Modern medicine saved my life.

When I had appendicitis, I had to put all my trust and my literal life into the hands of my doctors. The excruciating pain on the right side of my abdomen was beyond my comprehension so, despite not being a classically religious person, I prayed the doctors would know what to do in order to put an end to my suffering.

Attempting to make the best of my situation, I took interest in the photographs the radiologist took of my internal organs by using a computed tomography scan. The pictures which, to me, looked like nothing but random ink smudges on a computer screen, were actually all these tools a surgeon needed in order to pinpoint exactly why I was incapacitated with pain. The pictures clearly showed the my appendix had swollen to more than twice it's normal size and was therefore pushing around my other organs!

Like a ticking time bomb, my appendix was ready to burst, the radiologist sent me to the operating room immediately. There, an anesthesiologist promptly calculated the exact amount of anesthesia that I must have before the surgery in order to stay unconscious during the entire procedure, but not too much as to shut down my body completely. Again, literally putting my life into the hands of another.

Thankfully, the surgery was a success. I woke up groggy and still heavily medicated, but also with a new fascination for the medical field.

To this day I am eternally grateful to the incredibly knowledgeable and comforting nurses that checked up on me throughout the entire process. To say the least, I am sure it was very unpleasant to be around me while I was in the worst pain of my life. Nurses helped me eat and go to the bathroom while I did not even have the energy to thank them for their hard work.

After receiving such exceptional care at the Madison Children's Hospital from not only the surgeons but also the nurses, radiologists, and receptionists, I am now inspired to further my education in the healthcare field. My goal is to utilize all the resources available to me in order to help those in need in the future.

The process of having surgery was, by nature, absolutely frightening. However, with great thanks to the multiple professionals who worked their hardest to comfort me and inform me on what was going to happen, I was able to find calm in this life-threatening situation.