Saturday, February 20, 2010

Taste of Home....

Ok so I guess "home" isn't exactly the right word, but I did have a nice experience tonight that brought back loads of memories of what was once like a second home to me since I spent so much time there. I was on my way up to Jersey Mikes to pick up sandwiches for myself and family for dinner. I was driving along and I noticed a car and what looked to be a guy waving a light around near the back window. As I was about to drive by I noticed the light was gone and now he was turned facing me behind the car and was waving his arms frantically for someone to pull over and help. At first I thought I am all alone and it's dark it may not be safe but then I noticed a bike between the car and the curb and at the time NO cars had stopped. I went into EMT mode. If there is such a thing. I pulled over immediately as did 2 other cars at the same time. I was a little bit ahead of the car by now and as I walked back the waving guy was knocking on the passenger window of the car. He said the guy inside was twitching and had been swerving like maybe he was drunk or something before stopping. I looked in the window and he was slumped over being held by the seat belt and was twitching. It definitely looked like a minor seizure to me.

First thing I did was ask if anyone had called 911, I already had my phone in hand and immediately started to dial. As I was doing this I was checking the doors on the car (all locked) I spoke with the dispatcher to explain the situation and she transferred me to the fire dept and I explained to them again what was happening and the location. I described the car, gave the license number etc, Shortly thereafter the guy kinda "woke-up" and was kinda scared of the people around his car. He wasn't willing to open the doors. He seemed out of it. This is a common thing for seizure victims, it is called the "post-icthal" stage. During this stage as they begin to come out of the seizure they are very confused, sometimes combative. This stage usually doesn't last long but it can. After a min or two he kind of opened the door but not very far and if you tried to get close he would pull it back. I tried to talk to him a little, telling him that I am an EMT and was there to help. I asked him if he had a seizure history and he denied it, he denied having any medical history, but at the time he wasn't even able to tell me his age. He looked like he was in his 20's. A few minutes later I asked again but re-worded the question to ask if he has ever had a seizure before and he said yes. I asked if he takes medications and he said yes. By this time I could hear the fire/ambulance which both pulled up. I told him that we had called 911 for him because he was not responding to us in his car and he was stopped in the middle of a traffic lane. They came and I gave the paramedics a brief explanation, they walked him to their ambulance to further question/examine him. and the Fire Dept were going to move his car out of the way of traffic. I left when I knew he was in safe hands.

It was nice to feel like I could help someone again. Although I didn't really do much tonight it was nice. The real hero here if anybody was the guy on the bicycle! He flagged us down and then stepped aside.

The interesting part of the story is, as I was walking back to my car I was thinking I need to text my mom and let her know what happened so that she doesn't wonder why I am taking so long to get sandwiches. Than my phone rang, it was her. My neighbor drove by and saw the fire truck and my car and called my mom asking what happened. My mom of course had no idea what was going on and said that I had gone to get sandwiches. Alli told her that was not where I was at and that my car was there and so was a fire engine etc. So my mom called me. I explained to her that I was on my way to my car and that I had stopped to help someone else out because I was flagged down.

So after I got home and we were sitting down to eat my dad said "what if that was some planned scheme and they waited for you to stop and robbed you of all your money?" I said well then we wouldn't be eating any sandwiches right now would we?" My mom and sister kind of laughed. I told my dad I don't stop every time I see something like this or for every accident I pass or stranded motorist. But this felt right. The thing that scared me the most was the bike in the street. I didn't know if someone had gotten hit. I needed to stop! Needless to say I am safe, but it did feel nice to be "home" again in the working sense. I like to feel needed.



Oh and on a really EXCITING note: if you haven't already heard I got a letter on Sat from the CA Highway Patrol. I have an interview on March 18th at 14:30!!! I cannot wait! They also already sent me the paperwork that I think is for the background check stuff they do for dispatchers! I spoke with someone I know today who was the former asst chief of police or 2nd in command or whatever it's called for Simi PD and he told me to call him sometime before than and he will give me some interview questions that they will likely ask so that I can be better prepared for them. I am also planning on going on Tues nights to the church building where they do an unemployment workshop type thing to get some help with mock interviews etc so that I can use that to also be better prepared. I really hope to have full confidence in myself before that interview and to go in there shining! Please keep this in your prayers for me in the next month or so because I am way hopeful I get this job and am excited and nervous for the interview!

