Blessed to discover that I am not alone at the time of distress!

Good evening everyone!

For those of you who are friends with me on Facebook, some of this post may appear redundant but I want to preface everything by saying thank you!  A BIG THANK YOU TO EACH AND EVERYONE OF YOU… From my best friend who was with me on the phone the entire time to those who were checking on me during the whole process and so many who had written and called me since!  I literally had been on the phone from the moment I opened my eyes to this second!  

Now…  to back track, here is the story…  For the past few weeks, I had been experiencing  allergies to something environmental starting with sneezes, itchy eyes to itchy skin.  It always happened starting from the moment I leave my little cocoon of a home and doesnt go away until the next morning!  Then, it evolved to skin eruptions.  NOW THAT was a DEAL breaker!  Yes yes… I admit it… I care a lot about the way I look.  After about a week of the skin eruptions, I decided it was time for me to see an allergist and find out what the heck was wrong with me.   

Well, I went to the doctor yesterday during my lunch break and he gave me a series of test consisting of different allergens.  Many of you may have experienced this.  He basically made ink marks on the inner parts of both my arms and proceeded to poke me with this series of allergens (food, pets, pollen…etc) and sent me outside to wait 15 mins.  Well, in less than a minute, I started to feel a reaction.  On my left arm, a few of the tiny pricks began to resemble a mosquito bite and it started GROWING!  By the time I saw the doctor again a few minutes later, it had turned into a welt!  The doctor told me that I am allergic to animal dander, some food and was off the charts allergic to this plant called cocklebur (which apparently is a weed quite commonly in bloom this time of year), rubbed some medical cream on my arm and sent me off with a prescription of a steroidal cream that was supposedly the solution to my troubles.  

I went back to work and as I worked, I noticed a soreness in my arm where the welt is and the welt seemed to grow over the course of the day.  I didn’t paid much attention to it as the doctor had told me that in a couple of hours I should be back to normal.  I had a wonderful rehearsal after work with Steven, my much looked forward to rehearsal, the last one before the final run of “They’d Only Just Begun… A Carpenters Tale”, followed by a pleasant visit with my buddy Carly Ozard to give her a final send off to her month long adventure to Nashville.   So… as you can see, I certainly was not letting a sore arm keep me from doing what I wanted to do.   I have a good tolerance for pain and such (given my past experience with my brain tumor).   

Well, I got home kind of late and was chatting with my girlfriend Maria in my kitchen when suddenly I experienced a black out!   I literally fell off my chair on to the floor in mid sentence.  I lost consciousness for no more than a minute but when I came to, I told her about it and got off the phone to call my allergist.  I left him a message to call me and as I got off the phone I received another call from John Koprowski.  As we were discussing my upcoming show, I suddenly collapsed again!  It was the scariest thing, I got off the phone and decided to go to the ER as the black outs are bringing back bad memories associated with my brain tumor.

I got in the ER in a car service and told the nurse about what happened.  She had a bad attitude from the start, implying that I was faking my black outs and just merely having a panic/anxiety attack because I couldn’t stand the sight of the ugly welt on my arm!  I was furious but I decided to give her the benefit of the doubt and went to the registration desk to check in.   While I was there waiting for the registrar to scan my insurance card, I literally collapsed again (fortunately on the table and not the germ filled hospital floor).  The people went to get the nurse and by the time she came back, I was conscious again.  She looked at me like I was being a drama queen and asked the registrar to my face “Did she REALLY blacked out?”  WHAT THE HELL???!??!? She asked me to sit in a wheel chair and asked someone to push me all the way to the other side of the floor next to a hobo and    abandoned me stranded at the corner claiming that they had more urgent emergencies in a hospital that looked empty to me.  REALLY??  THE NY PRESBYTERIAN DOWNTOWN HOSPITAL ER????  I couldn‘t believe it!!!

As I sat there, I was getting sicker while I was there waiting; had 5 dizzy spells while sitting there enveloped in the germ filled environment, so after 2 hours, I left after multiple attempts of trying to get the people to help me with the statement that I will dispute any charges made to my insurance company because NO ONE helped me!!

I came home, sterilized myself, took an antihistamine, vitamin C, dabbed on the steroidal cream the allergist gave me and going to sleep.  THANK GOD, I found myself alive this morning.

I woke up to find a ton of messages and missed calls from so many people.  People wanting to make sure I am ok.   I feel so special!  What an honor it is to be in your thoughts and prayers my friends!  I am truly blessed!!   At the time of distress, my friends ALL CAME THROUGH FOR ME!  Some even offered to go to ER with me!  You know who you are!  I love you all!

I recovered just in time for my show!!! I wouldn’t miss it for anything!!  Have you made your reservations??  The last run is tomorrow night at 8 PM!!  I hope to be able to share the musical soundtrack of my life with you all one more time!!  This show is a dream come true for me and everyone who have seen it so far ALL LOVED IT!  If you share my passion for the Carpenters or am curious to find out more, come take a journey through life and music of the Carpenters!

Directed by Lennie Watts
Music Direction by Steven Ray Watkins

Bass: Dan Fabricatore
Drums: Tim Lykins

Venue: Don’t Tell Mama, 343 W 46th Street, between 8th & 9th Avenues

RSVP at 212-757-0788 (after 4:00 PM daily) or Online: 
Saturday, June 28th, 2014 8 PM

http://www.donttellmamanyc.com/shows?task=view_event&event_id=1203

$15 Cover and a 2 Drink Minimum ($10 DISCOUNT COVER FOR MAC MEMBERS)

PLEASE do me a favor and RSVP!!

http://natashacastillo.com/wp-content/gallery/show-archive/Begun_11x17June.jpg

 

Until Next Time!

xoxo