The Experience
Here is a copy of the email I typed on 11/20/2002 and sent to everyone I know.
"A long story, but for those of you who haven’t heard it yet, a very important one! The events of 11/18/02…
I woke up around 7:00 with a splitting headache. Thinking it was nothing but one of my regular migraines, I got into the shower where after a few minutes almost passed out. I got out and threw up a couple of times. I tried to call Tim, but his cell phone wasn’t working so I called my mom. I asked her to come over because I didn’t want to be alone. She came over and we called my OB. He said it didn’t sound like anything serious, probably just the flu, but to come into the office at 9:30. I had Tim’s office get a hold of his job site and he came home to take us to the Dr. At this point, I’m still getting sick about every 15 minutes. The Dr. did say it was the 24 hour flu. He figured it was a little more sever because I was pregnant and dehydrated. I was thinking I might also have a bad migraine because my head was POUNDING, my ears were ringing, my heard was racing and at some points, I could hear my heartbeat ringing in my ears.
Tim took us back home, went and bought some popsicles and 7-Up for me, had some lunch and went back to work. Mom decided she would stay and take care of me because I couldn’t take care of myself. I tried to sleep between rounds of getting sick and mom tried to clean my house and do some laundry.
After a while, mom started to not feel so good herself. We thought it was strange that she was coming down with the flu so fast, but she was having the same symptoms (dizziness, pounding headache, racing heart) as me, so what else could it be. She had decided that the only way she could take care of me was to take me to her house where we could be sick together. She started to gather my things and took a rest on the couch.
A little before 2:00, Rex (my dog) fell off the bed and started to get sick. He crashed on the floor and didn’t even have the strength to throw up. I new something was terribly wrong! At this point, mom and I looked at each other and we knew at the exact same moment what this was….CARBON MONOXIDE POISONING!! Mom was almost passed out and told me to call my grandma. I hardly knew who I was, how was I going to remember the phone number?? The only number I knew was 911. I called and cried into the phone “please come help us!” By now, mom could hardly move. I tried to open windows….she had opened the slider door to get some fresh air in, but it wasn’t enough. I tried to get her coat on her and we started to crawl to towards the door. I was still talking to 911 and stood up to get my shoes on (I have no idea why I was worried about my shoes). As I stood up, I started to pass out and fell…and accidentally hung up on 911. Only a couple of feet from the slider door, we crawled out and mom passed out again on the deck.
The paramedics showed up and started hooking us up to oxygen. We were taken to the ER at Butterworth and hooked up to heart monitors, EKG’s, had chest x-rays and went into hyperbaric oxygen champers where they pumped 100% oxygen into our blood. They listened to the baby’s heartbeat and everything sounded normal. I have a follow up appointment with my OB on Thursday morning where I hope to find out the long term effects of all of this.
It turns out that a PVC pope connected to the furnace had broke and the carbon monoxide was pumping right into the house. We figure the pipe had broke sometime between 6:00 (when Tim left for work) and 7:00 (when I got up). Normal/safe levels of carbon monoxide are 30ppm (parts per million) or less…but it should be 0. When the fire department tested my house, they read levels of over 600ppm. The doctors and the fire department say that another minute in the house and we’d be gone.
Things could have been so different. If the pipe had broken in the middle of the night, Tim and I would have never woken up. If I hadn’t kept getting sick, mom wouldn’t have kept getting up to help me. We would have both just slept and Tim would have to home to find us… If Rex wouldn’t have gotten sick, it may not have triggered anything in our minds and told us to get out.
We are fine today…still recalling several things and reliving the day over and over in our heads. We realize now that is was a series of miracles that got us out of the house alive. This could have been so easily prevented with a carbon monoxide detector, which is already installed in basement (thank you Alice and Randy). Tim’s having a heating and cooling company out to the house today to fix the pipe and Michcon won’t turn our gas back on until they’ve inspected and approved the work.
Please let our story be a lesson for all of you. If you don’t have a carbon monoxide detector, get one!"
