12/4/13-12/5/13
For the past two days, I have decided to work out at the gym in my school. There are machines, treadmills, elliptical, free weights, yoga balls, and rowing machines. It was time to get back into shape because what else was there to do in my free time? All I did was read books in the hallway at school or read in classrooms. Gabi, the gym teacher, thought it would be better if I joined him in the gym to work out. Working out releases endorphins which makes me feel wonderful after. It brought a purpose to me for having to go to school. I felt determined to slim down before the year was over. Unfortunately the past two days I had pushed myself too hard.
Last night was the worst night I have ever had in Poland, not counting the emotional pain I have been through. I went to bed around 11pm thinking my worst problem was having to wake up at 7am the next morning…I was completely wrong.
I woke up at 12:30am writhing in pain. I couldn’t hold back my groans as I grabbed my side and rolled around in my bed. The pain was overwhelming and never let up for 30 minutes straight. There was only one person I wanted to talk to while this pain was surging through my side, my mother. I had no idea what was happening, it all took me by surprise. When I first got into bed my muscles were a little sore with minimal pain but while I slept it had progressed into unbearable pain.
I dialed my mom’s number and waited for her to pick up. She answered cheerful, as usual, which made me really wish I was home with her. My mouth had gone dry from the big breaths I kept taking which made it difficult to get any words out. My mother asked me questions about how strong the pain was and where the pain was located. My eyes were shut, the phone pressed between my right ear and the pillow, and my hands were holding my left oblique.
My tolerance level for any kinds of pain is completely nonexistent. As soon as a part of my body is aching then I become incredibly ill. My mind shuts down and my body starts to lose control. When I was in the 9th grade, I was getting off the bus after school ready to walk home. It was a rain storm outside and the bus floor was quite wet. As I walked down the stairs, I slipped on the second step and fell on my back. My elbow slammed onto the bus floor and pain shot through my arm to my hand. I got up, brushed my butt off, and walked the rest of the way home holding my elbow. I called my mom while holding ice to my elbow and explained the situation. She said she would be home soon to check it out but it is probably just bruised. When the ice pack had eventually turned to water, I decided to take a shower before starting my homework. The steam was hot around me and my elbow was still throbbing. Ten minutes in the shower, my sister heard a huge thud come from the bathroom. Gina came running inside to see me laying on the floor with my eyes rolled into the back of my head, the hot water still running on me, and my head leaning on the tile wall. I had woken up five minutes later to hear Gina screaming in the bathroom for me to wake up. Gina later said she was afraid I would turn into a zombie so she couldn’t stand to be in the bathroom with me. Once my eyes peered around the shower door to see Gina rocking herself on the floor, screaming my name, I threw up twice on my legs. Gina asked me if I was okay, but my tummy was hurting along with my head and elbow. The ambulance arrived and took me to the hospital where I met my entire family in the emergency room. From then on I realized my body could not handle pain.
While on the phone with my mom, my eyes were closed but I started to realize I was going to black out if I didn’t do something fast. I told my mom my head was becoming fuzzy and that’s when she started yelling orders through the phone. She instructed me to lay down and put my feet into the air. My body was violently shaking because it felt like it was below 32 degrees in my room. My head had slowly stopped spinning but I did not feel good. My bladder was saying I needed to pee but my stomach was telling me I needed to throw up. I ran to the bathroom with my trashcan, Advil, and my phone. I took the Advil then sat in the bathroom with my head in my trashcan. My mom had to go to a meeting with my dad but she instructed me to stay strong and be the doctor for myself. As soon as we hung up, I threw up 6 times into the trashcan. My stomach was doing flips as it squeezed everything up my throat. I was afraid I had thrown up the Advil before it had time to dissolve but at this point I didn’t care. My heart was aching to be home with my mom where she would take care of me and tell me everything will be okay.
Finally the wave of nausea passed and there was enough time to make it back to my room. I tied up the plastic back that contained a mess in the trashcan and carried everything back into my dark room. I found another plastic bag sitting in the corner of my room just in time. Another wave of nausea was surging from deep inside my stomach, it pulled back like an arrow being pulled back against a bow, and then it released at full force. I threw up 3 more times in a new plastic bag. There was nothing left in my stomach but water by the time the wave of nausea had subsided. The jolt of energy sent from my stomach as I forced the rest of the remains up and out of my body had pushed on my bladder also causing me to pee my pants a little.
My bodily functions were out of control and it made it hard to keep all my fluids trapped inside me. I ran to the bathroom when I stopped throwing up and changed my pants. I tied up the second back and placed it into my trashcan. Around 2am my body finally seemed settled down, but now I was unable to fall back asleep. My bladder kept sending signals to my brain saying I have to pee again but it was only spasms of my muscles. I laid in my bed and read my book Digital Fortress by Dan Brown until I became tired. Except the message of being tired never registered in my brain. I stayed awake reading 240 pages in my book which enabled me to finish the great novel. Now, it was 5am and still I couldn’t seem to fall back asleep. I texted Gina and told her the entire fiasco that occurred in my bedroom. We chatted for a short amount of time and by 5:30 am, I finally fell asleep.
This morning around 7 am my host mother woke me up to catch the bus to school, but my stomach was still uneasy. Luckily my host mother left for work at 7am which meant I was home alone. I decided to roll over and skip school today. I could use the extra hours of sleep because the fiasco had drained all my energy. I ended up only sleeping about two more hours because my body had enough. I cleaned out my trashcan, took a warm shower, and ate toast. My stomach is still queasy at times but it’s starting to settle.
This situation showed me I need to take care of my body better. Results aren’t going to happen any faster no matter how hard I push my body. Also, I am alone in this country. Sure I have a great host family but sometimes you have problems that is better taken care of alone. Independence is a huge responsibility especially when it comes to my own health. I need to eat better and exercise the proper way. But trial and error is all a part of growing up.
Stephanie Raquel
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