April 13, 2011

The Man Who Saved My Life....Literally

It's been over a month since you last heard from me. I'm blaming school.

I did have a wonderful post planned about how I am officially done school, and all my big plans for my future. And then Saturday happened.

To be honest, I wasn't sure I was going to post about this at all but I have had far to many sleepless "what if" nights since then and am hoping that writing about it will get it off my chest and I can move forward.

Saturday started normally. I went out in the morning and got a grad mani/pedi with my mom, worked for a bit in the afternoon, then Chris picked me up and we headed to Swiss Chalet to meet with friends before seeing a movie.

The details after this point are a bit skewed. All I can say with complete certainty is that things went from fine to crazy in less than a second. I remember talking about weddings. I remember beginning to laugh about the fact that my friend owns two wedding dresses, and the face that her husband made when this fact came up. Then I remember realizing I couldn't breathe. I was choking on, what I believe to be a tiny piece of chicken.

This is where Chris comes in. All I can say about this man is that he definitely does not panic under pressure. He realized I was choking, had me upright, did the Heimlich, and had the chicken out in probably a matter of 30 seconds. I can also say that time slowed right down and it was the longest 30 seconds of my life.

Being cut off from oxygen is probably my biggest fear, and after Saturday it's about 50 times worse. I was terrified. My whole body was shaking for probably 45 minutes after it was over and I completely lost my appetite. I'm also playing the "what if" game. "what if Chris had lost it. What if we were in a booth and not at a table and I couldn't get up as quickly. What if the chicken hadn't moved. I know this is pointless, and not what happened so there is really no need to think about it, but apparently this is how I deal.

I can also say it's getting better. It's not a constant topic anymore, I'm fine, minus a bit of a sore throat the day after.

I'm alive, and the only person I can thank for that at this point is the man I'm going to marry.

On a lighter note, I was alive enough to attend Yoga for the first time with the bestest last night and I now feel like a truck ran over me. Several times. Someone who does this on a regular basis PLEASE tell me it gets easier....