Broken (Cont.)

I got back to school on Sunday night (9/19/10) at about 8:30 pm. I carefully lifted some of my things out of the van and carried them all the way up to third floor in the girls dorm. After getting my stuff unpacked and put away, I grabbed some of my books and a pencil and headed over to the fine arts building. Michael was there waiting for me with a "Welcome back." and a smile. He and my mom walked downstairs with me and I did a majority of my homework that was due the next day. Michael eventually headed to work, and I headed back to my dorm and was greeted with more than one excited "KARA! YOU'RE BACK!".

On Monday, I was able to make it through my classes, and right after lunch, my mom took off to head back home, and Michael insisted on carrying my backpack to my next class...I think my mom tipped him off as to the news that I was on a five pound weight restriction. That was definitely humbling...not to be able to carry your own backpack... Anyway, I got through that day with Michael snatching my backpack every single time he saw me with it. That week was the Revival Services with Steve Pettit, so it was an amazing time that we spent each night in God's word.

The next day on Tuesday my world was pretty much turned upside down. I woke up to my alarm buzzing, and I sat up in bed only to nearly pass out from dizziness. I groaned and started coughing through my sore throat. I swung my feet out of the bed and hopped out of bed only to find that I could barely stand up because I was so weak. I shuffled around my room trying to think clearly enough to get dressed...I finally called the nurses station and wasn't able to get a hold of them. I got dressed, grabbed my bible, and headed down the stairs to go to my 8 o'clock devotions. By this time I was sweating with the exertion of it all. I walked down the stairs, through the lobby, and out the door. As I was walking down the sidewalk I squeezed my eyes shut in order to try to calm the spinning world around me. I opened my eyes again as I was approaching the white Chapel and noticed that I couldn't even make my eyes focus on the people walking to their 8 o'clock classes, let alone walk straight myself...scratch that...I could barely walk period! I stumbled into devotions, signed my name and the time that I arrived, and sat down in a pew.

After devotions were done, I got up and walked out. I honestly have no clue how I made it to the nurses station that day...one step at a time I guess. When I got there I met my roommate Crystal coming out. She gave me a small smile and asked me how I was doing. "Sick." was all I could manage. Now...there's something I don't like admitting...and that is that I am sick...so when I actually admit that I'm sick...I'm REALLY sick. Miss Johnson (the nurse) had me sit down for a while in the waiting room while she finished up some paper work, and she said, "All right Kara, what can I do for you?" In response, I simply started coughing. She smiled and said, "Ok, come with me into the back room." I followed her in the the "examination room" and sat down and was, for some reason, completely worn out by the simple task of walking. I managed to communicate to her the reason I was there, and some of my symptoms. She took my temperature and sure enough, I had a fever of 102.6. She sent me back to bed and signed me out of all of my classes with the instructions to come back at 1:15. I went back to my room with some decongestant medicine that she had given me, some cough medicine, and something that dried up the mucus. I almost fell into my room when I got back, regained my balance and walked straight back to my bed, got my pj's back on, and crawled in bed while telling my room leader(more like sister), Erin Miles, how I was feeling, that I had gone to the nurse, and what the nurse had said. However, Erin thought I had said that I had a fever of 106.2!!! If I hadn't been so miserable in bed I would have laughed at the rumor that was going around campus about me being on death's door step.

I'm not sure what time it was, but I was woken up by our room's phone ringing. Erin hurried to answer it so it didn't disturb me (isn't she so thoughtful and sweet?!). It was the nurse. Erin gently "woke me up" and waited for me to slowly get dressed again and while I was brushing my hair back, the phone rang again. This time I wasn't sure who it was, but Erin did. Once I was ready to go, I walked down to the nurses station (feeling a lot more sturdy on my feet) and there, sitting on a rock by the building, was Michael. When he saw Erin and I coming he stood up and came towards us. "How are you feeling?" he asked...the worry written all over his face. I opened my mouth to say "Fine." but he interrupted me by saying, "And don't you dare say you're 'fine.'" I smiled and started to laugh, but my laugh got taken over by a fit of coughing. I shivered at the slight breeze that decided to blow right then, and walked into the nurses station. She took my temperature again, and it was down to 99.8. She sent me back to my room and told me to try to eat something. Coming back out of the nurses station, Michael stopped pacing and whirled around to meet us. "What'd she say?" he asked. "My fever's gone down, but she wants me to go eat something..." he nodded and whispered something to Erin, and I started walking away. Erin nodded and hurried to catch up with me, while Michael went back to his dorm. Walking up the two flights of stairs with 20 steps on each completely made me out of breath. When we reached the third floor hallway, it was like a huge wind tunnel. Everyone had their window's and doors open to circulate the fresh air from outside. I started shivering from the "cold" and was glad when I could take shelter in my own room.

Erin disappeared and then reappeared a few minutes later with a cup of chicken noodle soup in her hand and a plastic grocery shopping bag in the other. Michael had apparently gone back to his room, and picked up a few bowls of soup and a bottle of vitamin C.

I don't remember much else except for drifting in and out of sleep for the rest of the day.

Wednesday: the nurse signed me out of devotions, and my first class. I was able to my last class of the day, and the revival service that night. However, that night I ended up coughing so violently after the service was done that I ended up vomiting a little bit.

That night I talked to my mom on the phone and wondered whether I really should just withdraw from my classes and start over again next semester. She told me that that was what she thought would be the wisest decision. I emailed my adviser and scheduled an appointment or the next day, and went to bed.