Personal Narrative: Oakridge High School

She had notified my mom and sister that they would be performing the C-section later on that afternoon. My mom and my sister had gotten up and said they would be back by that time, they had to run some more errands for my baby shower. Then they left out of the door and not even ten minutes after they left, the nurse comes back into my room to rush me back. I was all set to go, I had already had my epidural and morphine, except I had nobody there with me to bring this precious little baby girl into this harsh

Softball is very good sport. It's fun, crazy, and you get to make cool songs. I like softball for all those reasons and more. Lie, you get to hit things, run, slide so basically I like it because there's a lot of action.

I went into the hospital room with my mother, got undressed, and changed into a hospital gown. A woman came into the room to put an IV into my arm, then I turned on the Food Network on the hospital TV. A few doctors came into the room, asking for my name, birthdate, and other questions for identification purposes. Later, my two aunts came into the room. A few minutes later, my surgeon walked in as well to tell me that she’d come back in about twenty minutes to wheel me away to the operating table. This made it even more surreal and made me even more anxious.

I had no idea how I got to the operation room from the pre-op room or from the operation room to the post-op room. All I knew was that when I woke up I was in the post-op room. It took me awhile to fully wake up, as I was in and out of a haze for a few minutes. Once I was truly awake, I realized that my right foot was now in a boot and that it was also elevated. The nurse asked me if I was in any pain and if I needed anymore medication. After I said that I was fine, she took me to a separate room where my mother was waiting. While in this room, another nurse came in to ask me if I would like anything to drink or eat. Once I answered, she left and came back with apple juice and animal crackers. It was now around five o’clock and everything was coming to an end; we were almost ready to go home. To get me from the room down to the ground level and to the car I had to ride in wheelchair. This was my first time being in one myself. My mom and I had prepared for me possibly feeling out of sorts and not wanting to sit upright in the car on the way home. So, we packed blankets and pillows. After the whole backseat was ready and I was situated, we started home. On our way, we stopped once to get a sandwich for me because I was still hungry from not eating much that day.

Lying on the hard gurney in that cold, stark white operating room, I could see the nurses and doctor all scrubbed and wearing their white masks and plastic glasses. The constant beeping of the monitoring equipment became louder in my ears, the cuff on my arm inflating as it was reading my blood pressure made my senses more aware of what was going on. I could smell the disinfectant, my mouth, even tasted like I had swallowed Lysol. The nurse was going over her checklist, asking me my name, asking me what procedure I was here for, and then receiving from her the details of what was going to happen. Having experienced this before with my first son Christopher, which was horrifying because I had not been ready for an emergency cesarean section,

Laying in the hospital bed, the Doctor explained everything. The cramping was a swollen appendix, if not removed it’d explode! Afterwards I just stayed up watching Mean-Girls multiple times. As they rolled me into the operating room I remember clearly a surgeon had Charlie Brown scrubs on. As I was given anesthetic I started falling asleep. Waking up was uncomfortable, looking at my left arm, my iv tube broken, and the metal part was still in my arm, blood everywhere. I wasn’t hesitant to change it. Eating was only through a tube for the past two days, I was just eager to get some

We went back to the hospital the next day and they cleared me to... I was set! I was ready to live the life of every other kid would have already. I no longer had to carry a bag around to make sure my heart would stay although I would still have to constantly go in for checkups on my heart and, such but it was so much better now that my parents weren't constantly stressed out wondering if I would even live to tomorrow. This changed my life completely because now I live life with no regrets no things I wish I would've done it's more what I need to do next time. I learned to not take your life for granted and anybody who is going through struggles that you should be there for their family and them and send them prayers because they need it more than you think. Looking back and being retold this story by anybody who I met is crazy because I always go back to thinking about the fact that I could've been dead by now, I could've fainted and never woken up from it. I guess it's crazy to think about how I'm lucky to be alive right now and playing lacrosse in the burning heat or always being on the ice for hockey and having few if any of the fainting spells in a month when I used to have them weekly. Live your life as though today is your last

