Water Intoxication and Thomas!

My daughter loves Thomas the Tank Engine and has a very large collection of toys, DVD's and clothes so it's just normal to go to The Day out with Thomas. Last June we planned to go on a Saturday morning. Our train ride on Thomas was at 5:00pm but we never been to one event before so we didn't realize we didn't have to be there at 10:00am. On June 28th we got up early and headed to our destination an hour away. We found the parking lot and it was close to 100 degrees on this morning. We didn't care because we had water. Our daughter was excited she would get to go on a school bus. Parking was far from the train depot so it was wise to ride the bus because the walk would have been up a very steep hill and with a double stroller well it would have been crazy. Lets just say it was hot that day well over than hot. Being a diabetic I am prone to get dehydrated on hot days so I didn't want to ruin the day for the family so I decided to drink water and stay in the shade as much as I could. I didn't want to get sick so water was my drink of choice for the day. I also don't do good in the sun and the sun was shining bright this day so of course I was scared of dehydration and getting sun stroke. A smart person should have stayed inside with air conditioning on a hot day like that day but this was for my daughter and the excitment on her face I had to have fun with the family doing Thomas activities with our children. We managed to do everything in one hour because that's how small the event was so passing the time for the rest of the day was a challenge but we managed. Around 4:00pm I started feeling sick and at first I thought it was the heat so I drank more water and kept it coming. I just wanted to get through the train ride because that's why we were there to ride on Thomas. My daughter was so excited and the look on her face I couldn't go home now and it was so close to 5:00pm so resting in the shade until we could get on the train but by then it was a little too late. By the time we got on the train I was sick. The whole half hour train ride I was puking up water. I was sick and my first thought was I got sunstroke. I thought I was careful all day staying in the shade as much as I could and drank huge amounts of water all day. I finally told my hubby I needed medical attention right away. Someone called the ambulance and it was waiting for me when the train ride was over. All I remember was getting into the ambulance and that was the last thing I remember until hours later. Here is some information off of Wikipedia of water intoxication: HERE

Water intoxication (also known as hyperhydration or water poisoning) is a potentially fatal disturbance in brain functions that results when the normal balance of electrolytes in the body is pushed outside of safe limits by over-consumption of water.

My doctor said because of the heat that day and the large amount of water I drank during the day had a factor how I landed in the hospital. My kidney's couldn't process all the water I was drinking so they shut down to protect themselves from damage so in turn my brain function got messed up as to the why I don't remember anything after a certain period. I didn't know you can die from drinking too much water. Yikes!! As long as they can catch it in time Doctor's can save you and reverse the affects of the water intoxication. The first stop was at the local Hospital. I heard after the fact I got a MRI, Cat Scan and a Spinal Tap done while I was there thinking maybe I had a stroke. I was transferred to my Health care Provider's Hospital in the middle of the night and was pumped with sodium drips and other medicines to balance out my electrolytes and make sure my kidney function was stable before I could go home. I spend Sunday in the hospital and was allowed to go home on Monday. It was a scary time waking up in the hospital and not knowing what happened to me. Geez, all you hear about is being careful when it's really hot and drink lots of water so you don't get dehydrated but what they should tell people is to drink lots of water but spread it out through out the day and drink drinks like Gatorade etc.. is better. I never in a million years would have thought about having water overdose but I guess it makes sense when you can overdose on drugs and alcohol so why not water. Strange!

Well I learned my lesson and even though my daughter wasn't all that traumatized with my run to the hospital in an ambulance she did tell me in the hospital that maybe next time I shouldn't ride on Thomas. She's so cute. So I had to let her know Thomas didn't make me sick and it was an accident. We had a great time watching the children enjoy the Thomas experience and if we decide to go in 2009 I will know how to take better care of myself in the heat and what drink to have and I have to REMEMBER to space out my drinks thought out the day and eat foods with sodium in it. So next time you are out in a hot day don't drink too much water in a short period of time because drinking too much water can be fatal. Take care, Peace!