Top Defining Moments Part 4

Top Defining Moment: Vomiting Blood

1. Where are you at this time? I was at the apartment of a guy I had started hooking up with. One morning I woke up with what I thought was a hangover. I threw up most mornings after drinking so I went to the bathroom but I started vomiting blood.

2. How old were you and what do you look like? I was nineteen and I looked pretty good. Not to brag but this was the height of my health (I was in shape, I had great perky boobs, I wore my  hair in a bob). Vomiting blood aside obviously.

3. Who was there with you or who was supposed to be there with you? The guy, Mike, came to my rescue and then went to get his friend Chris who was an EMT. She said “This is way more than a hangover.  She needs to go to the hospital”

4. What happens that makes this moment so significant? 1) I realized the toll my drinking was taking on my body (essentially I had torn my stomach from repeated vomiting every time I went out drinking). 2) I realized Mike liked me more than just a one night stand

5. What emotions are you experiencing at this time? You would think I’d be scared or panicked- worried about my health or the fact that my parents would find out if I was drinking. But instead I didn’t feel anything. I was just too sick. When the EMTs arrived they immediately did two things. They started an IV. And they injected me with something to stop the vomiting (it was magical).

6. How would you change this situation if you could? I wouldn’t have drank so much in the previous month, enough to damage my stomach lining not to mention all the blacking out and bad decisions. It all caught up with me now.

7. What is your mental/ physical experience? It was very unpleasant. I felt so incredibly sick and then I became disoriented. I woke up at six and was in the bathroom for hours before MIke woke up and came looking for me. By then I was severely dehydrated and barely conscious.

8. If you could speak to someone who would it be?  What would you say? Probably my mom. I would confess everything and tell her, tearfully, how much pain I was in as I retched again and again.

9. What are you saying to yourself? This doesn’t feel right. This is not a normal hangover. I need to get to student health. I hope my parents don’t find out. I hope I don’t get in trouble or get Mike in trouble.

10. What do you need more than anything else? Again probably a hug from my mom

How do you feel now?Well, it makes a good story, especially when you consider Mike and I dated for about three months afterward. He stayed at the hospital with me for five or six hours which he did not have to do because my friends were offering to wait instead. Only when my dad showed up did he give a handshake to my dad and leave. It also is a very good story to get people to realize the perils of drinking. Or rather drinking too much.

What emotions are you having now?

I don’t really have emotions regarding this incident. Well, I guess I’m glad it happened because it was a major factor that got me to stop drinking.

What are you telling yourself about this today?

I was very lucky I was with a guy who got me help and did the right thing. I was lucky my injuries were not worse. I was worried I walked away fully recovered after several days in the hospital. I was lucky I got a warning to stop drinking as early as I did.