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Rewind about 3 weeks.
I wake up with the sniffles, nothing new, it's autumn and my sinuses are always a pain to deal with this time of year. I continued going to school, thinking nothing of it.
Come Sunday I wake up my throat swollen to the size of a football, my tonsils leaking green fluid, and my head exploding from sharp pains in my temples. Needless to say I stayed home that day and went to the after-hour clinic as soon as possible. I was diagnosed with acute viral tonsilitis and was told to take ibuprofen and some other pill meant to reduce swelling.
After 3 days it merely got worse, so I saw another doctor who figured I may have Mononucelosis as well as pharyngitis. She took a blood test for Mono and sent me on my way with some better cold medicine.
I woke up that morning incapable of breathing. I was rushed to the ER and injected with steroids to reduce swelling. The pain of my throat was unbearable and I spent the rest of the day in a dze of Dilaudid (a morphine substitute)
My next conscious moment was my mother bringing me my laptop in the hospital 2 days later. I apparently had caught every throat infection I could get, as well as mono which swells the lymphnodes in the back of the neck, and added a whole host of congestion and pain to this already nasty combination.
I spent about a week in the hospital, dazed on painkillers. I lost 14 lb. because I didn't eat for 10 days.
I had to withdraw from school.
I came back home still quite sick with a full bottle of vicodin in hand. I was without an education, I had already lost about every friend I have, I had nothing left to live for. Needless to say it was pretty depressing. I filled my time watching StarCraft VODs and trolling anime chat rooms. It was ultimately unsatisfying.
Now I plan to work full-time all year and move to San Jose. Hopefully I can transfer from DeAnza College to UCLA or UC Davis where I will study medicine.
But here I am with my life turned upside down and I have no one to share it with. Those of you who have followed my blog know my best friend died of Leukemia this January. It's been a tough year and I've relied on online communities just to feel a basic sense of belonging.
On the upside, painkillers are pretty rad.
 
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Was there no way to finish the semester? Three weeks doesn't seem insurmountable. At any rate, really rough experience. Glad to hear you recovered. Health is the most important, the rest of the pieces will fall into place, so hang in there.
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On September 29 2009 15:34 citi.zen wrote:
Was there no way to finish the semester? Three weeks doesn't seem insurmountable. At any rate, really rough experience. Glad to hear you recovered. Health is the most important, the rest of the pieces will fall into place, so hang in there.
The 2nd 3rd and 4th week, you really can't miss. Especially when you're going to community college and need a 4.0 to transfer to the school you want.
I was dropped from 2 classes by the professors regardless.
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United States10774 Posts
at the least you will be healthy again. stay strong man, hang in there
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They put you on hydromorphone (Diluadid) with what i am assuming is no tolerance? Holy shit you must have been sick as balls (that probably actually made you more sick... that's the strongest opiate (~2.5x stronger than heroin) besides fentanyl that you can get)
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De Anza is a good transfer school. Where exactly are you moving from?
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On September 29 2009 15:39 ghermination wrote:
They put you on hydromorphone (Diluadid) with what i am assuming is no tolerance? Holy shit you must have been sick as balls (that probably actually made you more sick... that's the strongest opiate (~2.5x stronger than heroin) besides fentanyl that you can get)
Yep, it was crazy stuff.
Fox News actually made sense while I was under it's effects. Once the swelling in my throat reduced I didn't need it all the time. It was just too painful to swallow, so I had to ask for the Dilaudid just to take a drink of water/juice.
I had maybe 3-4 doses a day each lasting an hour or two.
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On September 29 2009 15:42 blabber wrote:
De Anza is a good transfer school. Where exactly are you moving from?
I'll be moving from Oceanside, in San Diego.
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Spenguin
Australia3316 Posts
I'm sorry but after all that I lol'd at the final line.
But holy fuck man how did it get so bad!?!
Good luck with moving and starting anew.
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On September 29 2009 15:46 Spenguin wrote:
I'm sorry but after all that I lol'd at the final line.
But holy fuck man how did it get so bad!?!
Good luck with moving and starting anew.
After leaving TeamLiquid it all went downhill...
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god is telling you you cant quit teamliquid
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San Jose's a decent place. I like it here. De Anza is my alma mater, and indeed most all of my friends transferred to good / great 4 year schools after their time there, myself included.
If you ever make it out here let's play some Starcraft ;o
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heeyy. you're at DeAnza right now?
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On September 29 2009 16:28 scyper wrote:
heeyy. you're at DeAnza right now?
next year brah
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Shit man, I'm sorry. But hey, look on the bright side, your alive and semi-free to pursue your goals.
Never leave teamliquid.
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What hurts you only makes you stronger. Stay strong bro!
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On September 29 2009 16:48 Boblion wrote:
Now you are strong.
I lost like 6 pounds of muscle, im not strong.
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Good luck dude.
I had mono about a year and a half ago, came with all complications it could bring...
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On September 29 2009 16:55 DoctorHelvetica wrote:I lost like 6 pounds of muscle, im not strong.
Eh you have experienced pain and a difficult situation. You are definitly stronger than before.
If you are not now you will be soon 
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Belgium9947 Posts
i told you this would happen
typical pedro
stay strong dude
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When you say your throat was swollen to the size of a football, do you mean an American football egg or an actual football?
