I didn’t expect shooting out of my bed and sprinting to the kitchen one morning in the middle of Feb. to change the next couple months of my life so much. When I reached the kitchen I was light headed, and extremely short of breath. I was terrified, so I sat down on the kitchen floor for a good 30 minutes. My mom ensured I was fine, and I spent the rest of the day laying in bed. 

When I woke up the next morning I expected everything to go back to normal, but it didn’t. I forced my mother to take me to Urgent Care and doctors there tested me for all the normal things, Strep, Flu, Covid-19. Everything was negative and I was told I had a “respiratory virus” and that it would go away in four to seven days. 

For the next week I laid in bed, sleeping, watching movies, and scrolling endlessly on TikTok. At the end of that week I traveled to Omaha, Neb. and played a three day volleyball tournament, then the Tuesday after that I returned to school. The next weekend I traveled to Tulsa, Okla. and played another volleyball tournament, and then returned to school for yet another week. 

For these two weeks, my only motivation was getting to lay in my bed and sleep at the end of the day. I was so exhausted that I didn’t have interest in doing anything but laying in my bed and sleeping. At this point, I had been sick for three weeks, and my “respiratory virus” hadn’t gone away. 

On March 5th, I woke up exhausted like I had every day for the last month. Unlike the previous days, this time, I knew what was wrong, and I knew I would eventually get better. The day before, I had been to the doctor for the third time in three weeks, and after something as simple as a blood draw, the results were in: iron deficiency anemia and Vitamin D deficiency. 

For the month of March, life continued as it had for the three weeks before, but with a few differences, eating at least three meals a day, a snack every hour, no coffee or ice cream, and supplements every night. I was still exhausted, but I had to continue ‘embracing the struggle.’ Being so tired every day, I was struggling to complete simple tasks, but the school work had to get done and day-to-day tasks still had to be completed. 

By April, I began feeling more normal, I was able to eat less frequently and drink coffee once a week (thank goodness). It was becoming easier and easier to make it through a day of school without falling asleep, and I was able to go places by myself without facing extreme anxiety. 

As life became closer to normal by the day, I realized I wasn’t the only one struggling. Although students around the school were struggling in different ways, it was good to know that I wasn’t the only one going to school each day exhausted and only wanting to go home and go to bed. Students struggling with mental health issues or health issues often try to fall under the radar, but it’s okay to struggle for a while and let people know you’re struggling, there will always be someone there to help you make it through.