This is a story about my experience with trees and the consequences of climbing them. Being young can be a learning experience and a process. You may make mistakes, however, you may also make memorable experiences, both good and bad. My experiences as a younger kid were more bad than good. I did a lot of stupid things as a kid, even to this day, should it seem like a “good idea” or “fun.” Sometimes, there should be limits on what you do. Never go beyond what is meant to act as a barrier to protect you, or there will be deadly consequences. I have not truly “learned my lesson” as some of the activities I did as a younger kid, I will still perform. I may regret some of these choices, however, it’s like an instinct that compels me to move. My personal “traumatic” story begins with my dangerous activities as a kid, dealing with painful experiences, my terrible management of emotions during scary experiences, and my traumatic experiences staying with me.

Doing dangerous activities as a young kid is incredibly dangerous, and should not be attempted by anyone. As a younger kid, Climbing trees was a very cool thing to me. I wanted to climb every tree I saw and enjoyed showing off to others my tree-scaling skills. Wherever I was, I would think about climbing any tree that looks climbable. This was not a good thing for a five-year-old, as climbing trees can be extremely dangerous. One day, when my aunt and cousins from Colorado were with us, in Henderson, Nevada, in our backyard I had decided to climb a tree during lunch. I decided to use our baby stroller as a stepping stool, pushing the stroller over the rocky terrain, to the tree. The tree was about 15 feet tall, and I wanted to go nearly halfway up that. Upon my first steps into this tree, I had no problem, however, when I came down, upon my first step, my foot slipped, and I had lost balance, and fallen. As I recall, this event was the start of a scary experience for me and has caused me to find out how badly I work with medicine.

It can be hard to deal with things we find painful. As I fell, my mind went blank, and I had no thoughts. I fell right onto the rocky terrain, full of pebbles, sharp rocks, and small rocks all colliding in a messy manner. Once I hit the ground, I lost all thought. When I hit the sharp rocks, I felt nothing and began crying without even realizing it. My frightened parents and worried aunt rushed over to me and immediately decided to bring me into the hospital. It had turned out my left arm was completely broken, and thankfully only my left arm. They wrapped my arm in a tight make-shift sling using newspapers. The pain was starting to get to me, and as young as I was, it was hard to ignore it. Right up until the moment I arrived at the Emergency Room, I could think of nothing but the searing pain in my left arm. When we got to the Emergency Room, They had me lay down on an ER bed, rushed me to a room with curtains, and had me drink an anesthetic to put me to sleep, along with some Gatorade. During my surgery, they were applying a green cast with a rough texture, and when I woke up, all hell broke loose. I did not know what I had done to myself and physically injured myself due to a stupid kid’s idea.

Dealing with scary experiences as a kid is hard to manage, especially as a young kid. When I woke up, it took my eyes a second to adjust. That’s when it happened. There were 3 images of the doctor and my parents. Dealing with traumatic moments as a kid can be terrifying, and this was no different. Similar to a nightmare, there were unknown faces with me, as terrified as I was, I must’ve known who each person was at the time. Terrified at the Confusing situation, I broke into a crying state, I threw things at the images, Including my most favored stuffed animal, whom I would have never thrown had I been in my right mind. I believe the doctor, and my frightened parents tried to call me down, but as young as I was, I was truly terrified at the 9 figures I was seeing. Whether I had imagined I was in a dream or not, is still a mystery to me. After that day, I rarely had any dreams, and to this day, I still do not have many nightmares or even dreams. My family likes to believe that since that day, I have supposedly changed, and for the worse. Scary experiences can be hard to deal with, especially after traumatic events, and being a young kid.

Traumatic experiences can stick with you for the rest of your life. Before we had left the dreaded hospital, I wasn’t sure what time it was, but it was late. The doctor had warned us to tell any medical professional that I do not work well with this medicine, and then we had left after paying our medical expenses and what-not. We stopped to get a shake or slushie for me, most likely at a gas station, and I barely drank any of it. I enjoy many forms of drinks, however, I must have been truly mortified over what had happened that day, to not even drink any of my slushie or shake. Between this and when I got the cast removed, nothing really comes to me regarding memories. When I got the cast off, at another hospital (likely the same one,) I enjoyed it very much. What I called the “Chainsaw,” was a tool the doctors used (cast cutter) to remove my cast. As much as I enjoyed getting my cast removed, and being able to move my arm again, it was just as fun during the process of the cast getting taken off. As the blade opened the cast, It tickled my skin, and I could feel the layers of fabric being torn. I was very elated to get the cast off for the first, and hopefully final time. All experiences have a lesson to learn from, even the worst of the worst. 

My experiences are both good and bad and are both memorable to me in all of my years. Although dumb, I enjoyed what I did as a younger kid. It was fun for me, and still is, and provided me with my source of entertainment. Although it may seem cool to break a bone, it seriously is not. I regret my choices, however, I believe they are what shape me and who I am now. Throughout this experience, I learned a few things about myself. It was apparent that I did not work well with this medicine, and I should definitely take precautions with what I do, and plan to do in the future. If I had not climbed this tree, Everything would have been fine, and I would have never learned my lesson. I still to this day, continue to do things off of an impulse. Take precautions with everything you do, and you may even realize things you have never seen before.