Praise the Lord, I got home safely (if not tiredly) from Chicago!
BUT, after having such an overwhelming sense of dread and anxiety, the flight to Chicago was not without incident.
Within a few moments of takeoff, a flight attendant calmly made an announcement asking for any medical professionals on board to assist. A lady in the seat in front of me and a lady a few rows back both got up to head further back into the plane (where I couldn't see since I was in a window seat).
I watched as the same flight attendant brought an oxygen tank and mask from the front galley down the aisle then went back to get a headset to bring back for one of the medical professionals to stay in contact with staff on the ground (I heard the flight attendant share this with another medical person who offered to help if still needed).
I watched another flight attendant stay on the plane phone either to the ground or providing updates to the cockpit. I was concerned we were going to either turn around or have to make an immediate alternate landing, but after a while, the attendants stopped going back and forth. The lady in front of me came to get her belongings and told her companion she was going to stay with the patient for the flight.
I heard the other lady who had gone to help tell Lisa (my counterpart on the trip who was sitting near her) that she was a nurse so that's why she had gone to help. Apparently the lady in front of me was a doctor.
Lisa shared with me on our way to baggage claim that she had seen the man who was the patient sort of roll his head back and foam was coming out of his mouth. Apparently he had a seizure but had a seizure disorder so it wasn't an uncommon experience for him. Once we was stable and aware, he was ok to continue the flight - even walking off the plane with the paramedics who boarded as soon as we landed to assess him.
The strangest thing, though, was that when they made the announcement asking for medical personnel, the little voice inside told me "This is it. This is what you were connecting to with your anxiety and awareness. It'll all be ok now." And I didn't have that same overwhelm of fear for the rest of the trip.
