Not Giving Up: "No Colon and Still Rollin'"

Two weekends ago I received an early Christmas present, the Norwalk Virus. Apparently this little gift that keeps on giving is going around the Chicago area and it's highly contagious. This present arrived at around 2:30 pm on Friday, December 17th and by 5:00 pm left me extremely dehydrated because I couldn't keep any food or liquids down. I don't think I've ever been more scared of my body in my entire life. As I attempted to move from the couch to the car to get to the emergency room, I passed out. I snapped back to find my sister and Dave holding me and my mother calling for an ambulance. Long story short - I had to be admitted back into the hospital so that I could receive fluids through an i.v. and receive antibiotics. I'm not going to lie. I was feeling extremely defeated. Things were going so well and for awhile I felt like I had lost some of the confidence that this ileostomy was supposed to bring me.

As my parents and Dave had to remind me, this virus was beyond my control. In a way, this experience taught me some valuable lessons and that's why I'm referring to it as "a gift".

• Now that it's more important than ever to stay hydrated, I'm going to have to be extra cautious when it comes to germs, colds, and invest in some travel size Purell bottles. It's really true that you can never be too careful.
• I've never been a huge water drinker but now I plan on carrying a bottle of water and crackers in my purse (need the crackers to absorb the water).
• On the way to the hospital in the ambulance, one of the crew members told me he had Crohn's disease and just found out he had to have surgery for an ileosotomy. I was pretty out of it, but I recall very vividly that he had light blue, piercing eyes. This might sound kind of ridiculous but I kept thinking how they reminded me of Jesus' eyes in the pictures I used to see in my grade school growing up. I told him that despite this instance, I was very happy with my decision to have the surgery. This EMT told me he thought it was a good idea for himself as he'd been suffering for a long time.  Literally I had felt his pain and hopefully the surgery is a success for him as well. Talking to this EMT and hearing his story reminded me that once I'm fully recovered, I want to do more volunteer work and also help with the Crohn's & Colitis Foundation.

Two days into my hospital stay my dad and I were talking. He was trying to comfort me because I was upset that I was so frustrated. He said, "Well, I know that you are feeling down but sometimes you have to trust that everything happens for a reason." I'm a firm believer in this and am very fortunate that this hospital stay did not have to happen over Christmas. This virus was not on my list to Santa, but I learned quite a bit about how this new body needs to taken care of.  It's on good days like today where I'm feeling stronger that I'm reminded of one of my favorite quotes, "Each day is a gift; that's why they call it the present."