"A long story, but for those of you who haven’t heard it yet, a very important one! The events of 11/18/02…
I woke up around 7:00 with a splitting headache. Thinking it was nothing but one of my regular migraines, I got into the shower where after a few minutes almost passed out. I got out and threw up a couple of times. I tried to call Tim, but his cell phone wasn’t working so I called my mom. I asked her to come over because I didn’t want to be alone. She came over and we called my OB. He said it didn’t sound like anything serious, probably just the flu, but to come into the office at 9:30. I had Tim’s office get a hold of his job site and he came home to take us to the Dr. At this point, I’m still getting sick about every 15 minutes. The Dr. did say it was the 24 hour flu. He figured it was a little more sever because I was pregnant and dehydrated. I was thinking I might also have a bad migraine because my head was POUNDING, my ears were ringing, my heard was racing and at some points, I could hear my heartbeat ringing in my ears.
Tim took us back home, went and bought some popsicles and 7-Up for me, had some lunch and went back to work. Mom decided she would stay and take care of me because I couldn’t take care of myself. I tried to sleep between rounds of getting sick and mom tried to clean my house and do some laundry.
After a while, mom started to not feel so good herself. We thought it was strange that she was coming down with the flu so fast, but she was having the same symptoms (dizziness, pounding headache, racing heart) as me, so what else could it be. She had decided that the only way she could take care of me was to take me to her house where we could be sick together. She started to gather my things and took a rest on the couch.
A little before 2:00, Rex (my dog) fell off the bed and started to get sick. He crashed on the floor and didn’t even have the strength to throw up. I new something was terribly wrong! At this point, mom and I looked at each other and we knew at the exact same moment what this was….CARBON MONOXIDE POISONING!! Mom was almost passed out and told me to call my grandma. I hardly knew who I was, how was I going to remember the phone number?? The only number I knew was 911. I called and cried into the phone “please come help us!” By now, mom could hardly move. I tried to open windows….she had opened the slider door to get some fresh air in, but it wasn’t enough. I tried to get her coat on her and we started to crawl to towards the door. I was still talking to 911 and stood up to get my shoes on (I have no idea why I was worried about my shoes). As I stood up, I started to pass out and fell…and accidentally hung up on 911. Only a couple of feet from the slider door, we crawled out and mom passed out again on the deck.
The paramedics showed up and started hooking us up to oxygen. We were taken to the ER at Butterworth and hooked up to heart monitors, EKG’s, had chest x-rays and went into hyperbaric oxygen champers where they pumped 100% oxygen into our blood. They listened to the baby’s heartbeat and everything sounded normal. I have a follow up appointment with my OB on Thursday morning where I hope to find out the long term effects of all of this.
It turns out that a PVC pope connected to the furnace had broke and the carbon monoxide was pumping right into the house. We figure the pipe had broke sometime between 6:00 (when Tim left for work) and 7:00 (when I got up). Normal/safe levels of carbon monoxide are 30ppm (parts per million) or less…but it should be 0. When the fire department tested my house, they read levels of over 600ppm. The doctors and the fire department say that another minute in the house and we’d be gone.
Things could have been so different. If the pipe had broken in the middle of the night, Tim and I would have never woken up. If I hadn’t kept getting sick, mom wouldn’t have kept getting up to help me. We would have both just slept and Tim would have to home to find us… If Rex wouldn’t have gotten sick, it may not have triggered anything in our minds and told us to get out.
We are fine today…still recalling several things and reliving the day over and over in our heads. We realize now that is was a series of miracles that got us out of the house alive. This could have been so easily prevented with a carbon monoxide detector, which is already installed in basement (thank you Alice and Randy). Tim’s having a heating and cooling company out to the house today to fix the pipe and Michcon won’t turn our gas back on until they’ve inspected and approved the work.
Please let our story be a lesson for all of you. If you don’t have a carbon monoxide detector, get one!"
posted by Tracey Robinson | 1:10 PM
2 Comments:
Even though I have heard the story before I had to read it over again. I am still amazed at the whole event as I am sure your family is too. I'm sure God was watching over you that day, there isn't any other explanation.
Hi Tracey and Tim,
I was absolutely amazed by your story! It’s miraculous that you were able to escape the carbon monoxide before anything terrible happened.
I am currently working on a medical mystery television show for Discovery’s new network, Planet Green (http://planetgreen.discovery.com/about.html). I would love to bring your story to a national audience so that more people can learn about the dangers of carbon monoxide poisoning. Your story illustrates how the symptoms of CO2 poisoning are often mistaken for other illnesses but, by knowing the warning signs, tragic situations can be prevented.
If you are interested in talking more about this show, please email me at mysteryEcasting@gmail.com. Thank you so much for sharing your story!
Liz Morrison
Associate Producer
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