• October 9th, 2009 I woke up in severe pain. I told my mom seriously, "I feel like I am dying." I went to the doctor with extreme stomach pain on my side. Two days earlier I went to my doctor with pain, they took a urine sample and sent me on my way. I threw up for three days straight, couldn't eat anything. At the doctor's, my doctor pushed on my right side and I almost lept off the table. He told my mom to rush me to the emergency room.

So we go to emergency room, had to wait for 15 minutes. Then they pulled me into a room, weighed me and then made me drink contrast so they could take X-rays. The constrast made me shake for an hour or so. Did the exam and they couldn't really see anything but they decided I had to get my appendix laparoscopicly removed. This was at about 3pm, 7pm I went into surgery and I woke up at 11pm in my hospital room.

I had an emergency appendectomy done in 2009 a few months after I graduated high school. My appendix erupted inside me, I had it in for 3 days and I went septic. They couldn't tell through ultrasound that it did erupt because too much fluid in the scan. They thought they were going to do it laparoscopically so before I went under they assured me I was going to have a tiny scar to the left of my belly button. Though when they opened me up gangrene and infection had set in. The doctors said if I had waited another two hours to get to the hospital I would have died.

When I woke up I had that scar plus large scar leading from inside my belly button to the end of my stomach which had 29 staples holding me together plus I had two drains (one required another little star) and later on had a picc line in my arm installed to help me fight the infection. I was in the hospital for two weeks. Did at home treatments for two months. It took me two years to wear a bikini again.

My scar was red and angry looking for years. Now it is a light pink color that is barely noticeable to other people though I am still hyper aware. It gets easier, I know it is hard. (Vitamin E oil really helped lighten it up too.) I am hopeful that every day for you will get easier, keep your head up and cry if you need to.