun, we watched J Mo surf for a bit and then we went to the hot tub to loosen some muscles. This other lady went into the hot tub with us and she was so funny. She couldn't handle the heat and was acting like the crazy chick in 40 year old virgin who liked her bathtub a little too much. Anyway, we had some yummy sushi that night but that night was the end of the party.
Thursday Joey started feeling really bad so we left the Bishop Museum after one trip to Polynesian and Hawaiian Hall. We got home and rested, waited for J Mo to get off of work, had us some ramen for dinner and then Joey started throwing up. Meanwhile, I probably had about 4 bites of my soup because it was getting very difficult to eat. By Friday, the right side of my neck was swollen and I couldn't swallow very much at all . I had a spit cup with me when we decided to lay out on the beach because it was much easier to spit up than to swallow. Joey's throwing up turned into diarrhea and he was running a temperature the whole time. There were times when we were both in the bathroom, me by the sink trying to spit up, him by the throne spitting and gagging. By Saturday I was sad, I was tired, I broke down and started crying and I just wanted to go home. I told Joey to go with J Mo to dinner and I would start packing. the trick was I was taking motrin to make the inflammation go down so by after that first hour and a half, the inflammation would be reduced just enough so that I could swallow some food and drink. if not, I would not be able to eat at all. After Joey and Joey returned from dinner, he's like "are you sure you didn't have an allergic reaction to the motrin? it says swollen face." so, at this point i couldn't swallow, couldn't eat, couldn't drink, couldn't talk - imagine how miserable i was, i couldn't even talk! but i could breathe so i wasn't too worried. our flight was scheduled for 3:45 PM on Sunday. I was tossing and turning all night because I kept thinking ABC's I had learned in school - airway, breathing, circulation. By 2:30 AM, I woke Joey up and said that I wanted to go to the hospital. I didn't want a compromised airway on the plane. so Joey and Joey took me to the ER. The triage nurse thought I had mono. When the doc came in, he actually didn't know what was wrong with me. no fever, no diaphoresis, no other symptoms but my swollen neck and the fact that I couldn't open my mouth very wide. He even told me "you know I'm having trouble too" he didn't know what was wrong with me either. I tried to open my mouth for him. he took a light and I leaned as much as I could so he could get a good angle and then he knew right away. he said that i had paratonsillar abscess that was so big that it was pushing my uvula to the side. Paratonsillar abscess means that there was a big ball of pus that near my tonsils, so big that it was pushing my uvula - that thing in the back of your throat- and of course that was why i couldn't swallow. I told him I was supposed to go back to the mainland on Sunday afternoon. He told me that was probably not going to happen until ENT came because he couldn't perform the drain by himself. He called ENT asap. they hooked me up to an IV because I was tachycardic because I was so dehydrated. they took some x-rays and the x-ray tech was like "what happened?" i couldn't talk and i didn't feel like talking so i just told him that I couldn't talk. They gave me some toradol and some morphine to ease the pain. then ENT doc, this little Asian doc that was very nice and personable. he came in and gave me some novocaine topical spray and 3 shots of novocaine. they were going to aspirate to see if they could find the pus. first needle, nothing. second needle, there was about 30 cc of pus that he got out. it was nasty but oh the relief. then he's like "blade" and the RN handed him a blade and he cut me up and opened it up some more to drain. meanwhile i'm gagging and spitting up blood but it felt so good. anyway, i was out of the hopsital by 5 AM. The RN that discharged me saw my address. he, too, lived in Diamond Bar before. He asked what I did and I said I just graduated from nursing school. He said that he had gone to Mt. Sac. I told him I went to GWC and he said that he always used to go to the Ruby's out there. I told him that Joey was a manager out in the one in RSM. He's like "I miss Ruby's food." I told him that they would be opening one in Honolulu next year. He said Joey should transfer out. I said, yeah, I should be a traveler and work out there too. He said that I didn't need to be a traveler, he could hook me up with a job. Maybe by then I won't be so traumatized to return. aloha! Joey, poor thing, still cannot breathe well. We gave him a nebulizer treatment when we got back last night to open up his airways and it made him spit up a lot of stuff but he's not even close to 100%. His back still hurts, his fungus on his hands and feet haven't gone away and he's getting a tickle in his throat. i hope it's not a paratonsillar abscess. let's just hope and pray. thanks for taking care of me bubba even though you were sick yourself!