Recently, I had a very surprising month- I ended up in the hospital for a little bit more than a week! Since I know many people with Down syndrome and their families can have problems with their health I wanted to share my experience. By telling you a bit of my story, I can show you that it is not so bad to have to visit the doctor or even go to the hospital, and those people can help you to be your very best.
When I came home from my job at CDSS one day, my roommate noticed that I seemed to not be feeling very well and my parents said the same thing when I saw them for dinner at my apartment place. I was coughing, and I couldn’t breathe very easily because it felt like I had something in my lungs that made it hard to get a good breath.
Instead of seeing my regular doctor, my parents took me to get admitted right away at the hospital because they were worried. From the very beginning, I was feeling very scared to be in the hospital. I had been in the hospital four summers ago for five weeks when I had a bacteria infection, and I was scared that it was going to be like the last time again and that I might have to stay in the hospital for a long time. I have a lot of different activities that I am involved in like swimming or baseball with my team, and if I am stuck in the hospital I might miss out on the things that I love to do. I was lucky that things were not so bad this time!
They took very good care of me at the hospital. When I arrived, they put a wrist band on me so they would know who I was and started some tests like taking my temperature and checking me out. They had to take a lot of blood for testing, and I got an x-ray because they wanted some pictures of my lungs and chest. I also used a special machine that I blew into to test how my lungs were working. The tests were not too scary, mostly I was just wanting to get out and get back to my regular life.
There were a few nice parts about being in the hospital too, like getting visits from my friends and family. I got some tasty meals that were very good and very healthy, and I didn’t have to worry about the dishes haha. My mom spent lots of time keeping me company by reading books together or listening to music or watching movies. After a week, I was better and I was ready to go home and get back to my life.
Health is very important for everyone, but especially for people like me who have Down syndrome. We can take care of our health in lots of different ways. Here are some of my top suggestions:
- 1. Eating healthy food like fruits and vegetables and eggs for protein.
- 2. Showering every day and having good hygiene.
- 3. Exercise is definitely important. I like to swim for exercise, but there are lots of ways to stay moving.
- 4. When you are not feeling well, you should tell a parent or a roommate or someone near you, and go see a doctor so you can get all the help you need to be healthy.
