Laying on the couch, snuggling in my blanket, cracker crumbs all over the floor, barely touched soup on the table, wondering to myself “why me, why do I have to be the one stuck in bed with a fever, why can’t I be at school with all my friends feeling anything but sick?” A few days passed, but I just got worse. Finally my mom decided to take me to the doctor. There was just one problem, I was getting weak, so if it was hard to get me to the kitchen it was even harder to get me to the doctor. When we eventually got to the doctor I took a strep test. The doctor was going to stick a tube in my throat. My stomach started aching even more than before. I squeezed my moms hand as hard as I could and then before I knew it it was over. We sat in the waiting room for what seemed like forever when finally the doctor called me into his office to tell me that I had strep!

 

The doctor gave me a medicine to take home with me and he told me to take my first dose after my dinner. When it was time to take my first dose I held my nose took two deep breaths and drank it. It was horrible. It made me feel weird my stomach hurt like it hadn’t before and finally I realized what it was. I ran to the bathroom as fast as I could and as soon as it started it was over. A little while passed and the feeling went away. The weird thing is that this kept happening every time I took my medicine. We realized that I was reacting to the medicine that I was taking. My mom called the doctor and he said to come and see him the next day. Of Course we listened to my doctor and went to see him. He gave me a different medicine. After a while I got better, at least we thought.

 

It was time to go school for the first time since I got sick I woke up in the morning feeling ok not great, but fine. I got on the bus and that’s when things got bad. The bus ride was only five minutes long, but in those five minutes I got so sick, sick like I have never been before. Those five minutes felt like hours. Finally we got to school I got off the bus and took a few deep breaths and tried to relax and calm down, but I couldn’t. Walking into school made me feel even worse. It was so hot and I was so dizzy. I tried my best to forget about it, but the more I tried the harder it was. Finally the bell rang. As soon as I got into class my teacher noticed something was wrong. She asked me if I was ok and I said yes, but she could tell that I was lying. I told her what was wrong and she told me to go to the nurse. The nurse called my mom.

 

When my mom came to pick me up I told her everything. I told her about the bus and how I tried to calm down and relax, but I couldn’t. My babysitter was with my mom when she came to pick me up.. I got in the car and when we finally reached our street I couldn’t take it anymore. I told my mom and she stopped the car. We rushed out and I made it the grass, but then, I threw up! I didn’t want to get back into the car so I walked home with my babysitter and my mom drove the car home.

After these few tough weeks I now shiver whenever someone mentions being sick or even getting a flu or strep test. Whenever I have a cold or a little virus I now know that it is nothing compared to this experience. I am so grateful to have gotten the care that I did because sometimes love and care does just the same as medicine.

Sincerely, Sabrina