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On September 29 2009 17:08 Scorch wrote:
When you say your throat was swollen to the size of a football, do you mean an American football egg or an actual football?
I mean an american manly football not a european football testicle.
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On September 29 2009 17:08 Scorch wrote:
When you say your throat was swollen to the size of a football, do you mean an American football egg or an actual football?
does it really matter dude
i thought i had mono a couple weeks ago, had a bit of swelling in my neck but its just a regular infection. took antibiotics and its gone down heaps
i did have a bit of a cold but nothing really bad. it didnt fuck up my lungs and i could still breathe and exercise reasonably too.
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On September 29 2009 17:29 DoctorHelvetica wrote:Show nested quote +On September 29 2009 17:08 Scorch wrote:
When you say your throat was swollen to the size of a football, do you mean an American football egg or an actual football? I mean an american manly football not a european football testicle.
Ha, that's nothing! A "soccer" ball sized swelling would've really been something to write home about.
jk obviously. Too bad it cost you a school year.
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United States24680 Posts
Do you have any advise for what we should do if we are having similar problems? Did the doctors screw you over or were you just very unlucky or what?
Congrats on returning to normalcy though.
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Wow. Crazy america. So you are basically fucked if you get seriously ill if you are studying?
I feel sorry for you, hope you find your way back in life! 
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I had already lost about every friend I have
Not sure I get this, did you lose every friend because you were sick for 10 days?
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Russian Federation386 Posts
On September 29 2009 19:56 Sadistx wrote:Not sure I get this, did you lose every friend because you were sick for 10 days?
I was wondering that too =/
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Good luck on getting into UCLA or Davis. I'm thinking about trying to transfer to UCLA for my junior year.
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You can totally get a medical hardship from the school so that it doesn't torpedo you grades and look bad.
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this is a good motivation to go hit the gym right after you get well (which should be pretty soon) n_n
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United States24680 Posts
On September 29 2009 19:10 Ota Solgryn wrote:Wow. Crazy america. So you are basically fucked if you get seriously ill if you are studying? I feel sorry for you, hope you find your way back in life!
Usually it delays you but does not penalize you as long as you document your illness.
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Snet
United States3573 Posts
You lost your friends when in the hospital, or didn't have any friends in the first place? If the first were true then they were some pretty shitty friends.
Don't sweat missing a semester, you can't predict these kind of things. You're going to get better and will be healthy again so you should be grateful.
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On September 29 2009 19:09 micronesia wrote:
Do you have any advise for what we should do if we are having similar problems? Did the doctors screw you over or were you just very unlucky or what?
Congrats on returning to normalcy though.
The doctors were surprisingly helpful. An adult doctor of internal medicine insisted on treating me, even though I am legally to be treated by a Pediatrics doctor. Luckily my family has health insurance so we were able to afford the medicine and care.
Otherwise this would have put us roughly 6-7,000 dollars in debt.
Also to clear things up for everyone else, I had become estranged from most of my friends previous to my illness.
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On September 29 2009 19:10 Ota Solgryn wrote:
Wow. Crazy america. So you are basically fucked if you get seriously ill if you are studying?
For the record, the US they system is quite flexible. Most professors let you re-take any exams and such in the case of a documented illness. Furthermore, some people with special needs receive separate accommodations and so on. When I was teaching for 1 year I've had a student who had ADD (supposedly, she seemed fine to me, but hey...): she came to class with a note from her doctor asking me to give her 2.5x the time to take exams, plus a special quiet room. I obliged, reserved a room + went there just for her and read a book for 5 hours.
That said, everyone DOES need to take the exams, and if you are aiming for a 4.0 GPA (in other countries 100%, A or 10 or whatever) you might find it a bit harder. Are things really different in Denmark - can you graduate with perfect grades without taking your exams?
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Wait, you lost all your friends in a week?
WTF kind of friends do you have.
Glad you're better now though, scary stuff!
Edit: still confused about the friend thing but its no biggie. Just glad you're ok!
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On September 30 2009 03:13 HuskyTheHusky wrote:
Wait, you lost all your friends in a week?
WTF kind of friends do you have.
Glad you're better now though, scary stuff!
Edit: still confused about the friend thing but its no biggie. Just glad you're ok!
No, I started losing my friends in the beginning of the summer after I graduated from HighSchool.
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Wow I'm so sorry dude. This sounds really awful. I hope you feel better and can get your life back on track 
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My tonsilitis wasn't as major as yours, the throat swelling was the biggest issue.
Those tonsil stones are horrific, I'm so glad I didn't experience that.
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Valhalla18444 Posts
so are you like super buff now from the steroids
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On September 30 2009 11:43 FakeSteve[TPR] wrote:
so are you like super buff now from the steroids
yeah my neck could kill a fuckin bear man
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On September 30 2009 14:32 DoctorHelvetica wrote:Show nested quote +On September 30 2009 11:43 FakeSteve[TPR] wrote:
so are you like super buff now from the steroids yeah my neck could kill a fuckin bear man
Sweet.
My friend's actually at De Anza right now, and I'm at Davis. Cool.
Best of luck, I hope everything else works out perfectly for you
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