September 10th 2001

This was the day I spent my first night in a hospital after being diagnosed. I was forewarned of this day, as my viral load reduced other virus I had been living with would appear. I had been feeling great but then a sudden fight with pneumonia. So my first night at UF Shands begins, I’m in Gator Country and not happy about it. Until I met my nurse who was very cute and had a very cute training nurse. The nurse asked me if the trainee could do my I.V. I was way to happy to agree to this as I saw it as a opportunity to flirt. She puts the tourniquet on my arm then gets excited because I have very nice veins. I’m a very good patient to practice this on. I’m flirting with her we are laughing joking then I feel pain and hear a pop. the needle went through the vein. She immediately removes it and blood begins pouring down my arm. I soak through 3 towels before realizing the tourniquet is still on my arm. I remove that with my teeth as shes piling gauze on my arm while the main nurse is waiting to tape it down. After all the chaos I tell them they owe me a ice cream date. Which we had later that night. Not much sleep happened that night and the next day started really early like all hospital days do. This morning was different than any of else could ever imagine, as we turned on the tv to see a plane had hit the World Trade Towers. We sat there in shock as a second plane proceeded to hit the other tower. My hospital room quickly became filled with every nurse and doctor on the floor as I was one of the only rooms watching the news. My life was a chaotic mess and now I sat in a hospital bed watching the world also fall into chaos. I’ll never forget where I was on September 11 2001.