Give thanks before it’s too late

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.