2004sep28. So I’m watching a DVD documentary called Friends Forever which is the name of the band that consists of two guys and the gal who runs the light show, and one of the guys is talking about getting stuck riding the Zipper twice in a row when he only wanted to ride it once. He’s not good with the thrill rides and he’s stressing out. So he finally stumbles out, and his hands start going numb, then his arms, then his legs. While he’s talking about it, he’s showing what happened to him. The paramedics that showed up told him he was hyper ventilating and said it was “normal” and said he either needed to puke or pass out and then, no problem. Which totally sounds like bunk. Back ten years ago when it happened to me, I wasn’t given any options. I was in a remote, faraway place where medical advice is difficult to obtain: I was in the waiting room of a hospital. I was there for something else and wasn’t taking it so well, and that’s when I started hyper ventilating. No one really gave a shit, after I asked two different people about my condition I gave up. I had to sign some papers and by that time I was in a wheelchair (because of the numb legs, see), signing with the wrong hand, trying to hold it with the other one which was even weaker, failing, apologizing. “Sorry I’m hyper ventilating even though no one apparently can offer me any advice at all on how to stop it ... sorry.” At one point I had my friend Tom wheel me out of the TV room because I looked so pathetic curled up into a little ball. “I don’t want to scare these people, they got enough going on already.” It never happened to me again, but now I’m armed for future battle.
Please keep your numb hands and legs inside the car at all times.
