Twas was the day before classes, when all across campus, not a student was seen, not even the senseless. I was reading a book peacefully outside, hoping that all this talk of school was a lie. Then, the pain started. The most excruciating pain I have ever experienced had me in tears all afternoon. I tried taking warm baths, drinking ginger tea, and napping before moving onto extra strengh tylenol and 800 mg ibuprofin. Then suddenly, the pain disappeared. I quickly attributed this to the wonders of painkillers and went on about my day. Unfortunately, it returned to haunt me that evening and refused to yield to the cocktail of painkillers I attempted. I grudgingly went to the student health center on Monday morning where they told me they thought I had a bladder infection and sent out a culture even though they found no white blood cells on the dip stick. They also, however, scheduled me for an ultrasound at the hospital on Wednesday. After two nights in tears without sleep, I stumbled into the hospital for my appointment. Although the technician couldn't tell me what I had, I knew the huge sac of fluid I saw wasn't normal. She suggested I return on Friday for an appointment but I refused to leave the hospital and finally found a doctor who would see me in family practice. It turns out I had a huge ovarian cyst 10 cm across that was wrapped around my fallopian tube. Later that evening, I was in surgery. I naively believed I would be up and about the next day and able to attend classes on Friday. I was finally discharged from the hospital on Friday afternoon and started to go back to classes Monday. Fortunately, my surrogate family in Kalamazoo has been making sure I take it easy and made sure I had company in the hospital. Classes on Monday were tough...I completely underestimated the amount of energy it would take me to get around campus. But today I feel many times better.
By far the most frustrating part is realizing I have to take it easy for a couple of weeks. No running, no lifting (i.e. no carrying a backpack or picking up dogs) and no bike-riding. Grr.
1 comment:
Yikes, that's quite a week. Take care of yourself! A few weeks of taking it easy isn't the end of the world. :)
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