Ariana Bowers

My name is Ariana Bowers. I am a 19-year-old college student at UCLA. I was healthy, strong, and young. I felt invincible. I, of course, read in the news instances where young adults, like myself, were subject to illnesses, accidents, and even death. That would never be me, right? Unfortunately, my luck ran out. I drove carefully, made the right choices, and took care of myself, but my body had other ideas in mind. Six months ago, on March 15th, 2016, I was admitted into the ER, where I underwent a five-hour major surgery, 34 minutes of which they needed to perform CPR on me.

A week earlier (Tuesday) was when the symptoms started. I developed a horrible sore throat and fever. It happened to be a few days before my finals, so I decided I just needed to sleep it off in order to be better for my finals. By Thursday, I had fainted and hit my head, so my aunt took be to Urgent Care, where the lectured me about taking care of myself and sent me home. Friday was my birthday, which I have very little memory of due to the pain. I took my finals Saturday and Sunday (my professors would not let me take them at a later date), and on Sunday I developed a cramp in my abdomen. I was unable to move, but since a doctor had told me I was fine I assumed I was just over-exaggerating. Come Monday, I was at my Aunt’s house with a 104-degree temperature. She decided the next morning, as I could barely move, that I needed to go to the ER.

Once at the ER, I was rushed in where they did a CT scan on me. My doctor came in my room and told me that they were unable to see my appendix, and wanted to perform exploratory surgery to determine if I had appendicitis. By now, my mother was on her way to California from Virginia, thinking it was just a simple procedure. When they opened me up they discovered that my appendix was still intact and that I had a massive infection in my abdomen… sepsis. It took 5 hours to clean out my abdomen, where I apparently crashed. My aunt recalls one of my doctors informing her he did not think I would make it, but I did.

After surgery I was placed in the ICU, where I had antibiotics being pumped into my body and a ventilator. I swelled enormously, opening up my stitches, creating a huge wound on my stomach. They could not re-stitch it due to the swelling, and for fear of infection. I was in the ICU for two weeks sedated, so luckily I have no memory of it but my mother does. I woke up confused and scared, not knowing what had happened to me and where I was. I stayed in the hospital for another 2 weeks. I still had a fever, worrying my many doctors. I had drains placed in me, IVs hanging everywhere, and a heart monitor. I had to relearn to walk, could not eat, and dealt with doctors poking and prodding me. The doctors had figured out during this time that my colon had somehow perforated (we still don’t know how) and leaked bacteria into my abdomen, causing the infection. (Sepsis and Perforated Bowel)

I was finally discharged from the hospital, after my white blood cell number normalized, and made my way home to Virginia, taking a quarter off from school. Back at home, I needed a Wound Vacuum to help close my wound which was 15 cm in length, 8 cm wide, and 5 cm deep. I started losing my hair, something that devastated me as I felt that it was one of the last things that made me feel normal. I developed a blood disorder (Factor VII), resulting in my blood not clotting. I was more anxious, depressed, and scared, but eventually I regained my strength. My hair stopped falling out and my wound healed by July. I had much more strength and could go out with my friends without getting too tired, helping my depression. (Sepsis and Post-Sepsis Syndrome) I was feeling more like me rather than a patient.
It is now September and I feel great! I am still not 100%, but I have started exercising again. I decided to take another quarter off of school, to run more tests since we still do not know the cause of my colon perforating. I am so thankful for my family, friends, and doctors that have seen me through this event in my life. I could not have made it through this without their love and support.

Due to my experience, I strongly believe that people need to advocate for themselves. Because a doctor told me I was fine I didn’t trust my own instincts that told be something was definitely not fine. Listening to yourself is the hardest thing sometimes, but it can save lives. I learned to trust my body the hard way, but I hope I have inspired others to do so before it becomes too late.