my first time in the ER

26 Sep, 2023

i recently saw an instagram post that said, "girls are never at 100% health. they always have a headache or their stomach hurts or something else", and i have to admit that i'm exactly like that. so when my stomach started hurting, i didn't think much of it until the pain was so sharp that woke me up yesterday morning.

i could tell that this pain was different from cramps or food-related stomach pain, so i first talked to a doctor on the phone through my school's medical service, timelycare. when i told him that the pain was in the lower right abdominal area, he told me to go to urgent care or the ER as soon as possible because it could be something serious like appendicitis. i tried going to urgent care first, but they immediately referred me to the local hospital because they didn't have the machinery necessary to diagnose me.

thankfully, it wasn't anything really serious. after some blood and urine tests, as well as an abdominal CAT scan¹，they concluded that i had a ruptured ovarian cyst. if this is your first time hearing of it too, it's not as bad as it sounds. they're actually quite common, and although my symptoms were on the heavier side, i can be relieved that they didn't cause any bigger complications like twisted ovaries.

the whole ordeal took about 8 hours, from 8am to 4pm. it was mostly a lot of waiting, but the hardest part about this experience was going through it by myself. i ubered to urgent care, the ER, and back home, and i just felt really lonely. my friends kept me company as well as they could during their school and work hours, and i'm really grateful for them, but it just wasn't the same as having someone next to you. this is my first time being in the hospital too, let alone being in emergency care, so it was quite scary².

when i got home, i ate my first meal in over 24 hours (i only had some tangerines for dinner the night before because of the stomach pain) and picked up my medication. after a three-hour nap, i felt the worst i had all day. the pain hadn't gone away even after taking extra-strength ibuprofen, and on top of that, i started running a fever. i thought i was supposed to feel better after visiting the ER and sleeping!

it's the next morning now, and i've recovered a bit. the fever has gone away and i just keep telling myself that it doesn't hurt all that much, i've had period cramps worse than this³. i'm glad my work and school load are quite light right now, so i can rest more. if you need me, i'll be rotting away in bed playing tears of the kingdom.