A quick trip

Sometimes, things don’t go as expected.

I traveled (near) New York City for work. After working hard all week, when Friday night rolled around I didn’t have any plans. Someone offhandedly reminded me escape rooms exist and I realized at 8 pm on a Friday night NYC probably had one or two I could join.

I wound up helping a couple through their first escape room (they were completely mind-blown 🤯 when I worked out a combination based on the number of lights that were lit when you pressed the light switch); and I got to finish a limited-time offering based on a show I love, Only Murders in the Building (which turned out to be a repurposed Art Heist I had already done, but it was still fun!).

For the weekend, though, I had done some planning. Three shows (off- or off-off-Broadway), all quirky or queer and fun. I even found a drop-in improv class to take!

And then I woke up at 5 a.m. on Saturday to the worst stomachache I’d ever had. My body was cramping all over, and my back was killing me. I managed to fall asleep for another couple hours, but when I woke up at 9 it was clear I was at least going to be skipping improv.

To condense a long story, I went through a process of trial and error with eating and drinking progressively smaller amounts until I consumed only a sip of water – with every attempt ending in vomiting. It was about 1 p.m. by this point, and I knew I was severely dehydrated. Lacking a car (and constantly vomiting), an Uber to an urgent care was out, so I had to call an ambulance.

Man, does everybody look at you when they’re wheeling you out of the hotel on a stretcher.

At the ER, I was so dehydrated they couldn’t find a vein to stick the IV in - they had to call the “specialist” in to get it to stay. After running a bunch of tests and scans, they determined I had pancreatitis, so I got admitted.

The layman’s version of what happened is that my pancreas threw a tantrum, for no apparent reason. “Acute idiopathic pancreatistis” is what I was told, or as the doctor explained, “If it weren’t for the fact that you have pancreatitis, none of your other bloodwork or tests indicate you should have it.”

The cure? Stick me on an IV (so I stay alive) long enough for the problem to go away on its own. So I got a three-day hospital stay (with a weirdly nicer view than my hotel room?), complete with a full day of liquid-only diet.

But I’m out, and headed home tomorrow. I’m sad I missed out on some stuff (including the PHP[tek] conference I missed my flight out for, and work weekend for Burning Man), but to me it just underscores the importance of taking advantage of opportunities when they come up. Because sometimes, plans change.