“Freshman year of high school, we were playing dodgeball in gym class. I got hit in the stomach with a ball, and the rest of the day my stomach didn’t feel right. Towards the end of the day, I had to go home early because I couldn’t even stand up straight. I went to urgent care, and they sent me home and said it was the flu. I went home, and not even an hour later, my mom knew something was wrong. We ended up at the ER. I wound up having an emergency appendectomy. It was laparoscopic. It really wasn’t that big of a deal to me, but a few days later, I got really sick. I couldn’t eat anything. I was nauseous, and I kept vomiting. I made several trips to the ER and was sent home with an inconclusive diagnosis. Eventually, I ended up being admitted to the hospital. It was right before my 15th birthday. They didn’t know what was wrong with me. I missed the entire third quarter of high school. I was really sick. They ran a bunch of tests and after a while, they figured out I had an abdominal infection. Had it been caught earlier, it would’ve been resolved with oral antibiotics, but since it took so long to catch, it had spread all over my abdomen. The only real solution was to have a major abdominal surgery. They had to vacuum out all of the infection. I had a feeding tube. I had all sorts of visitors. It was kind of cool to see my friends and have them all rally around me. After surgery, they weren’t sure if I would ever be able to have kids. I didn’t think too much of it at the time, but then sophomore year of college, I found out I was pregnant. It was a huge surprise. It was kind of like, wow, I guess I can get pregnant, but what am I going to do? I had to grow up really fast. It was a pretty normal pregnancy, other than being diagnosed with gestational diabetes. Because of that, I learned a lot about health and nutrition, and that has really carried me to where I am today. The knowledge I learned at such a young age is really invaluable, and I love that I’m able to share that with my son. Working out has become such a necessity in my life. If I skip a day or two, I can feel it. I don’t sleep as well. When I do exercise, my mood is better, my energy is better, and it has a better impact on my overall outlook. I’m trying to show my son healthier habits. I have so much gratitude. After going through something like that at such a young age, it really has made me appreciate that my son and I both have good health.”