When I was about 8 years old, my mother was taken to the Emergency Room. She spent 3 days there. Being so young, my father had my aunt take care of us while he went to the hospital with my mom. Doctors had prescribed medications for her; however, none of it seemed to work. For 3 months, my mom was extremely ill; she could barely cook dinner for the family and spent most of that time in bed, too tired and weak to move. 2 years and many hospital visits later, my mom was diagnosed with H. Pylori, a stomach infection.
         The vacation that caused it all was our family’s trip to Bangkok. My cousin was getting married there and I couldn’t wait to go. As we boarded the plane, my parents warned my sister, Samira, and me, “Only drink bottled water on this trip, girls.”  “Why?” we wondered. My dad tried explaining to us how the water isn’t as sanitary in Thailand as in America because of filtration and other factors. I nodded along, pretending I understood this concept.
        After 18 hours, we landed in Bangkok and began getting ready for the welcome dinner. Putting on my new dress and shoes, I headed to the hall where there was loud music and a ton of dancing. I reunited with my cousins, whom I hadn’t seen in years. Following many hugs, I talked to all of my favorite cousins after what felt like forever. I ran to my mom. “Can I switch rooms, so Julia and I hang out together?” I asked my mom with my best puppy-dog face. “Pretty please!” I begged. She reluctantly agreed, knowing I wanted to catch up with my favorite cousin.
        The party continued, with more dancing and dinner following. When asking for my drink, I was careful to ask for a bottle of water, just as my parents had instructed me to. And when we felt tired, my Samira, Julia, and I walked up to the hotel room and talked about everything from our favorite movies to the drama at school.
        I did this every day for the 5 days we stayed there- ate dinner, drank soda or bottled water, and hung out with my cousins. And then finally, it was time to go back home.
My sister and I went back to our normal routine, wake up, go to school, do homework, etc., until the end of the school year. And just 2 days after, at midnight, my dad woke me up. “Saniya! Wake up your sister and get your things. I have to take you to Sapna Auntie’s house. Quickly.” “Why? What happened?” I asked, with a worried tone. “I going to take your mom to the ER, but don’t worry. She’ll be fine,” my dad reassured me.
He drove my sister and me to my aunt’s house and as soon as I got there, I broke down in tears. I hated hospitals. They brought feelings of loss, sadness, and sorrow. I barely slept through the night and the first thing I did in the morning was called my dad. “Hello, is mom okay?!” I asked, panic in my voice. “Good morning, Saniya. She’s doing better. But, she is being kept in the hospital for observation for today and tomorrow.” I sighed in relief.
       The next 2 days were the slowest of my life. I constantly was worried, no matter how many I had been told everything would be okay. But eventually, my mom came home. She was so exhausted and was taking so many medications. My dad explained that doctors didn’t not know what my mom’s condition was, and that confused me. Shouldn’t doctors know all sicknesses? I had thought. This made me think of the worst possibilities… What if they never figure out what it is and they don’t know how it is to cure her.
My mom spent most of that summer taking it easy and didn’t go out much, except to various doctors to try to get a diagnosis. After seeing a countless number of doctors, we still did not know what exactly my mom’s illness was. But around September, she started go back to work full time, as she did before summer.  I had thought my mom was completely better, but in December, she returned to the hospital. It was this ER visit where we learned my mom had H. Pylori, an infection caused from bacteria that attacks the stomach, which can be caused by drinking unsanitary water. Thinking back to our Bangkok trip, we realized my mom drank a soda with ice in it, which could have been contaminated.
       Finally, my mom got the right medication and treatment she needed. But throughout this whole experience, I realized that life won’t always go as planned. There will be bumps in the road, but I can’t life my life constantly worrying. I have to be there to support everyone I need to, including my little sister, who probably needed her sister to be strong at a time like that.