Panic Attack...Stay Back!

Susanne had a bit of a rough night after the news she had received from Scott. Once she got off of the phone with him, she started to feel odd. Her heart started racing and, at times, she would have heart palpitations. Occasionally, she would feel some tightening in her chest with associated discomfort. Her throat became tight and it seemed like it was closing up on her. She was restless, even shaking some, and she felt sick to her stomach. This scared her. She pulled out her stethoscope to listen to her own heartbeat. She was concerned when she heard an abnormal rhythm. She wasn't sure if she was having a heart attack or something else. She immediately called Scott to tell him her concerns and see what he thought. He knew right away what was going on. He informed her that she was having a panic attack. Without a second thought, he contacted Dr. Aunt Leenie, who was a licensed psychologist, to head over to the house and assess the situation. If needed, she was prepared to take Susanne to the hospital. Scott called Susanne back and had her stay on the phone until Aunt Leenie and Uncle Loonie arrived. Once there, they insisted taking over all of Paxton's care. They made sure that Susanne had nothing to worry about, but herself. Aunt Leenie forced Susanne to drink a tall glass of water, focus on breathing, and choose an activity that was relaxing for her. Of course, she picked laying in her bed snuggled up with both kitties watching trash TV. If anything would help her take her mind off of their current situation, this would do the trick.

Over the next few hours, Aunt Leenie checked in on Susanne periodically. Susanne later found out that she had fallen into a deep sleep within an hour after she had gone upstairs. Even when Aunt Leenie and Uncle Loonie decided to leave for the night, Susanne didn't wake up to Aunt Leenie's voice or touch. She called Scott to give him an update before heading out. He was relieved that Susanne was resting deeply.

Susanne woke up the next morning a little confused. Once she came out of her sleepy haze, she was quickly reminded of the previous night's events. She was pleased to find Paxton still sound asleep in his crib. He looked so peaceful.

Susanne had already made plans a while ago to get out of the house today. She had requested to have Moppy stop by later that afternoon to watch the bug so she could run some errands. She was going to try for the third time to make it to the mall to use the gift cards that she had received for Christmas. The timing of this outing was perfect. She couldn't have planned it better herself. She thought that maybe it was God's way of trying to assist her in forgetting her crappy life for another day. Retail therapy was always helpful.

Thankfully, her attempt to go shopping was a success. She didn't get interrupted, there were no emergencies, none of the stores closed on her, but most importantly, she found lots of good stuff. Mission accomplished.

That evening, Susanne's friend, Thorny, stopped by to visit the little guy before they both headed out for a going away party for someone they had worked with for a long time. The restaurant they were going to was really close to Susanne's house, which was always a plus. It helped to ease Susanne's mind about being able to respond quickly if an emergency came up. Thorny was shocked at how big Paxton had gotten since the last time she saw him. She was tickled pink that he was smiling so much too! She was smitten by his charming ways. Moppy eventually had to kick them out of the house. If she hadn't persuaded them to leave, they would have stayed with Paxton all night.

Thorny and Susanne had a great time out. It was always so awesome for Susanne to be able to catch up with all of her close friends. Susanne tried to block out the events that had occurred within the last 24 hours. It was truly too much to think about with everything she already had on her plate. She found that with the assistance of some alcohol, it was a lot easier to accomplish this.

At the end of the night, Thorny and Susanne took a cab back to Susanne's house. They were pleased to find out that Paxton had a great time with Moppy. She did have some trouble getting him to sleep, but this was almost routine for them. Paxton never wanted to sleep when his Moppy was over. He always had too much fun hanging out with her to want to close his eyes.