Last night I had an abnormal experience which almost had me calling 911.

I had slept only a couple of hours when I awoke choking. That’s a fairly normal routine for me as I have post-nasal congestion quite often – especially while lying down. [Wish I was a horse – could sleep standing up.]

It was after I sat up that this burning sensation in my throat and down through my chest started in- it eased up periodically but my chest still hurt. An inner shaking – or quaking- fairly familiar for me when I’m fighting off symptoms of a cold or flu, added to the symptoms, which I thought might be a heart attack.

The soreness followed by waves of the burning sensation continued so I got up and checked my blood pressure on the monitor. The numbers were all over the place and when they registered three digits for both the bottom and top numbers, I swallowed half an aspirin and a blood pressure pill. After awhile the numbers improved and I felt a bit better – not great but better. I shut the window above my bed and decided I was going to survive the night. It was probably the flu.

I recalled having those same burning sensations one time while strolling through a field of daisies. I already knew that I was allergic to the white daisies that grew everywhere, so I had chalked it up to that.

I had also developed chronic fatigue syndrome shortly after we’d arranged moth balls around the roof of our house where some bats had made themselves at home.

But there were no daisies or moth balls anywhere near.

This morning I peeked outside and breathed in wood smoke fumes. I was aware that the fumes caused havoc with my sinuses. What I was inhaling seemed to irritate the same parts of me that had spazzed up so painfully last night.

Tomorrow I have a doctor’s appointment. I will learn whether it had been a heart attack, the flu or merely a nasty reaction to wood smoke fumes.

ps. Turns out I’m fine as frog’s hair – musta been the smoke in the air.