The Bride That Almost Died Pt. Two

I managed to participate in photographs but it wasn’t without help. By this point I was so sickly I could barely stand. I remember being held up by whomever was standing by me during the photo. Right before the picture was taken I was kind of hunched over and definitely not smiling. So the photographer would count and on 3 I stood tall and smiled. As soon as she snapped the picture I basically collapsed in to the arms of who was holding me up. Taking breaks in between photos to sit down, vomit or pee. This got old real fast. I was so weak it got to a point where I could barely hold my head up. I had enough. I went to lay down in the limo-bus praying I would start to feel better. Needless to say, that didn’t happen. All I wanted was to enjoy the day I poured my heart and soul into. My wedding day. For those of you who are married, been in a wedding, or planning a wedding you know exactly what I’m talking about. It’s that day where everything is going to be amazing! A dream come true! In my case it was a complete nightmare.

I kept refusing to go to the hospital because I didn’t want to miss my reception. Can you blame me? I was not giving  up without a fight. It was so crazy, nobody knew what to do for me. I didn’t even know what to do for me. To give you a visual; at this point I am laying along the bench in my wedding dress, in the limo-bus with a bucket right beside me and a towel for when I puked. Some of the bridal party were with me and some were hanging outside. Who wants to watch the bride puking in a bucket? It was quite a moment. I’ll never forget the feeling of losing all control of what was going to happen to me. I was feeling worse by the minute. I had horrible stomach pain, excessive thirst, shortness of breath, nausea and vomiting, I should’ve been so dehydrated but I couldn’t stop peeing! I was so weak, malaise and exhausted. I was scared because I honestly felt like I was dying. I have never experienced anything like this before. I was a very sick girl fighting one hell of a battle. A battle that I was losing.

Apparently my photographer had health issues and recognized I was in bad shape. She pulled my husband, and two of the groomsmen aside, Joe and Anthony (my nephew)  and said, “You need to get this girl to the hospital fast! She is showing signs of her body shutting down. Her skin color is not normal.” I guess this conversation took place when my head was in the bucket. So everyone returns to the limo-bus. As I lay there I started to cry. They were all looking at me like they just got bad news and feeling incredibly helpless. Joe looks at the driver and says, “We are going to the hospital.” I said, “No I am not going!” He replied, “Yes you are! Take her to the hospital now!” My nephew Anthony had tears in his eyes and said, “Please go to the hospital.” I started sobbing! Then everyone was trying to make me feel better by saying, “Just get some fluids, that will make you feel better,” or “They will get you in and out so you won’t miss your reception, ” or “we still have a few hours before the reception, you have plenty of time to get checked out.” I knew it was all bullshit. I knew I wasn’t going to make it to my reception or if I was going to make it at all.

The limo-bus pulls up to the ER doors. My sister, husband and brother- in- law assist me inside. You can imagine what that looked like to the nurses sitting behind the desk. Here comes the bride, unable to walk on her own, barely holding her head up. One of them even made a comment, “Oh boy, how much has she had to drink?” as I was puking in the garbage can in the ER lobby packed with people. I was mortified! I get where the assumption came from, but it certainly wasn’t because I was intoxicated. Well, my brother- in- law blew a gasket! He was yelling at them to get me back and get checked out right away! And a few other choice words he had with them, he was pissed! I wasn’t super happy either but that comment was the least of my worries. Needless to say, they got me back and into a room stat! I began explaining my symptoms to the nurse as she’s taking vitals. She then asked if it was possible to give a urine sample because I was so dehydrated? I said, “Yes I have to pee so bad!” I nearly peed my pants! The look on her face changed dramatically, it was like she knew. She took the urine sample and ran it to the lab. I put a hospital gown on and she hung my dress right outside of my room on a hook because there was no place else to hang it. My room happened to be outside of the nurses station so I could hear everything that was happening. As I’m laying there with my tiara and jewelry still on staring at my dress hanging in the doorway I was thinking to myself this is bad… this is really bad… I could hear the nurse yelling on the phone, “I need those labs stat!” I was beginning to go in and out of consciousness. I was completely exhausted and was actually relieved to be laying in that hospital bed. It can only get better from here right? Then I hear the nurse slam down the phone and yell “OH MY GOD, OUR BRIDE IS A DIABETIC!”

To be continued…