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Major Illness
A non-fiction personal account of going through a major illness or medical condition that called for either hospitalization, extended therapy or medication. Or tell about a condition you or someone close has that you think people don't know enough about or understand.

Please stay hydrated

At the end of January, I landed myself in a room in the ICU around 5 in the morning. I took a nap prior and did my homework until I got a violent urge to throw up. This continued from 2 AM to 5 AM and I realized I couldn't solve this pain on my own. At 5:45, I remember forcing myself to swallow my pride and call my college's Public Safety to take me to the nearest hospital. I laid in that hospital bed, my abdomen in agony, unable to cry. At first, I thought this would pass and then I could go to sleep for class, that I had food poisoning and it was just excruciatingly painful this time. Turns out I was suffering from severe dehydration, resulting in my body rejecting food, water, and medication. Everything that went down came back up within seconds. Every time I threw up, it feel like I was getting rid of my stomach acid. In reality, I was. I hadn't had food or water for an entire day because my body struggled to keep anything down.

The night shift nurses were so helpful and tried to make my experience as painless as possible but it was so painful I felt like I was dying. Severe dehydration is pure agony and I have a high pain tolerance. That abdominal pain was the worst thing I've ever encountered in my life. They hooked me up to an IV for about six hours and my body shivered from the fluids entering my vein. One thing that bothers me about this is that my doctor asked me if I was my natural weight. It took me aback because I have a high metabolism so it's hard for me to gain weight. I mean I'm a 20-year-old person who weighs about 90-100 pounds. Who wouldn't be concerned? In this case, I lost weight from repeatedly having my head in the trash can in my dorm room. I ended up missing my two morning classes and having to email my professors about the situation.

I learned a few things after my first ICU experience. One, I need to bring water or another hydrating drink with me when I'm on the move to class. Two, I need to call for help more often instead of suffering alone. And three, I need to start eating breakfast every day.

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