So I was driving back to San Francisco from Sacramento late last night, listening to Monster Magnet, Nirvana, or Depeche Mode (can't remember which one), when my body suddenly freaked out. My heart started racing, my vision started warping, and I just generally felt like I was sinking. I also had nausea and abdominal cramping. It was the most sickening feeling I have ever experienced.

I drove as long as I could, taking extra precaution not to ram anyone or anything. It was a feat in extreme concentration. Whenever I'd look from the road to, say, my rear view mirror or out the side window, it would take a few seconds for my vision to focus once I looked back to the road.

I tried opening the windows and letting in fresh air. I tried turning up the radio and singing along. I tried turning down the radio. I tried calming myself down with rational thought. Nothing worked.

I seriously felt like I was losing it.

I was only 50 miles from San Francisco when I pulled over at a gas station. I figured I just needed to ground myself in reality. I went to the bathroom, then called M.

I told him that it wasn't safe for me to drive and that I was going to take it easy in the gas station parking lot for a while. I told him not to come meet me because then we'd have two cars to deal with. We discussed the possibility of me getting a hotel room nearby and just waiting it out.

We eventually made the decision that I'd just wait it out in my car for a few minutes. Well, waiting at the gas station seemed sketchy. It was kind of dark and, even though I wasn't concerned about my safety, my condition was terrifying me.

So I turned on the car, shaking uncontrollably, and continued to drive somewhere. I really didn't know where I was going. But, fortunately, I saw a cop car across the street that had stopped to help a car with mechanical problems. I made a U turn and stopped to talk to him.

I asked him where the nearest hospital was and immediately started crying. He asked me a bunch of questions, checked my pulse and my pupils, and gave me directions to the nearest hospital. He offered to call me an ambulance, but I wouldn't have it. I felt sheepish enough as it was.

I arrived at the hospital and sat in the parking lot for a while before calling M. I told him that I may go inside. Or that I may stay in my car. Or that I may go inside and sit there because it was at least a safe, well-lit public area with on call doctors.

Not even a few seconds after hanging up with him, I knew I had to go in. I went in to the Emergency Room, signed in (this was very difficult because my fingers would barely move), sat down, and pretended to read a newspaper (I was seeing the words, but I wasn't understanding any of it).

Not even 10 minutes later, I got called in. Since I had a racing heart, I was priority. The kind nurse led me to my own "room" (a curtained off area of the ER) and told me to put on a gown. I put it on and threw my gown onto the floor. This was before I noticed that the floors were absolutely disgusting. There was blood, dirt, and indistinguishable dried body fluids splattered on it. I immediately picked up my clothes, threw them on the foot of the bed, and flopped down.

Not even a second later, a nurse came in and started hooking wires on me for an EKG. Another came in and started a IV, then took blood. I also gave them a urine sample.

About an hour later, the young doctor came in and said that everything looked fine, except for my potassium. My potassium was 3.0 when it should have been between 3.5 and 5.0. He said the 3.0 isn't low enough to cause all the symptoms I had, but that my potassium might have temporarily gone even lower, possibly causing the symptoms.

Then, a nurse came in with a huge potassium horse pill and some ice water. I swallowed it up and then was on my merry way. It was 12:45 am, which wasn't bad for being admitted at 11:00 pm.

I was still weak-kneed and nauseous but at least my vision was working properly.

I arrived home all disheveled. M had to peel the EKG stickers off me. Then I went to bed and slept very heavily.

I stayed home from work today. I thought I was going to be better after the horse pill they gave me last night, but I'm still getting waves of the symptoms. When they start getting bad, I start crying. There's no way in hell I'm going back to the hospital so my body had better just cooperate!

I don't know what to do. I suppose if I'm not feeling 100% by tomorrow, I'm calling my doctor. I went to the corner grocer and got bananas and vegetable juice, but they don't seem to be helping.

I just want to feel like a normal human being again. Is that too much to ask?