Heaven Bless Chicken Noodle Soup

Sickness. It's a recurrance in my life ever since life started on The Island (that's what I call my dear Manhattan). There has been so many occasions, I have started giving each episode a name.

It all started with an intense cold/fever I like to call Piglet. I call this one Piglet because I believe it may have been swine flu--excuse me--I mean H1N1. Although the doctor told me that it was probably a cold and couldn't hear what I was feeling in my lungs, it felt much worse than your typical cold. Or flu. It took me a while to get over that one. But thank goodness I had it and had to go to the doctor to get medicine for it. Piglet was a blessing in disguise. Because I had Piglet, I found the Health Center on campus and got much needed medicine.

After getting over Piglet, the second sickness decsended upon me. This one has been far, the WORST pain I have ever felt in my life and ever will feel in my life. Yes, ladies and gentelmen, worse than giving birth (or so said my doctor...but how does he know? Oh yes, he is a doctor and has to tell me these things). I named this occurance after the thing itself. I call it: The Stone.
The Stone, located in my kidney, hit at about 9 am one frightful Friday morning. One moment, I was on the phone with my dear mother, the next I was agonizingly limping out of Building C to Building B, on the phone with my brave father. In a matter of less than 2 minutes, I had gone from feeling fine to not being able to walk, let alone stand. This is where my gratitude for Piglet comes in. Because I had been to Health Services once and filled out all of the paper work the first time, I was able to find it-no problems-and they had all my paper work on file. After indescribable pain, it was confirmed (guessed, more like it) that I had 1, if not more, Kidney Stones. Amy, the sweet doctor who held my hand, called an ambulance and in 20 minutes, I was headed for a New York City Emergency Room. I would like to emphasize something at this point--NEVER go to a New York City ER unless you do not have another choice. Close your eyes, and imagine what it could be like...are you imagining something like TV show ER?...Well, what you are imagining is amazing compared to real life the Emergency Room. There was no George Clooney in my ER...
The ambulence ride was an experience and a half. I have never heard someone swear so much over a ticker-tape parade. It was after the Yankee's winning of the World Series and the streets of New York were jam packed full of true Yankee fans. One of the EMTs woke up on the wrong side of the bed...maybe he was a Philly fan.
When I got to the ER, I was given a few doses of Morphine. Because of those injections, this fateful Friday was the best day of my life.
Long story short (sorry, it hasn't been short so far), I was discharged that evening and went home with an angel named Emily. The rest of that week was spent in bed and on the bathroom floor. It felt like I was having a baby the size of half a grain of rice. How is that meant to be worse than having a baby the size of a real baby?! All I have to say about that is, bring on the real babies.
The millimeter Stone and I finally parted ways 5 days later and I hope to never meet any of it's friends. EVER.

The picture above is The Stone (located to the right of the arrow). This smile was all that I could muster after the week I had...

If you want to, click to enlarge. But only if you have not eaten yet.

The next episodes are called Tummy. Ever since The Stone, I have been plagued with on again/off again nausea. Besides the nausea, I have been relativley well. Until a few weeks ago, I hadn't had a dairy incident this whole time on The Island. My luck evaporated with a spoonful of condensed milk. REALLY?! Did I really think I could get away with a spoonful of condensed milk? Really. And more than that, did I really think I would be ok without taking any meds for it? Really? Furthermore, was I really supposed to get off scotch free after eating the treat that I made using the condensed milk? Really?! REALLY.

All of these episodes bring me to my most recent one called Cold. It gets quite chilly in New York. The Island has two temperatures: Sauna, and Ice Box. With these 2 come different elements (sun, rain, clouds and rain & clouds). Most recently, it has been Ice Box with rain & clouds.
While The Island has 2 temperatures, the Fashion Institute of Technology (FIT--the University I attend) has only one: Colder Than Ice Box. I literally bundle up in my jacket, tuck down in my chair and still feeze in all my classrooms. This problem has caused Cold. I have Cold right now. I think since this morning, it has already gotten better, but tomorrow, I have to go out in Ice Box with rain and Colder Than Ice Box. Thank goodness for the leftover medicine I have from Piglet.

It is my Christmas wish, that with exactly 3 weeks until the day I come home for the Holidays, that I don't have to come up with any other names for episodes that occur in my life on The Island. It is also my wish, that you have a healthy, sick-free Holiday Season as well. If not, I believe Chicken Noodle Soup is always in season at your local grocer.