Back in August of 09, just a week prior to starting my sophomore year of college, I came down with a strain of tick fever known as "Ehrlichiosis" I believe. It started out similar to the flu: Ran a high fever, ached all over, and couldn't keep any food or liquids in me. A couple of days into that, I had to be taken the hospital because I was so dehydrated and sick. Spent three days in UAMS hooked up to an IV, taking several tests and slipping in and out of consciousness due to a fever well over 103 degrees F. I had absolutely no control of my bowels and had a puke bucket on standby at all times. I don't even remember my former youth minister coming to see me. The thing about tick fever is that there is no direct test for it, you just have use process of elimination and a background check (I'm a forester, spent the entire summer cruising timber and battling bugs). But the day I was discharged from the hospital I felt 10 times better and was back to what seemed like 100% by the end of the week. At my lowest, I felt like I was going to die...for real, no joke.
While this was going on, I was also battling a leg infection caused by a vascular ulcer because I was born with a compressed vein, which prevented blood flow in my legs. Took 6 years of my highschool and college life for them to figure it out, but when they finally put a stint in to open it up the ulcer went completely away. It was the most excruciating and frustrating 6 years of my life, I look back on it and feel so happy for it to be over.
