September 2021

Imagine waking up sick one morning and never getting better. Well, that is exactly what happened to me on September 16, 2021. I woke up with the worst stomachache and nausea I had ever felt. I had been dealing with ongoing nausea and general stomach pain for years, but that was nothing compared to the new pain. The pain was so severe with a single drop of food or drink that I suddenly couldn’t get anything down without extreme pain.

I went to my GI doctor, very concerned with my new symptoms, and he ordered some blood work and tests. Everything came back normal. The ultrasound of my upper abdomen looked as it should and every bit of bloodwork was within a normal range. Maybe these results should have made me happy, but they didn’t. They didn’t because there was nothing normal about what was happening in my body. I was getting very sick, very fast. I could no longer stay awake all day, napping after school, after hours of barely keeping my eyes open during class. My heart rate shot up from rapid dehydration and malnutrition. I was lucky to get down enough water to swallow my daily medication and ate only a few bites of food at each meal before doubling over in pain. I was struggling more than I ever had before, and we had no idea why.