Pleased to make your acquaintance

I chose to start this blog in honor of my friends that encounter the same changes, fears and dreams that all of us new "grown-ups" do. With undergraduate degrees under our belt (some with graduate degrees) we're five years out of college, give or take a few, with unanswered questions, common problems and dreams that weave in and out of traffic like a newspaper carrier on his ten-speed.

The past couple weeks I faced a problem many of us face: I miss my parents. Yes, I admit, I was sick with nausea, vomiting, a hospital visit and a few other unpleasantries, but I realized the fear of facing the future alone was scary. After a questionable visit to an internist, the physician's assistant admitted that she didn't know what was wrong with me. That's a problem I've been dealing with most of my adult life although with more freakish side effects than usual. They needed to take my blood and as the vampire nurse approached me I started crying like a suffocating seal pup. I've been prepared to do a lot of things on my own, but getting sick wasn't one of them. I have what is known as Vasal-Vagel syndrome, where I freak out when a needle punctures the skin so this wasn't totally out of the normal, but a needle also hasn't reduced me to a heap of tears since I was a child. After talking to my mom the next day she urged me to go to the ER b/c of my pain (and she said she'd help me with the bill which was kind of the clincher) .

As an only child I remain self-reliant and I don't like to ask for help. Or put people out of their way. When I called my boyfriend, "Could you maybe get out of work a little early to take me to the hospital?" And like a good boyfriend he replied, "I'll be there in 20 minutes." I did feel a guilty for having him take off early, but it was after 2pm so how much more could he really get done at work, honestly?

The hospital was scary, but he made me giggle like a schoolgirl, which I would typically find annoying (but once in a while is OK. I hear guys kind of like the plaid skirts and braids anyway). He told me I'd be fine and after they diagnosed a kidney infection (painful, but easily curable with antibiotics) he called my parents and gave them the news. I realized then that I might not have my parents close, but I wasn't alone. They are only a plane ride and I've been blessed with a great boyfriend who lives 45 minutes away in traffic, but for DC that isn't so bad after all.

I had to go back to my doctor twice--they found e.coli in my urine which could have caused the infection or could have been a coincidence--and I'm on my second round of antibiotics after I tested positive for a bladder infection (after discussing numerous bodily functions with doctors, I soon started with family, friends and even a few strangers for good measure.) If I get another infection I could have to go in for more tests, but I'm not scared. I might not be able to handle all of this on my own, but with a little help, I can do it.