It was winter break and I was excited! I went to visit my family in Oxnard, CA. When I came back I started getting sick. School started January 3rd and I wasn't ready to go back to school. I went to school that day and left 5th period which was P.E.. The next day I didn't go to school because I didn't feel good. I went on Wednesday and during the whole day I didn't feel good. So, I didn't go for the rest of the week. Usually when I get colds they go away in like 2 or 3 days, this one didn't. Next week started and I only expected to miss Monday which was January 10th. I had to miss the rest of the week. My mom scheduled an appointment to see a doctor on January 11th. I had everything, a cough, a stuff nose, body aches, a fever, i was vomiting, etc.. They said it was a normal cough and it shouldt go away. That day it got worse. I could barely breathe and my throat hurt when I would swallow. I went to go see the doctors again on January 12th. When I went they said the same thing, but this time they were going to send me home with an inhaler to help me breathe. I also had to do a chest X-ray and get blood drawn. As I was about to leave, they seen the way I was breathing so they decided to check my vitals. They were bad and my oxygen level was low and my heart rate was very bad. They put me on a breathing treatment and they seen everything was getting really bad. They told my mom and my grandma (my dad's mom) that they need to call 911 and send me to the emergency room. They couldn't treat me with my conditions there. The paramedics came and took me to the ER. As i was in the ambulance they wanted to put an IV into my arm. They couldn't get the needle in and they tried three times. I remember one paramedic was holding my hand and telling me everything was going to be alright. I was crying so much because of the pain. They decided to wait until I got into the ER and get the IV in. I was dropped off at the ER in the red unit in room 2. I got into a gown and they right away drew blood and got an IV into my arms. While I was sick I wasn't eating, drinking, or sleeping. They gave my fluids because I was dehydrated. I just wanted to go home and I was so hungry. The doctors told my mom everything wasn't going so well and I was spilling protein in my urine My family started showing up and I was in so much pain. My mommy was with me and she helped me get through it. They had me do a urine test and they were doing lab work with my blood. They couldn't find out what was wrong with me. At first they thought I had a kidney infection or a urine infection, but it was neither of those. They gave me antibodics and it helped me for awhile. My cheeks were red and very hot and on my joints there were red spots and they were hot compared to the other places on my skin. The doctor came in and said that he doesn't fee comfortable sending me home and not knowing what is wrong with me so he kept me overnight. I go into my room in the hospital in Walnut Creek in Kaiser. My room number was 3086 and my room was really nice. When I got in my room, my nurse helped me and settled me in. I was so hungry, but I wasn't able to keep anything down. The nurse gave me a purple Popsicle and some ice chips. All I wanted to do was go to bed my eyes were burning and I was tired! My dad, my grandma, my tia, and my sister was there. Then my family from Sacramento came and visited me. They were there and I was so happy to see them and they were sad and were praying for me. When they left I tried to get some rest. During the night I still wasn't sleeping, a nurse came and gave me strong medication through my IV that would help me sleep. When I would finally go to bed a nurse would come and check my temperature and my vitals. I would wake up so early. When I would wake up I would get blood drawn and then I would get to pick out my menu for the day. I would get breakfast, lunch and dinner. During the day I watched movies, i watched A LOT of princess movies from disney and disney movies(: The doctor told my mom that my blood work is bad and my white blood cells were elevated and were at 37,000 which is really bad. The doctors never seen anything like this. I stayed in the hospital for a week. During that week I was dealing with unbelievable pain and they drew TONS AND TONS of blood every single day. I was so tired of needles that my arms were badly bruised. Everyday was the same, I would wake up because the nurses wanted me to take urine tests and draw blood and check my vitals and everything. After I would eat breakfast and watch a movie. Another hour later a nurse would come in and do the same thing. What i really liked though, was that all the nurses I had they were all so nice and sweet to me. My grandma and my mom stayed with me all the time. The nurses would come in often if I would be in pain and they would give me medicine. Then I would get lunch and watch a movie. Then dinner and i would still be watching a movie. It was like that everyday, I eventually got depressed. I was so desperate to go outside or out of my room I would just cry. I was stuck in that room all th time. When I eventually was able to walk up and down the hall I was happy, but I could barely walk. My mom got worried and just wanted to know what was wrong with me. She asked them if I could have Lupus. They said it could be but there are no specific tests to take that will specifically say I have Lupus. They looked at the symptoms of Lupus and and it matched with mine and they later diagnosed me with Lupus. When they said that my Daddy was so shocked and didn't know what to say and my Mommy was crying and so was my sister. I think the person who took it bad was my sister. She was upset because when we were little my mommy's sister which is out tia, she died at 17. My tia Dez had Lupus and that's why she died and my sister was scared she would have to go through the same thing my mommy went through. When I found out I was more in shock, I didn't really believe it. ALL my family in Oxnard found out and were devastated. My mommy's mom which is my grandma but i call her mom, she came to come stay a few days with me. When she came I was so she happy and I didn't want her to leave. She was upset and crying. I finally got discharged and went home with medications. When I was told I got to go home I was soo happy I couldn't stop smiling. I got discharged on January 17th. When I got home I was happy! That week it was hard to cope with my new lifestyle. Unfortunately I went back to the ER on that Friday. My kidneys were hurting and they made me drink this liquid that was sooo gross. I had to drink it because they had to do a CT scan on me and they put another IV in my arm and drew hella blood. I stayed that whole day and the next morning i was discharged again. For about 3 weeks I slept in my mom's room and I was always monitored. My normal schedule would be to get up at 5 then go to school and come at home at 4 get dress leave for practice come home at 8 and i still have to take a shower and do my homework. I didn't really eat either, I wouldn't eat at school and I would eat very little when I got home. I had to change my whole life around. I stopped cheer and didn't get to finish the rest of the season. I had to make sacrifices because of Lupus. I spent about 2 weeks getting myself ready to go back to school. When it was time I was so scared. i met with ms mendez and she helped me getting everything handled and making me comfortable coming back. I went to my second period class which is mrs chabot for science. I was scared out of my mind! I went in and my friends attacked me with hugs. I was basically attacked with hugs all day. After that day I was EXHAUSTED! After every school day I am exhausted. I have more things to deal with than everyone else. I have to deal with pain during class and work through it and pretend i am alright. I don't do p.e. but I still go to class and help mr. parks out and hang out with friends in there. I can do only limited things. Walking from class to class in tiring for me and people at school don't understand that. They tell me I shouldn't be tired because I don't do anything and I don't do p.e.. They don't know my body and what i go through or how my pain feels. It gets me mad because they say that. No matter how much sleep i get i am always tired. Something that hit me hard was that I made Varsity for the cheerleading team. I was happy but i was sad that i can't do cheer like i did before. Now I am still dealing with everything but i never take anything for granted or regret anything. I am proud of what i went through and it made me who i am today. I may not be physically strong but emotionally I am getting there. It's hard to cope with everythingt, but i am trying. If you don't know what is lupus is, search on google and learn about it
-Shirley
