Dear Kidney Infection.

Sunday is always the day of the week where I can really reflect on my life and where i'm at. It's my favorite day of the week and for that very reason I am extremely lucky. Considering November is halfway over I should probably tell the world about my October. October was an extremely hard month. I woke up one morning with terrible pains on the ride side of my stomach area. I thought that I had just slept on it wrong and that the pain would eventually go away. As the day dragged on the pain got worse and worse and I knew something was up. I woke up the next morning and immediately called the Student Health Center seeing when I could get an appointment. Since their earliest appointment was after lunch I rushed myself to the Urgent Care at the Health Center. I got in, talked with a doctor, and she decided that she thought I had appendicitis and that I should get lab work done immediately. After peeing in the cup (my least favorite thing in the world) and getting my blood drawn (first time ever) I waited for the results. Doctor said that my blood work showed signs that I had appendicitis so I should get to the hospital ASAP to get a CT scan done. My sweet aunt drove and came and sat with me at the health center while I was waiting to get the okay from my insurance company to get the CT scan done. After I got the okay my aunt drove me to the hospital where I went to radiology. There I was told that I would have to drink this nasty drink every ten minutes for an hour. The stuff was disgusting but I managed to get through it. After about an hour and a half I was brought into the room where the CT scan was going to take place. I was hooked up to an IV so they could pump a dye into my organs to get a good look at them. After that was over there was more waiting. After about 45 more minutes my doctor called me (she had told the hospital to call her with the results so she could tell me). Turns out that all my organs were nice and lovely. She told me that I most likely had a kidney infection. She called in many different medicines to the pharmacy and I was supposed to start them that day. She also wanted me to come into the office tomorrow so she could check on me again. I was still in a lot of pain the day I went back in so they gave me a shot in the butt to help fight the infection. I was confined to the couch for quite some days. It was a total nightmare. After about a week my back was still in a lot of pain. I called my nurse to see if this was normal and it wasn't so she had me come back into the doctor..again. There I was examined again and also had more lab work done. My poor arms had been put through so much with all the needles! The lab work came back normal and my infection was gone. Oddly enough, the pain in my back I thought was from the infection was actually the muscles in my back. Because the infection was so awful the muscles in my back had contracted causing one big knot. For the pain they gave me another shot in my butt which helped for about 12 hours. Off to physical therapy I was recommended. I did an initial visit with the therapist and two follow up appointments. This worked wonders! I finally was on the mend. I am feeling good today although, at times when I get stressed my back will start to hurt. I am so grateful for medical technology and medical insurance. I don't know what I would do without it. I am also grateful that I went through that experience because it taught me that I am not super woman and that at times it is necessary to ask others for help. I couldn't be more lucky. I am blessed. I am healthy. I am happy.