Whenever I get sick, my stomach likes to do this thing where it doesn’t want to eat any food. My throat will also do this thing where it hurts to drink water and most anything else. But whenever that happens, it is important to make sure that I keep hydrated. It’s already important to stay hydrated every day, but especially so if you’re sick. The lack of water when you’re sick only worsens your condition. I had to learn this lesson the hard way.

It was a normal week at school. I’d go to classes, go to rehearsal, come back to the room, all perfectly normal. Then Friday morning I woke up feeling terrible. My throat felt like I’d swallowed five razor blades, my head was foggy, and my body overall just felt weak. I managed to push through my classes but I only got worse as the day went on. My stomach started to be upset and not want to hold down any food. As soon as I got back to my room I lied down and fell right asleep. Of course, this happened on a day that I had two rehearsals and had to usher for the theater show. I ended up missing the first rehearsal because I felt like if I went I’d end up throwing up on the dance floor, and I do not want to be the freshman that threw up on the dance floor. Later I was feeling better enough to go to my second rehearsal, but only to sit and watch. I tried sipping water but could barely get it down. Ushering after rehearsal was brutal. My body was aching and begging to rest the entire time. By the time I got back to my room for the night, I realized that I had hardly had anything to eat all day.

Saturday I woke up even worse. My throat and stomach were no better, and my head got foggy whenever I stood up. I could barely make it to the bathroom, which is just across the hall from our room. It was definitely a stay-in-bed sick day. I didn’t go to rehearsal again since I certainly couldn’t make it all the way to the studio. I put Parks and Recreation on, grabbed whatever little food my stomach would let me get down, and stayed there all day. My wonderful sorority mom actually stopped by at one point to bring me juice and pretzels. By the end of the day, it was seeming as if I might be through the worst of it.

I was wrong. On Sunday, I woke up feeling slightly better. I stood up to go to the bathroom and still felt that familiar lightheadedness. As I was brushing my teeth, I began to feel increasingly worse and worse. I rinsed out and then… nothing. I opened my eyes to find myself on the bathroom floor. I remember seeing my Dixie cup off by the wall in front of me, and hearing voices start to surround me. I recognized my roommate’s voice and that’s when I registered what had happened. I had passed out. The girls got me up and responding. Apparently, I had hit my head pretty hard against the wall on the way down. Slowly, they got me off the floor and into the nearby common area to sit in a chair. There, I actually passed out again, literally in their arms. The ambulance arrived shortly and took my roommate and me to the nearby hospital, where I proceeded to be poked, prodded, scanned, x-rayed, pumped full of fluids, and made to pee in a cup. Sure enough, the cause of my passing out was dehydration from being sick. I wasn’t forcing nearly enough fluids into my body, and look where it got me. Learn from my mistake. Stay hydrated when you’re sick.