Not a first I need

I woke up this morning with a high fever and very shallow, quick breathing. I was taking about 60 breaths a minute, when 40 is the norm for my age (50 breaths for 1 year or younger). Since Isabella had reactive airway problems, my Mom recognized something was wrong and drove me immediately to the emergency room. However, contrasting Isabella's experience of the ER staff yelling "Wheezer!!" into their walkie and her being surrounded by staff within seconds, we waited. And waited. And waited. I wasn't wheezing; explains why it took so long and the breathing treatment didn't work. We waited so long I fell asleep in my Mom's arms. I woke up to my legs and arms stretched out on an x-ray machine. Boy, was I pissed! My Mom's heart was breaking seeing me like that. The x-ray showed my lungs were cloudy, implying pneumonia. I was looking pretty bad for a couple of days, but the antibiotics finally kicked in and I started improving. I later broke out in a terrible red spotty rash that covered almost every spot in my body, as I turned out to be allergic to the antibiotic! Thankfully, I broke up towards the end of the course, when I seemed to be recovered. My doctor gave me a clean bill of health for our upcoming big trip. My Mom certainly doesn't want to figure out how to say "pneumonia" in Italian!

To add insult to injury for my Mom, she missed a group lunch at the French Laundry and still had to pay for it! These are no doubt the most expensive cookies that she'll ever eat.