Sunday, March 10, 2013

Sunday, March 10 was one of the hardest and most painful days of my life.  I woke up in the morning feeling like something was blocking my throat.  I didn't think much of it at the time.  The weather still isn't the greatest and it's still pretty dry in the house.  So I persisted to cough to try and get rid of the obstruction.  By lunch, I still wasn't feeling any better.  I couldn't eat, not having much of an appetite and because I started feeling this pain in my throat every time I tried to swallow.  I figured I must be getting sick.  I went downstairs and made myself some tea in hopes to get something into me.  Even that became a struggle.  As I sat on my bed, attempting to focus on homework while my head felt miles away, I struggled every time I had to swallow, it felt like something was burning at my throat.  Eventually I gave up trying to complete my homework and went downstairs to lie down on the couch and talk to my mom.  My mom brought me some Sprite to drink, thinking it would help since I clearly had a cold or the flu.  After one sip my throat erupted into excruciating pain.  My throat felt completely closed off. I couldn't talk, I couldn't breath.  I was in a panic.

My mom asked me if I wanted to go see a doctor.  I however couldn't find a way to respond.  I kept gasping each time I opened my mouth to speak.  Tears were streaming down my face.  I grabbed my cell phone and texted my mom that I needed help.  It was the only way I could communicate with her.  We tried looking up Walk In Clinics that would be open late on Sunday nights.  We found one, however when we got their they told us they had just closed up for the night since the only doctor on call had seen his last patient and had left for the day.  Not knowing what to do my mom asked me if I wanted to go to the Hospital.  At this point I was able to speak again though in a very raspy voice.  My  mom took me to the Misericordia Hospital.  After seeing the triage nurse and being told I had to stay to see a doctor due to my high fever, I spent four painful hours in the waiting room.

My dad arrived after I had given five samples of blood, one or two of those samples was for blood cultures. There's a reason why you should never give blood if you've had little to eat or drink.  I felt dizzy, tired, nauseous, cold, but most of all I felt pain.  My back was aching by this point.  My dad sat there and rubbed my back as a searing pain shot through the left side of my back.  All I wanted was to sleep and for the pain in my throat and back to go away.

By 11:10 p.m. I was finally able to see a doctor.  Since I came in with a swollen/sore throat and a fever, it's hard to diagnose what the problem really is.  My vitals were checked again and the doctor attempted to look down my throat.  Based off of what could be seen, I had a throat infection plain and simple.  To leave the Hospital and not spend the night I had to force down 3 Tylenol and 3 Penicillin.  I managed to get down all the pills with plenty of ice cold water.  By midnight I was back home and in bed.

Being in the hospital, in the shape that I was, made me think about the people I care about.  I was so scared, not knowing what was going on with my body.  All I could think about were the people I wanted there with me.  The people I love and care about.  Sure family, friends, boyfriends/girlfriends fight overtime, but in the end we love them and care for them.  In the time that I was in the hospital it didn't matter what was going on in my life or who I was mad at, all I wanted was the people I care about to be with me.

So I encourage everyone to Take A Moment and think about the people you care about most and tell them that you care, you may not always get the chance.