“I can do things now that I thought I would never be able to do again.”
At age 11, I awoke one morning in a panic. I was so hot that I couldn’t breathe well. As I reached up to wipe the sweat from my face, I realized that not only were my hands swollen to twice their size but my face and tongue were also. I could hardly see my mother standing in front of me for my eyes were almost swollen shut. She was trying to get me to take some medicine. Although this was not the first incident, this was the worst. My mom put me in the car and took me to the emergency room. I was so scared, I thought for sure I was going to die. Mom kept saying “Don’t worry honey, it’s going to be all right. We’re all here to take care of you.” She’s a registered nurse, it’s part of her job to soothe people. But it only got worse.