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The original was posted on /r/tifu by /u/FloridianMichigander on 2025-11-16 02:11:31+00:00.
We have a monthly department meeting at work, and usually they cater lunch for us on that day. This month's meeting was on Monday, and the catering came from a local BBQ place.
Normally the food arrives about 30 minutes before the official "start" of the meeting, but this month, there was a mix up, and it didn't show up until about 45 minutes into the hour-long meeting.
So, meeting ends, we are all hungry, so we load up our plates and head to the break room to eat. I grab a roll, toss some pulled chicken on it, and grab a scoop of Mac and cheese and some mashed potatoes to go with it. Splash a little bbq sauce on the chicken, and I'm ready to go.
I hadn't eaten all morning, and with the delay in food arriving, I was really hungry. So, my first bite was probably bigger than it should have been, and I didn't chew as much as I should have.
As I swallow, I feel my throat tightening on the food. I think to myself "ok, it just needs a few more swallows and it'll go down." Took a sip of soda to try and help it. Nope, didn't go down.
I rush over to the sink, cough a few times, and spit some food out. At this point, I can breathe, and I think I'm fine, so I go sit down and try another small bite. Nope, not fine. Choking repeats itself.
Now I've pretty much given up on my food, but still coughing quite a bit. Nothing is coming up except saliva, but after a minute or 2, I can down and think I can go back to my desk to keep working for the afternoon.
A sip of water sends me racing to the bathroom where I retch some more. I decide to hide out in the bathroom for a while and hope I can recover. After about 20 minutes, I cautiously try some more water. Nope, still can't swallow anything.
Eventually, I decide I can't just stay in the bathroom all afternoon, and call my wife, who leaves her own job to come pick me up. (I didn't want to try driving with the retching spells every few minutes).
We decide to go to an urgent care, they tell me that there's nothing they can do for me and that I need to go to an ER. (Conveniently, they told me this after they already processed my payment for the copay).
Go to the ER, am seen by the ER doc, they can't do anything, so they send me up to endoscopy. They knocked me out to intubate me, and apparently saw something they didn't like (possibly perforated esophagus), so they had me airlifted to a larger facility where a thoracic surgeon was standing by. He was able to remove the blockage. It's probably 1am by now (I'm not sure if the exact time, I was still under anesthesia)
Next day, CT scan determines that I do not have a perforated esophagus, and they eventually clear me for "clear liquids only" and 1 more night in the hospital for observation. They upgraded me to "full liquid diet", I was dismissed and am now back at home.
Haven't seen a bill yet, but starting to see some of the claims show up in my insurance company portal as "processing". Luckily, I have decent insurance, because some of the amounts are staggering.
TL;DR: are a chicken sandwich, didn't chew properly, trip to the ER, airlifted to a larger facility, 2 nights in the hospital, and now can only consume liquids for another day or so. And medical bills.