Scary dinner...

So I had the scariest thing last night at dinner. I was laughing and talking with Emeli about my co-worker, Bill. He had been farting all day in the office. They were the silent and deadly ones that would waft over to our corners of the office and we constantly had to spray room freshener all over the place. So I was relating that to Emeli and laughing. I took a deep breath and sucked in a piece of hamburger into my airway.

I stood up to catch my breath and sucked it even more into my airway. I was gasping and unable to get a breath and couldn't breathe through my nose, either. As I was literally wheezing and trying to get air past the piece of hamburger, Emeli started to freak out.

Her worst nightmare is that something will happen to me and I will die. So she ran through the house screaming Brett's name and crying at the same time. She ran upstairs and was running around on the landing upstairs screaming and crying. Meanwhile, Brett was down in the dungeon playing a video game, completely unaware. The dungeon is sound proof with cement walls so he heard nothing of what was going on.

I stood there trying to get air and knew that if I didn't do something quick, I was going to die. It was the most frightening thought. I still have a lot to do and I did not want to die right there in my kitchen with a piece of hamburger wedged in my airway.

I wrapped my hands into a fist and threw myself against my fist and the back of my chair. The hamburger piece went sailing out of my mouth and I could breathe. I stood there gasping air into my lungs and then went looking for Emeli. She was up on the landing just crying and screaming. She saw me at the bottom of the stairs and started crying in relief. I called her down to talk.

She was shaking and hysterical still. I held her and told her that it was okay. I was able to help myself. I said I'm a big girl and knew what to do. I explained the Heimlich maneuver and how I did it. I told her that from now on, she needs to stay and help rather than run screaming through the house. I showed her how to do the Heimlich.

Then I told her that it is obviously not my time to go yet. Heavenly Father spared me because I still have stuff I need to do, so she doesn't need to worry that I'm going to die anytime soon. If it were my time, Heavenly Father could have taken me right there, so she can stop worrying.

I sat back down to eat, but Emeli wouldn't let me eat. She told me to eat carefully and not talk while I was eating.

This morning she wrote me a note telling me to call her if anything happens to me and to always chew first and then I can talk. Funny girl. I reminded her that I have been around her for 11 years and nothing like that has ever happened and that I'm a big girl and I'll be okay. She worries so much.

So now I have a sore throat from wheezing and my stomach hurts right under my rib cage from where I hurled myself against the chair back. Emeli has a sore throat too. We figure it's from the screaming. A good reminder to always be careful when eating.

I looked up Heimlich after my experience and found out that lots of people die from that kind of thing because they panic and pass out and don't have the presence of mind or the time to give themselves the Heimlich. I am grateful that I was granted the presence of mind to stay calm and do what needed to be done to save myself.