I dropped my popcorn, and ran out of the theater clutching my right side. I sat down outside of the room, and listened nervously as my phone rang. “Hello?” “Mom, there is something wrong. I am getting shooting pains in my stomach” “Okay, get Kip and wait outside, I will be there in ten minutes.” she hung up the phone. When my mom pulled into the parking lot, she ran over and helped me walk to the car. By then the pain had stopped, it was as if nothing had ever happened. She insist on bringing me home, but I told her that I was feeling well enough to meet our friends for dinner.

I looked up at the waiter, confused. Everyone was looking at me. “Would you like a drink?” he repeated. I must of been entranced, “umm, water is fine.” I felt hot, and my head hurt. I went to the bathroom to rinse my face, that’s when the pain struck again.

The drive home was miserable. On and off I was feeling hot and cold. I decided not to tell my mom, until I knew I was definitely getting more sick. I couldn’t sleep that night. The pains were getting worse, so much worse I was having trouble extending my right leg all of the way, which prohibited me from walking without feeling pain.

I woke up to the sound of the tea kettle whistling and the smell of essential oils. I looked over at my phone, 9:32 am, my mom must of let me stay home again. This was the sixth day of school I had missed. I started to turn over onto my side, but my leg felt numb. I slowly sat up.

I called for my mom, she must of been in the kitchen because she came quickly. I explained how I couldn’t move my leg, because it would hurt my stomach. She told me that I needed to see a doctor and figure out why I was in so much pain. I fell to sleep in the car driving down. When I woke up, we were already parked and my mom was going through her binder of all my medical papers.

When we were in the waiting room, the pains came back. I crouched over in the chair, squeezing my stomach. The doctor came in and had me lie down on the table. I showed her where the pains were, she took some notes and left. It seemed as though an hour had gone by before she came back. The nurse informed me that I needed to go across the street to the Glenwood Hospital and get a catscan.

When I was admitted into the hospital, I had to drink this horrible sweet tasting drink, I felt so nauseous, then afterwards I waited. Finally the nurse came out, “Lillian?” I stood up probably faster than I should have, and walked over to the door. I followed her into a large, dark room. I couldn’t tell if it was cold or if it was just my chills coming back. The nurse asked me to change into a hospital gown. I changed and laid down on the cold, uncomfortable table. Another nurse came into the room and asked my mom to put on a radiation guard . After three cat scans they said they want me to stay the night in the hospital, so they could run blood tests.

I was in the hospital room. I was tired, cold and my arm was itchy because of the tape holding the wire in, which was taking my blood. I just wanted to be home in my own bed. When I woke up the next morning, they said that everything had seemed fine and to just give it a few days, even though I had been feeling a great amount of discomfort for the past week. Once I had been released from the hospital, and was on my way home, the doctor called, she said that Glenwood hospital would be sending my cat scans over to the Denver Children's Hospital so that they could take a look. Once we had finally arrived home. I helped my mom carry in groceries that we had picked up along the way. “Hello?” I heard my mom answer the phone as I was putting the groceries away inside, “We will head down as soon as we can.” My stomach lurched as I slowly walked outside. “Who was that?” “Lily, go pack your bags. We need to drive to Denver now.” “Why?” I said nervously “How much pain are you in, should they send a helicopter?” “No, I feel fine.” As my mom was calling my dad, I went downstairs to my room to pack. So many questions were racing through my mind. Why was it so urgent? What could be wrong with me? My vision blurred, as tears rushed down my face. I wasn't sure how long I would be down there, so I brought up a bagful of clothes and my roller suitcase for my CF vest treatment. My mom was back in her room probably backing her bags.
I waited in the car, brushing the tears from my face. I didn’t want my mom to know I was crying or even scared. She got into the car, and leaned over giving me a hug. “Everything is going to be fine.” she said, “We are going to get some snacks for the drive down, and when we get there you will be checked in and brought to your room.” I nodded my head in reply. Timidly, I asked her what the doctors had found out? I braced myself for what she was going to say. “Denver Hospital called and said you need to be flown down immediately. Your appendix has been ruptured for two weeks. They need to remove it before you get a severe infection.” I started to tear up again. What if an infection had already spread. I then googled “Complications of an appendicitis.” on my phone. “Appendicitis can cause serious complications, such as: A ruptured appendix. A rupture spreads infection throughout your abdomen . Possibly life-threatening, this condition requires immediate surgery to remove the appendix and clean your abdominal cavity.” This came as a shock to me, “life threatening”, “immediate surgery” if this is true, that I have a ruptured appendix, then I was in for a long stay at the hospital because it has been ruptured for two weeks.

The rest of the ride was pretty quiet except for some worried phone calls, and the radio. Three and a half hours past, when we finally reached our destination. Going to Denver Children’s hospital was nothing new. I usually go there every three months for my annual Cystic Fibrosis check up. But this time, my mom pulled into the emergency parking lot. This was new.