Q: Did I have to get pneumonia to realize I needed slow down?

It started like any other flu I have ever had: pain behind my eyes, body aches, and a general feeling of utter crappiness.  It even progressed like a normal flu bug: fever, chills, nausea, and more feelings of utter crappiness. What a fantastic time to have the flu! With midterms approaching, and Valentines Day and other fun social events to attend, I resolved to beat this sucker into submission and keep plugging along. Until early one Monday morning, I had a 104 fever and my mother advised me to go to the Emergency Room, lest my brain fry like bacon. After a five-hour stint at the ER, I came out hydrated, X-rayed, and slapped with the diagnosis of “Viral Syndrome” just like “every other student seen in the last three weeks.”  With prescriptions for Vicodin (I don’t know why, because I didn’t complain of muscle pain) and 800mg ibuprofen in hand, I left thinking, “Good, now that’s over, I can get back to things.”  Man was I wrong.

I spent the next week sweating through my pajamas and intermittently attending class and meetings, all the while looking like a zombie from the Thriller video.  Finally, by Friday I couldn’t handle it anymore, I knew something was totally wrong.  I went to Student Health and Dr. Huey immediately sent me to get an X-ray which showed that I had a double pneumonia (meaning I had fluid in both of my lungs.)  He then sent me directly to the Emory Hospital where I spent the next three days getting IVs of fluids and antibiotics.  My first and last (hopefully) hospital stay.  Although the pneumonia might have been caught in the ER (they didn’t look at the X-ray until I left which showed a “possibility” of pneumonia) I walked around an entire week feeling atrocious. 

Now, the purpose of this anecdote is not to scare you into thinking that every ailment you have will land you in the hospital (although the flu has been particularly virulent this year and a Western Washington University student died of a rare (MRSA) pneumonia two weeks ago) or even to rag on Emory’s ER.  I wanted to share this story in order to question why I did not respond to my body earlier.  All over the country, and especially at Emory, students do the same thing I did: push aside illness to meet deadlines and maintain social relationships.  Whether it’s the flu, the recent gastrointestinal bug circulating Emory’s dorms or an unfortunate case of pneumonia, we feel like we can’t stop.  Had I sought help earlier in the week, I probably would not have ended up in the hospital.  But I just couldn’t bear to think that life would go on without me and I would end up completely overwhelmed. Maybe you feel like Student Health isn’t very helpful, you don’t have the time to go, or your body can cope.  But my story shows that we need to take the time to listen to our bodies because despite how many college students feel, we are not invincible.

Lessons learned from this experience: wash your hands, realize that feeling like hell for a week and a half is not normal, go to Student Health, and know that professors will understand and you will catch up if you take the time rest and heal.