More often than not, when you’re feeling ill, you usually just take some over the counter medication and go about your day. But what happens if your illness is much more serious than you imagined?

It’s important to know how your body acts when you’re healthy, so you’ll know when something’s unbalanced.

Two weeks ago I awoke with a stomach ache and an unusual pain in the upper right side of the pelvis. My first thought was that I ate something bad the night before, so I asked parents for some medication and headed to school.

Throughout the day my stomach ache got worst got worse. As the day went by, I felt like I was going to be sick, but I clenched my stomach with my arms and pushed through the rest of the school day. By the time I got home, I could barely walk. Later that night I was admitted to the emergency room.

I had some blood work done and a CT scan. After looking at the CT scan results, my doctor hadn’t figured out what was causing the pain. There were two possibilities in mind; ovarian cysts or appendicitis. After sending the Xrays to a specialist, the doctors came to the conclusion that I had appendicitis.

I had immediate surgery once I arrived at the hospital, and it only lasted about 45 minutes. I was released from the hospital two days after my surgery. I could barely walk and my entire body was aching. I was instructed by my surgeon to not engage in any physical activity, which meant no marching band for two weeks.

I’ve found it important to pay better attention to my body. I didn’t think anything of a stomach ache on Friday. I didn’t think that it was anything serious, but something that seems tedious can turn into something very serious.

It’s also important to go to the doctor for regular check ups. Be up to date on all of your vaccinations so that the possibility of getting sick or catching an illness from someone else is slim.