I called every friend I knew who is either a nurse or married to a nurse, and finally got in contact with our friend (who I now consider a saint) St. Emily Hiatt. When she heard Steph's symptoms she told us we did need to take her to the hospital. So we immediately got in the car and went to the ER.
The closest hospital to our apartment is St. Joe's in Lexington. When we pulled up Steph made a bee-line to the bathroom, while I checked her in and parked the car. As I was sitting in the waiting room, I heard her start to scream in pain. She was so dehydrated that she was completely cramping up! I got them to get a nurse from the ER, and they put her in a wheelchair because she could barely stand up.
When they got her into a bed, they told her they were going to have to hook her up to an IV. Which she told the nurse she didn't want. The response she got was, "If we don't give you an IV, you could go into a coma." It was at this point that Steph realized how serious her situation was. She later told me that it was when she heard the word 'coma' that she stopped thinking, "I can take care of this!" The entire time she thought it was silly to go to the hospital. She thought her situation wasn't serious enough to warrant a bed in a busy ER.
Of course Steph being Steph couldn't control herself. I went to go outside and make a phone call or get a Cherry Coke and when I got back she looked at me (hooked up to two IV's, in a hospital gown, and completely pale) and asked, "Did you see anything gross out there?" I about fell over laughing! Here she is in the ER and she's wanting to know if there's anything gross going on elsewhere in the ER!! Hilarious!
After they pumped 3 liters of fluid in her, and waited until her vital signs were normal, they discharged her at 3:30 am. She spent Wednesday in bed and on the couch. She's doing well and recovering nicely! But for a while there I was pretty scared.