Saturday, February 6, 2010

Non-catchy-blog-title

Well I usually try to title my blog something fun and catchy and this time I am not feeling that creative. Maybe it's because I am feeling a bit blah lately. I am really struggling and even though I am doing my best to "hang in there" it's still hard. I didn't really want my blog title to reflect my saddened emotional state so thus it is the non-catchy-blog-title today.

So I guess they didn't like my entry to "get on the bus" for Extreme Makeover Home Edition. :( I really wanted to go and help too! It really makes me sad that I didn't get called or picked up or however it works! Although when I applied and submitted my application online I didn't get any kind of confirmation that it was sent. So even though it said to only apply once I re-did the complete application and worded everything exactly the same (I had it written down because of the space limits I needed to word it well) and when I submitted it again it went to the same mostly blank page on the computer. So maybe I would've been called but they never saw my app? I really don't know but either way I am really sad! That would've been an experience of a lifetime!

I am still not working and it is getting to be more and more difficult to deal with. My bills are all late and my mom just really doesn't have the funds to help me still. She is doing the best she can but it's hard. I really don't want to go to the church for help but I may have to unless something comes up really soon! My only other option is to maybe cash out my 401K but it is finally vested and so I would prefer to roll it over into a new account when I get a new job. Especially since there is over $6000 in it and if I cash it out I would only get like $2700 of it! I have been applying for all kinds of jobs in all kinds of locations. So hopefully soon something will come up! The only thing is I am still having knee problems and now my wrist is acting up too! So no matter what I am probably going to be aggravated with one limb or the other once I am working, maybe both. But right now financially I cannot worry about that! I need an income. That and I am going stir crazy being home so much! I really need out of this house and cannot afford to leave and do stuff!

So I have been "sick" but not really sick since the beginning of the year. Well part of the time I really was sick with the nasty cough and stuff. But mostly I've felt congested and unfortunately with that my ears have been plugged! I would say since the beginning of the year there has maybe been between 5-8 days where I really felt I could hear "normally". I've been to the free clinic a few times and they have said each time that there is no sign of an ear infection. They've put me on a nose spray because my sinus passages are swollen and so with that it reduces drainage and thus will lead to ear problems. They keep telling me to keep taking the over the counter sudafed etc. But I hate taking more medicine than I should and even though the doctors are telling me it's ok I hate that I have taken some for more than a week at a time because I know you're not supposed to! I switched from the Tylenol one I bought originally to a Wal-mart brand sudafed one that has even more Pseudo ephedrine in it! Today was really bad but then tonight just about an hour ago they finally kinda cleared! So hopefully with another dose of the meds in the morning I will be ok for church... it will be nice to be able to sit through church and be able to hear the teachers and understand what they're saying. It's really hard to keep focused when you can't hear it. I know it's affected me. Aside from that last week not only could I barely hear anything my knee was hurting so badly that I almost left early. I was crying in sacrament! I hate feeling that badly! Even though it was hard I am glad I stayed though because what I was able to listen to of the talks were really good! Well the latest is now they want me to double up on my nose spray medication (I hate nose sprays to begin with) and to do a nasal drain before I spray (YUCK!! Even worse than the spray) but hopefully it will all help in the end. I guess it doesn't help that I have deviated R septum and so I am prone to sinusitis. Also that my Eustachian tubes are too small so when there is swelling and stuff it affects them that much more. So I guess with all the swelling the plugged ears make sense. But I don't know why I have so much swelling? They said there is NO infection! So what the heck is causing me to deal with all this? I take allergy pills, I am taking sudafed, I am on a nose spray.. there shouldn't be any allergy type symptoms going on! I really wish I had my insurance still because I would've requested a referral by now to go see my ENT (Ear Nose and Throat) specialist! Dr Wareham who I have seen since a kid is pretty cool. I didn't like him as a kid because he looked up my nose. Even though I still don't like that, I have accepted it now and realized he is a darn good Dr! Anyway I am hoping I start feeling better soon!

Lets see what else is going on?? There seems to be more I wanted to share but now that I am here and typing my mind is drawing a blank. Maybe it's just because I am really tired and so I will write again later!