After that, I admittedly do not remember much, besides certain conversations here and there. I know that I was placed in the PICU and was heavily sedated. The doctors came in and introduced themselves; as a matter of fact, I cannot say that at the time I remembered them or what they told me. They had put me on a shot to combat my clotting disorder, which they deemed the reason for the stroke that caused a ruptured carotid artery. When I first came fully back to myself, I had a few days where I just laid in bed, but at that point, it was time to start my therapy. It was tough at first due to the fact that I still could not feel the majority of my right side at the time. They

I held my knees to my chest and rolled from side to side in pain. I tried hard holding back the tears, as they asked me questions. Next, the paramedics took me right into the ER and the doctors looked at me, and I felt useless. In the distance, a doctor rushed in and push the red button. Then, I couldn't hear anybody else in the room, all I can do is see what was happening. Shockingly, they came at me with tubes and started shoving them in my throat, I've never felt more pain in my life. Last thing

I was then sent to intensive care. It was a unit where only curtains separated you from the next patient over. It had a large nurse area in the center, which I could see from my bed. I asked for Kevin. I was uncomfortable, but all and all I felt better than before the surgery. Kevin came in for just a few minutes, and then they made him leave. When he left, the woman on my left went into trauma. I could hear the entire ordeal, which was horrible. I felt so alone. I asked for my husband, but they would not let him come back in the room. The trauma of the woman beside me was more than I could take emotionally. I shut down and really do not remember much past that

They handed it to my parents and told them to fill it out before my surgery. So we went home and I had a hard time sleeping. It felt like I had just gotten home but 8 hours later I was back in the ER room. I had to put on a gown. I walked down the hall in my gown with my parents to my operating room. When we got there I was told to lay on the table which had white paper over it. This room had a lot of metal tools and the pink wrap for my cast. I smelt just like the first room I had been in but it smelt like a lot of different. cleaning supplies.They put a gas mask thing on me and told me to count back from one hundred. So I lay there getting sleepier counting 99,98,97. I don't remember saying the rest but when I woke up there was a pink cast on my right arm. The doctors gave me donut and some

Me and my mom were sitting in the chairs next to his bed. My parents were both sleeping, but I was just on my phone texting Piper that my dad's alright. A few seconds later I hear my dad coughing. I tried to wake up my mom. She's a deep sleeper so I went to go get a doctor or someone. A doctor came and he got his stethoscope and put it on my dad's chest. Finally my mom woke up after all the nurses and doctors came in. I was against the wall and I was just staring at my dad. I could just see him struggling to breath. The heart monitor keeps beeping, then all of a sudden it was just a straight line. The noise of the machine was filling the room. My head was pounding and everything was unclear. One nurse got the paddle thing that shocks the person for them to be alive again. They put it to 200. It didn't work then they tried 300. Beeeep…… all I could hear is my mom crying and crying. She was yelling at everyone.

They took me to a room in the hospital to start an IV and blood work. I was terrified of needles, so this was a very difficult process. They ended up having to get multiple people to hold me down and get two IV’s. After they drew blood, the doctor came in and told me that I have Type One Diabetes, and I was in diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA). Because of that, they had to send me over the mountain to another hospital because they didn’t have a pediatric endocrinologist at the hospital I was at. I was scared; the only diabetes I knew was my grandpa’s diabetes, and I still didn’t know what that was. All I could think was “Am I going to die?” and “What’s going to happen to me?” I had so many questions, but I had to wait until we got to the other hospital, which was an hour drive. They, of

I had to be in the I.C.U. the whole time I was in the hospital because I could have passed out and died at any point and time. All my friends and family came to visit a lot so they made me feel comfortable and not so bored in the hospital. I don’t remember my parents ever going home the whole time I was in the hospital. The day of my surgery was October 11, 2007, a day after my brother JeRon’s birthday. I just remember

Finally, we arrive at the hospital. I am rushed through the hospital doors and taken to a glass room. Nurses and paramedics race into the room, putting an oxygen mask over my face and tearing off my clothes. All I can do at this point to communicate is scream at the top of my lungs to show I am in pain. So much pain. Adhesive sticks all over my body. I feel as if I am a science experiment laying flat on a table being poked and prodded. A clammy hand holds down my right arm, I turn my head just in time to witness the needle enter my arm. White fluid is forced into my vein, the nurse makes eye contact with me and says “The pain should go away