I stayed home from school today because my stomach started acting up. I’m not sure whether it was the Quinoa macaroni with cottage cheese and vegan butter or the delicious chicken mozzarella signature sandwich from Au Bon Pain. My mom thinks it’s the sandwich, but I don’t bite. For the first half of the day, I simply lay in bed, staring into my eyelids, trying fruitlessly to fall asleep and ease the pain, but I had no such luck. I just went back and forth from the bathroom to my bed without ever eating anything new because I had no appetite. Fortunately, I bought some special laxative that the gastroenterologist recommended called MiraLAX the night before, so I took the doses of that that I had planned to take this weekend. After the second dose, my stomach stopped causing me as much pain, but I began to feel nauseous, goosebumps appearing all over. Now I’m feeling apprehensive about school tomorrow because I don’t feel much better yet, and I don’t think there’s anything more I can do to catalyze this process.
Determining the Cause
Today, my long awaited trip to the gastroenterologist finally happened. Right after school, my dad picked me up and drove me to the Children’s Hospital in Boston for my appointment, where I reunited with my mom. Shortly after the first few steps out of the car, I realized how grossly unprepared I was for the long waits. From 15:00 to 18:00 I had no iPod, no book, and no food. And by the time I saw the gastroenterologist, the staff made me jump through hoops by updating my insurance and moving from one seat to another, awaiting the mythical call from the doctor. I had been so bored that I made a TODO list for when I got home. Once the “doctor” arrived, I realized that she was merely the nurse practitioner, but she represented the gastroenterologist, who passed advice to me indirectly through the nurse practitioner. She then forwarded me to get some x-rays of my stomach to determine the problem and finally gave me a specific plan to follow until my next visit. Overall, I am glad I went to see her, but I’m disappointed in the great number of wasted hours I could have spent doing something productive.
/rant
A Slightly Odd First Post
While browsing the web on a regular Sunday afternoon, I came across a comment on reddit that struck me. The user used the phrase “on accident” as opposed to “by accident,” and I began to remember all of the instances in which I had heard this error1. “On accident” became a pet peeve of mine largely because whenever I try to correct people about it in a friendly way, they always try to prove me wrong, sure of themselves that they are, in fact, the ones who are correct. I blame public education in the United States.
