The concert was everything I wanted it to be...even if I ended up in an ER in Richmond. It was thrilling and restful at the same time to stand in the middle of a crowd of people all singing along to the music filling the air around them. If only there weren't so many smokers there.

I coughed for the first two hours of the ride down there (traffic made the trip twice as long as need be). I finally calmed down after four rounds of both inhalers and a special cough suppressant pill I have. However, as it has been since Monday, it seems like I am only well if I am inhaling medicine.

I had to start using my inhaler again and it wasn't really helping. Despite coughing my way through the concert, I still enjoyed the moment. As soon as it was over, I sought out the medics to see if they had a nebulizer. I knew there was no way I could drive back home without some help first.

However, the Albuterol didn't touch the attack and I grew worse and worse. Shortly there after, I was riding in an ambulance to a hospital wondering if I was going to still be breathing by the time I got there because it felt as if my throat was swelling.

The Richmond hospital was great, was an absolute blessing to me. The staff were kind and supportive and listened intently to me as they tried to stop the attack. Given the fact that my blood pressure was bottoming out and I kept choking from time to time as the cough spasms wracked my body, they administered Epinephrine and IV Benedryl. Within five minutes of the Epinephrine, I was breathing ever so much easier. For the first time since Monday, I felt as if the asthma attack was finally over. The ER doc wondered if I was developing an allergy to the Albuterol, limiting the relief that I could get from it. In any case, those meds along with Solu-Medrol (a standard emergency med--Prednisone) turned the tide for me.

I am quite weak and very, very shaky still. My heart rate is still between 100 and 110 even while lying on the couch. I slept until just after 2:00 p.m. today and feel as if I could sleep at least a week more. Yet I am breathing much, much easier. My coughing now is minimal, just enough to start moving the congestion that has been building up during the past five days. My chest and throat are sore still, but each hour I spend not coughing out of control is a hour I spend feeling better. The fatigue should pass as I rest more. The shaking should subside as the meds leave my system.

I am going to try to get into see the pulmonologist as soon as possible to see if I might finally have the key to what I need when an attack cannot be under control and to see if I really might be developing an allergy to Albuterol or if I just had too much in such a short time.

So, while going to that concert might have seemed as a crazy thing to do, ultimately it may have been just what I needed...on several fronts.

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Hmm... if I could just stop being so darned cold at the oddest times. You know, I actually used the heater on the drive home. Now, that's just plain crazy!