In August 2011, I felt like the world was my oyster. I had just finished an internship at a Big 4 public accounting firm. I was about to start my final semester of my Master of Accounting degree at the University of Arizona and had passed half of my 4 required CPA (Certified Public Accountant) exams. My wedding was 4 months away and I would start my full-time job in January 2012. What could go wrong?
Out of nowhere, I had a rough flu type of illness. For someone who had been mostly healthy growing up, I couldn’t figure out why I was getting so weak and fatigued so easily. I finally went to urgent care on the day of my cousin’s bachelorette party, and they gave me anti-dizziness pills. Let me tell you…they were NOT helpful.
Over Labor Day weekend, I went up to Show Low with my fiancée to visit some of his family members. His great-aunt commented that I looked anemic. I didn’t even know what that meant! My weakness was so significant, I could barely make it to my classes. I had to take the elevator instead of the stairs and I couldn’t shower standing up. I remember worrying that my business communications professor would call on me to make an impromptu speech because I didn’t think I could stand up that long! My appetite also waned so I lost a bunch of weight.
Finally, I made myself schedule a doctor’s appointment with my primary care doctor up in Phoenix on the weekend of my cousin’s wedding. I hated going to the doctor and did everything in my power to avoid doctors…and needles. Somehow, I drove up two hours to Mesa where my parents lived at the time and somehow, I drove 25 minutes to my primary care doctor. The doctor took one look at me and said, “You have either anemia or pneumonia and I’m sending you to the Emergency Room.”
In case you are wondering, yes, I was freaking out! Emergency room! My mom was 25 minutes away helping my aunt decorate for my cousin’s wedding. I had to go by MYSELF! I was welcomed to the ER by the sight of a construction worker with a bloody head wound. That made everything soooo much better (sarcasm). When I got to triage, the nurse determined to do blood work and take a chest X-ray. What happened next was a bit of a blur.
I ended up admitted to the hospital. It turns out that I was, in fact, anemic. My hemoglobin (red blood cell count) was at a 4. The normal range for a female starts at 11! How was I alive? How had I driven myself from Tucson to Phoenix? How had I driven myself to the doctor or to the ER? It was all God my friends. It was truly a miracle.
They stuck me with a lovely IV (you know how much I love needles). I had my first ever blood transfusion, which is really strange by the way. First of all, it is someone else’s blood being pumped into your body. Second, it is cold as it goes in. The hematologist (blood doctor) gave me the bad news that I would have to stay in the hospital overnight. My first EVER hospital overnight. It was definitely not a hotel bed. The worst thing was that I was very disappointed that I would have to miss my cousin’s rehearsal dinner that night.
The next day, I begged the hematologist to be released to go to my cousin’s wedding. I was a bridesmaid after all. Thankfully, he was a father of multiple girls and a bit of a softie in my opinion. He let me go to the wedding. Since I was still so very weak, I couldn’t walk down the aisle and had to sit on a stool instead of standing (which was very embarrassing). Ultimately, I was ALIVE and God allowed me to go to the wedding.
At this point, I was naive enough to believe that this was a onetime thing, and I was done with needles and doctors. Somehow, I had missed everything the doctor told my fiancée and my mom about what was next. Little did I know that this event had changed the trajectory of my life forever.
❤ Gabrielle
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