Mom, my stomach hurts. That’s how it started. She gave me some painkiller and told me I was fine. I was, for a few days, but it started again. She said I probably have a fever. She let me stay home. I got better for a bit, and it started again and again. After about two weeks, something popped into her head. She took he hand and pushed my stomach. She asked me if it hurt. I said no, I’m saying ‘ow’ because it’s soothing. She told me not be sarcastic and waited a few more days.

After a few days, she jabbed him int he stomach again. It still hurt. She called the doctor to get it looked at. He said that it wasn’t very serious and that it’s probably nothing. He said we may still want to get it checked, so we waited a few more days. My mom drove me to a place that looked like a laboratory, the kind they try to recreate dinosaurs in. I sat in one of the uncomfortable chairs in the lobby as she talked to the nurse. The nurse then came over and felt my stomach too. It still hurt. She took me to something that looked like a time machine. I had to drink gross pink stuff and leave for a few hours.

When I got back, the nurse had me lay in the machine and told me not to move at all. I lay down and tried to stiffen myself as much as I could. After a bit, I head a scary ‘whirr’ as a circular scanner moved up and down, making weird sounds and flashing bright lights. I went through this three more times before I got to go home, every more sick than when I came.

A few more days passed before my doctor called. I had appendicitis and he wanted to know if I wanted to have my appendix removed. I asked what would happen if I didn’t and he told me it could become worse and burst. That was enough to make me want to have surgery. I don’t want to take any risks.

I was picked up by a ambulance and taken to CHOP (The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia). There, the surgeons used scary words like ‘amputate’ and ‘inflamed’. I stayed was wheeled into a room and had a needle stuck into my wrist. The needle was connected to some bags. My wrist would tingle every time some liquid from the bag went down the tube into the needle. Soon, I fell asleep.

When I awoke, I was in a different room. I suddenly burped really loud as the gas pumped into me during the operation was released. My mom and grandmom were asleep on chairs on the other side of the room. I tried to say hi but I fell asleep again.

I woke up the next morning, still in the hospital. A table was over me. It had eggs, bacon, orange juice and other things for me to eat. It was all still warm so I happily ate it and finished with another unnaturally loud burp. Later that day, I got to go home. Everything was weird and unfamiliar after having spent a few days in the hospital, but I was happy to be home. I’d be happier if I hadn’t missed the last day of school. I never got to say bye to all of my friends!

Despite such a bad beginning, my summer didn’t turn out so bad.