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Wednesday, December 3, 1997

LIFE:

Difficult experiences provide wake-up call for us to realize our mortality, recognize our blessings

This past holiday weekend, I'm sure everyone was chowing down on turkey, stuffing, cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie. For those of us living in apartments and especially the dorms, Thanksgiving is probably one of the most important holidays around. Sure, we get to see our families and sleep in our own comfortable beds, but more importantly, we actually get to pig out on home-cooked food! As for me, I spent the time with my family, but I had one minor mishap ... at around 7:30 p.m., I collapsed on the bathroom floor of my grandparents' house. "911 ... 911 ... 911 ..."

Before the incident occurred, my parents were trying to help cleanse my face of the evil disease known as acne. Boy, I do have serious pimple action going on right now. Yech! Little did I know, though, that I was about to suffer from a slight anxiety attack. And then it happened. The next I knew, I was watching myself in the mirror, but I felt like I was moving away from my body.

A few seconds later, I realized that I was laying on the left side of my body, crumpled on the floor. My sister was talking to the 911 operator and my mother was holding my head firmly. Supposedly, I slid off the wall and then fell onto my side. When I hit the floor, I had begun to tremble and convulse slightly. All the while, though ­ and this is the strange part ­ my eyes were open, but I had no idea what had occurred, except that I was suddenly conscious.

Laying there on the floor, watching and listening to all of the commotion among my family and paramedics, I started to wonder about a lot of the small things in life. I was here with my family, having a simple get-together, which can be rather annoying, and then this happens. I thought that my recent string of bad luck was over. Obviously, I was wrong. I was not scared or nervous, but my shirt was soaked with sweat, and I was not allowed to move. Oddly, though, after coming around, my head had never felt so clear. I was attuned to everything around me. Then the paramedics asked me some questions, took some blood, strapped me to the board, and off I went to the Anaheim Columbia Hospital.

Let me tell you, the Anaheim paramedics respond a lot more quickly to calls than the paramedics in the entire city of Los Angeles. It was weird to hear the medics trying to keep me awake by telling stories of the drunk guy they had just taken from an accident, and then they kept talking to me about the glorious UCLA-USC game. As if that was not enough, they could not stop asking me if I had ever done drugs. C'mon, a respectable young adult like me, doing drugs? God forbid! If I had half a brain, I would not do it in front of my family.

At this point, I think my sarcasm has gone far enough, and I would just like to say I am kidding to all of those of you who know me. I am just joking ... really.

I know that you're trying to figure out the purpose of this column. My goal has always been to add some sort of personal touch to every article that at least one person could relate to, but this one is very simple. I want everyone to try to be thankful for everything that you have. Life does not become real until something scary or dreadful happens to you.

While this may sound like a Hallmark card, there is a reason for my sentimentality. I was afraid that there was going to be something wrong with me. My unconscious belief that I was invulnerable, or so my parents often told me of my generation, was broken. There was a chance that I could have injured my neck or shoulder. I was afraid that I would never get to kick it with my roommates (who are also my good friends) ever again. I was wondering what it would be like to never laugh with any of the girls, like Furah or Cathy. I was bothered that I might never have gotten the chance to reconcile my differences with my cousin, Kristi. I was pissed at the possibility that I would never get to talk to that beautiful girl in my communications class. I was furious that I would not get to finish college and make sure all that money being spent for it would go to efficient use. And, of course, I was scared of not being there for my family.

I am, of course, exaggerating the point, but lying in the hospital with lots of sick people really brought a reality check. Honestly, can anyone blame me? In the emergency room, all I could sense were the bright, white lights, bare walls and that disgusting hospital smell. All around me, there were people throwing up, crying and moaning. Is this a great way to spend your free time or what? Even the resident nurses were gasping for breath and just looked like they had risen from a coffin. Mine had no bedside manner and took blood from my arm with all of the grace of a freakin' ox! In the end, though, it is understandable. I just could not help watching a little girl being held by her dad and screaming for her mom. Ironically, that little girl's mom was laying in the bed next to me, and from what I could hear, it was going to be a harsh winter.

Luckily, the final prognosis was that I was just overly stressed and dehydrated. They told me to drink a lot of liquids and relax. Unfortunately, if you happen to be taking any political science classes, there is no time to just sit back and enjoy the ride. Those research papers are murder. This is the price, as students, that we pay for attending a prestigious school like UCLA. After a two-hour wait just for one lab result, I was released from the hospital, only to come back home to find that one of my relatives had just died. Needless to say, Thanksgiving took on new meaning last week.

In conclusion, I am just grateful for my health and well-being. I am still short, and I continue to struggle in some of my classes, but I am still here fighting and surviving.

Perhaps, this still may not seem like a big deal, but if you were there with me in the hospital, you would have a change of heart. As my last Viewpoint message for the quarter, I would like to wish all of you the best of luck on your finals, enjoy your winter vacation and be good to yourselves. Thanks.

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