So, have you ever woken up with a ton of pain in your abdomen? I know I have. I woke up on Christmas Eve with some abdominal pain but didn't think anything of it. I had just gotten my period and I assumed it was a cramp. I worked a food stand at the Bills game with my mom, came home, visited with my aunt and uncle for a little bit, then went to bed.

When I woke up on Christmas morning, I was still in quite a bit of pain. I took a small nap after I had already woken up and been downstairs, and my sister enticed me back downstairs with some applesauce and the idea of presents. We opened presents, ate cinnamon rolls, and saw Moana. The movie definitely took the pain and nausea out of my mind. It was a typical Christmas for us. We had dinner, and I went to bed pretty early, hoping that the pain was just a long-lasting cramp.

When I woke up on the 26th of December, the day after Christmas, I knew this pain was no period cramp. It was now the third day of bad abdominal pain and something needed to be done about it. I convinced my mom to take me to a Mash Urgent Care, and they told me to follow up with my OBGYN because it might be ovarian cysts. Those are scary enough so I was a little upset. They sent me home with a pain medication and something for nausea. I took a nap, and again when I woke up, I thought something was wrong. My mom took me to the ER and it all went crazy from there.

At the ER, my heart rate was racing, my temperature was super high, and they were pretty concerned about me. I had to do a CT scan, and after a while, the ER doctor came back, patted my leg and said, "You have appendicitis." And all I could say was, "Oh, okay." The doctor called me stoic and told me that the pain I was experiencing had huge, burly football players crying. My mom kept telling me how proud she was of me for being my own advocate. We waited in the ER for a while, then they transferred me up to a room on the 4th floor of the hospital and I slept.

When I woke up the next morning, they told me that my surgery would be around 1 in the afternoon. My mom had stayed the night with me, so she went home to shower and do a few necessary things. Then, suddenly, the doctor came in and told me that the surgery had been moved up. I panicked a little bit, and my mom came back as soon as she could. The nurses took my mom and I, me in the hospital bed, down to a preparation area. I was pretty upset and everyone kept reassuring me that I would be okay. I cried quite a little bit, they drugged me, and I then went into surgery.

I woke up a few hours later. Now, this might not sound like a strange thing for me to say, but a few hours is a long time for a doctor to remove an appendix. I went in around 11, and I remember waking up around 1. It normally only takes an hour. When I was taken back up to my room, my mom was there waiting and told me that my doctor had said I was the hardest appendix he had ever taken out.

The next few days are kind of a blur. I remember my family being there. My uncle came to visit, my sister and dad were around, my godmother came, my boyfriend stayed the night one evening...but mostly, I remember my mom being there. She stayed the most, even through me sleeping. She stayed the night in an uncomfortable chair most of the nights until I felt okay enough to stay on my own. I remember that on NYE, the nurse gave me Ambien to help me sleep. It helps most everybody sleep, but for me, it had an opposite effect. I actually had hallucinations. I do remember my mom opening the blinds for me because once midnight hit, there were fireworks going off and I wanted to see them. Other than that, I was connected to a machine that pumped antibiotics and fluids into my body to help fight. I stayed in my bed most of the time there.

On Saturday, my doctor told my mom that I might have to stay in the hospital for another few days. I was devastated. My appendix had burst so I had an abscess of gross stuff in my body and the antibiotics were not really working. My body was having a hard time fighting. I felt extremely defeated. I cried and told my mom that I wanted to go home.

For some reason, once Sunday hit, I was suddenly a new person. I felt great. I got up and was walking around the hallway, eating a little more, and was just a little more aware. The next few days I spent still attached to the machine and then they were able to take me off of it for a little while! I felt better and I was even starting to get bored. Then suddenly, it was Tuesday and I was able to go home!!! They took the line out of my arm and I was sent home.

I learned quite a few things during my time in the hospital. I spent over a week there. And here are the things I learned:

1. Nurses have a lot of work to do and are amazing.

The nurses I had were all so fantastic. They were kind, caring, and were genuinely interested in answering my questions and taking care of me. They do not have an easy job and I could not imagine working 12 hour shifts. They are miracle workers.

2. Hospitals are pretty boring.

They might look exciting on those ER shows, but honestly, after being there for a week, I was bored out of my mind. I walked up and down the same two hallways over and over again. But there were word searches in the waiting room that I found.

3. Family is everything.

Everyone's family is different. Some are made of moms and dads and aunts and uncles and grandmas and grandpas, and some aren't. Mine is definitely big and very different, but my family was the ones who were there for me. They saved my butt and were there for me the whole time. Without them, I'd probably still be there.

4. If you're hurting, do something.

I was in pain for so long, and I'm so glad that I did something about it. Otherwise, I could have literally died.

My story is pretty wild, considering that I've never been in the hospital before. And I just wanted to say thank you to my family and to the nurses that cared for me the whole time I was there. I'm lucky I was so well taken care of. This will be an experience I'll never forget.