...and brain death has occurred....

I almost killed myself today.

No... not on purpose. I was the victim of an unintentional event. Funny things... swallowing and breathing..... you are not supposed to do them at the same time. It doesn't work well. I think maybe I'm not paying enough attention when I drink stuff. This time was the worst I have ever done. I actually managed to get some coffee (with milk) down past my voicebox. I closed my windpipe about 95% of the way... maybe more.... could breath out a little little bit.. this tiny tiny wheeze..... couldn't breathe in without sucking more coffee in. Absolutely refused to spit a mouthful of coffee out onto my dress/steering wheel/windshield/center console/radio/etc. Finally located a paper towel to empty into. Couldn't breathe. And was doing about 65 miles per hour down the tollway. Oops. Went to my meeting (with a bunch of trauma nurses in the middle of an ER... figured I was safe....) and hacked up coffee-flavored hairballs for 2 hours. I actually felt rotten enough to go see my own doctor (and not sponge off the ER doctors) when I got back to work. Did a chest x-ray... no infiltrates just yet. But my trachea burns. And it hurts to breathe. And my vocal cords felt swollen most of the day. It still hurts. Will be interesting to see how I feel in the morning.

I thought I had come thru the episode relatively unscathed until I got off work tonight. I stopped at the grocery store on the way home and got out of the truck and locked it. With the keys in it and the engine running. Brain death has occurred. Wonder how many brain cells died today while I was out of air?

Am thinking that the next time I do this I should just go for broke and spit up on myself rather than choke to death.

Just a thought.