All the tests came back clear—but something was very wrong

As told to Faigy Peritzman

I’M a pretty busy person and getting sick doesn’t fit into my schedule. As a working mother of young children, even when I’m under the weather, I try to keep going.

Five years ago, something inside my nose began hurting me. I went to a dermatologist who prescribed a topical cream, but the pain didn’t go away. I then visited an ENT who diagnosed it as an inflamed hair follicle. That sounded pretty funny to me, but the doctor said a lot of people experience it, and it’s not a big deal. He prescribed Bactrim and told me to take it for a week. That was on a Monday.

On Thursday night, I started feeling unwell, and by Friday, I was extremely tired. But my sister was making a bar mitzvah out of town, so I packed up the whole family and went to join the simchah. Although it was fall and the weather was warm, I was freezing cold and was really not feeling well. Friday night, I left the bar mitzvah early and went to bed; I felt so lousy. During the night, I developed a high fever and could barely function. Since I wasn’t at home, I had no access to food or drink, and I became severely dehydrated.

On Motzaei Shabbos, I returned home and went to urgent care. I was so weak, still wearing a robe and lying on a bench while waiting my turn. They performed a finger prick and found that my white blood cell count was very high, but not high enough for the emergency room. They advised me to go home and follow up with my doctor the next day.

On Sunday morning, I started throwing up and couldn’t stop. Hatzalah brought me to our local ER where I received fluids. My potassium level was low, but still they couldn’t find anything majorly wrong and once I was hydrated they sent me home. And still… I continued taking my Bactrim.