Ludwig Beilschmidt

Every since last Wednesday evening, I've been feeling like crap on a stick. Wednesday evening entailed a lot of walking with my mom and little brother. We went to one of my schools for conferences, then to the bus station to catch the bus to my little brother's counseling appointment, then to the nearby pharmacy so we could call a cab home. This was all in sub-40-degree weather. The temperature had dropped 20 degrees in the span of two hours, and all I had was a thick hoodie. When we left the counseling appointment, my back started hurting to the point where my breathing was affected. I couldn't take deep breaths without the feeling that my ribs were caving in. When we got home, I was medicated, and thought I'd be fine.

The next morning, I woke up with my back hurting again. I was medicated, and offered the chance to stay home. I wouldn't have hesitated to jump at it, but I had a lab at morning school, and an after-school function at afternoon school. Lab days couldn't be made up, so I opted to tough it out and go. (By the way, I take Biotech at morning school.) I lasted morning school, but was forced to sit out when my back went out and I collapsed into a table with wheels. I felt well enough to continue after that, but not for long. I lasted all of 45 minutes at afternoon school before it became too much, and a ride was called to take me home. Once home, I was medicated, and got a hot compress for my back. I went to bed feeling okay, and expected to be back to normal.

On Friday, I woke up in so much pain I couldn't even move. My back was on fire, my head was pounding, and I felt freezing cold. The latter in itself is odd, since I never get cold. I eventually summoned the strength to help my brother get ready for school, then I was medicated and told to lay back down. An hour or so later, my mom woke me up so we could go to the E.R. They said my back and breathing issues were because of the cold and all the walking, so i got a chest x-ray, which turned out okay, and a breathing treatment. After that, I felt fine. We got home an hour later, and I immediately started feeling truly sick. I got the breathing problems back, a powerful migraine, and a fever of 105. I was so hot, I felt cold, and my hands were falling asleep. I was laid down and took a nap that felt like forever, but in actuality was only two hours. I still felt like crap, and the medication wasn't doing jack squat. I had to stay in bed all Friday evening, and into Saturday.

Sunday morning, the fever and migraine lifted, and now all I'm left with is the cough. I have to breathe shallow, or else I'll erupt into a coughing fit that won't let me breathe for 20 seconds. That might not sound like much, but when your lungs won't inflate, trust me, it's a trip to Death's door every time. I only hope that my illness will be over soon, so I can get on with my life. I have schools to be at, work to do, and two friends here to assure that I'm still alive.