As if my run in with the tornado and having to swim to my car weren't quite enough...my afternoon got even more interesting. After my eventful morning at work, I took lunch as usual and was going to try to get a quick nap in or something to calm myself down. I went into the break room and started eating on my lunch and talking with some of the nurses when one of them goes "Hey, do you smell that?", and not meaning what you think! I was like ya...that kinda smells like gasoline! We discussed it for just a little while and decided that maybe some oil or something got stirred up in the parking garage as it was flooding and maybe the smell was just stronger than we were used to, but nothing to really worry about. We keep eating and chit-chatting when I hear an abnormal amount of noise in the hallway. I poke my head out the door to see what is going on and see ALL of our patients in the lobby! I mean, they have on their gowns and still have IV's in! The nurses have on gloves and are still attempting to administer the chemotherapy treatments...in the lobby! Then I smell it...the ridiculously strong smell of gasoline. We all drop everything and bolt out of the break room because this is obviously a situation we have on our hands. Everyone is grabbing masks (for the patients and employees) as we evacuate the entire clinic. Valet is pulling around cars as fast as they can, the nurses are trying to keep the patients safe and stable, and everyone else is grabbing chairs, pillows, masks, and juice and crackers for the patients because it's starting to get to some of them. One of the doctors even had to be carried out because she was so light-headed. The medical assistants (in masks and all...) are calling patients to cancel their appointments for the day and let them know what's going on. In the midst of this, I quickly realized that I did not get a mask on quickly enough and the fumes have definitely done a number on my asthma...yup, here comes the attack! I drop what I'm doing and head straigh for my desk-that's where my purse would be with my emergency inhaler in it. NOPE. Remember...I was at lunch. That means I have to run the gauntlet of patients, care-givers, and maintenace crew to the break room as I'm wheezing and crying and probably turning fun colors by now...attempting not to cause any concern to anyone who might see me. Of course, that doesn't happen and now I have a nurse following me asking questions...it's kinda like when the dentist asks questions while his hands are in your mouth...I really wanted to say "I CAN'T BREATHE=I CAN'T SPEAK!". It seemed like forever long, but I finally made it to my inhaler, rip my mask off my face (which got caught in my ear-rings, so I ripped those out of my ears along the way), and finally get some sweet relief. Once I could finally speak, I looked at the nurse and said "No, I'm not okay, I can't breathe, and yes, I have asthma." At that point, I was escorted out of the building to get some fresh air. All of the patients were cancelled for the day, sent home, then the workers were asked to leave so that maintenance could get the situation under control without the risk to the clinic staff or patients.
On my drive (swim) home, I quickly realized that our garage was not the only place that was flooded...wow, those must have been some serious storms that passed through! Dang you joint-safety-commission-regulations for taking away my windows... Anyways, the road I usually use to get to the highway was closed due to extreme flooding, so I head north to the next street which appears useful at first...then, when it's too late to turn around, I see the lake ahead of me. At least I wasn't the only one! We were all literally going to sink or swim! The water got increasingly deep as I edged toward the highway...couldn't see the painted lane dividers anymore, then couldn't see the curb. The water was over the running boards on my SUV and it got to the point that I didn't want to stop because I was afraid my car would flood and stall. I did eventually make it home and my car never stalled...so that's good. I headed straight for my nebulizer when I got home, then took a nap! Everyone I knew instructed me to just stay home because bad things seem to happen when I leave. Ah, finally the end of that day!
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