Near Death Experience

[NWYENKO]

The hospital was installing a new hitech CT Angiography machine for heart scans. I volunteered to have a scan while they were tuning it up (thought, what the heck, a free scan). Everything was fine until I was injected with the "contrast" to assist in watching the blood flow. Immediately after coming out of the tube my tongue started to swell and the room started to spin. To make a long story short, I went into anaphylactic shock, blood pressure dropped to 42/36 and heart rate to 45. In 3 or 4 minutes my tongue was swollen to the size I could not swallow. Fortunately I had a heart specialist on one side and a radiologist on the other. Both appeared calm and began ordering up shots and IV's to correct the problem. I spent the night in the hospital and awoke with a rejuvinated outlook on life. The cardiologist and the radiologist said it ws the worst reaction they had seen. POINT: If you have ever had a reaction to iodine or shellfish talk to your Doc. These guys said I need to get a Med-alert I.D. for if I was ever in a car accident and a scan was ordered with contrast I probably would not make it! Biggest thing is "I made it!!" Jim