Heart palpitations is what they called it. So she brought me my own little bathroom. It was this little chair and it had a little toilet that attached to it. I was so tired I didn't even care. I had to use the bathroom. The hooked me up to another saline bag because I was done with the first, and slowly I started eating ice chips, and sipping water. The nurse came back in, and attached me to a heart monitor, and sure enough, my heartbeat was faster than normal. She informed us that my white blood cell count was also elevated. It was at 50 when the normal count is 13. I wasn't sure what this meant, so I asked. "It's not really something we're going to treat. An elevated white blood cell count just means you're prone to infection, and that's what the chest x-ray was for. Just to make sure there's no infection." I was a little relieved by this. The nurse took of the saline and put up an insulin bag. My step-dad said he had to go get something to eat and drink, and returned about 5 minutes later with my sister and mom in tow. They had been dropped off by my step-grandma. My oldest sister was at home watching my younger siblings. About two minutes later, my dad showed up. My mom and sister and dad all had tears in their eyes. We started talking, and slowly they started to see that my speech was slurred. I felt like I had a cotton ball in my mouth. It got harder and harder for me to talk, so I just let them talk. Then around 7:45 p.m. I was transferred to ICU. They moved me up to the room in my bed, then the nurses had me walk to my bed. I had my own room. this one had a window behind my bed, so it wasn't very much better, but I could see out into the hallway, and the nurses station was in my room, so it made me feel better. My mom and step-dad and sister had to leave, but my dad decided to stay with me.

They now have me hooked up to an insulin I.V. and my third saline bag, a heart rate machine, and a blood pressure cuff. I haven't eaten anything at all. It's Wednesday February 10, 2010. The nurses, I have two in ICU, tell me that my potassium level is 5.9 where the normal level is 5.0. But they said it might drop too low, so if it does, I'll just have to have a potassium I.V. Sure enough, through the night, my potassium levels dropped too low. So they had to give me a potassium I.V. When it entered my veins, it burned really bad. I slept on and off that night. Mainly because I had to have my blood sugar checked every hour, and my blood taken every four hours. I felt like a human pin cushion. The next morning, I awoke to a normal blood sugar. I felt so relieved. The potassium I.V. was taken out, and so was the saline I.V. They let me eat my first meal that morning. I had a cheese omelet, two pieces of toasted wheat bread, apple juice, and peach slices. It felt so weird eating for the first time in a day. My throat burned when eating. They said it was most likely from throwing up so much, and since I hadn't eaten anything, my throat was most likely raw. But just to be on the safe side, they did a throat culture. It came back negative. The doctor from my doctors office came in to see me. He was pretty straight forward and told me that I wouldn't be here if I was taking care of myself. I felt terrible. This was all my fault. I should have been taking better care of myself. I mean, he is a doctor specialized in this right? Well my mom, came in later on with a balloon and stuffed puppy dog, and I told her what had happened. He was taking me off the pump. A pump is basically a small i-pod looking device that connects to a small tube that goes into your stomach and gives you insulin. But you must tell it how much, and be on top of things constantly. My mom was furious he said that to me. Because they didn't have me take my pump off yet, but it was time to change it anyway, my mom just had me take it off anyway. When I took it out, I noticed the tube inside me was bent. "No wonder you're in the hospital Stephanie! You weren't getting any insulin!" My mom went up to the nurses, and said, "Excuse me, but the doctor needs to see this." They gave her a baggy to put it in. But because things were looking better for me, they decided they would move me out of ICU, but stay another night in the hospital for observation. They took off the heart rate monitor, the drip lines came off, but the I.V. stayed in. Then I was put in a wheel chair, and moved to my room on the 6th floor.

I was moved to the pediatrics section of the hospital. Why? Because I am still underage. So I was given a room with a wall of windows, my own bathroom, and an extra bed. I felt soo much better here because I could get up and move around. I could go into the hallways and walk around the floor. I was allowed to watch movies, and play x-box. (I was still too tired for that though.) I was allowed to have visitors until 8 p.m. and parents were allowed access 24 hours a day. I was still super tired, but it was expected. I ordered spaghetti, salad, sugar free jello, and a diet sprite. Because they had me on a 60 carbohydrate diet. It was also based off a 1600 calorie diet. So I had to watch what I ordered. But it was delicious. I was constantly having headaches, but Friday morning came, and they told me that I was going home today. I was so excited. I missed my family. I called everyone and told them the good news. Sure enough, my white blood cell count had come down overnight to 15, so I was doing a lot better. I could get up and walk around. So they let me go home around 12:30 p.m. My dad got the car, and the nurse, sat with me, until he pulled around. Then I went home. My dad dropped me off at my moms, and went home. My mom was soo excited to see me.