Since I was a baby, I believed I was the unluckiest person in the world. This is because I was constantly vomiting and becoming pale. Eventually, doctors diagnosed me with having cyclic vomiting syndrome and a stomach ulcer.

I dread an attack of Cyclic Vomiting. The dread of tension that feels like someone twisting my stomach. The dread of knowing this would repeat over, and over, and over again.

WARNING
: Have you ever had violent vomiting? It sucks!
: Have you ever felt so drowsy that you fall asleep every half an hour?
: Have you ever felt helpless to control something?

I have.

I kept my problems to myself. When I did share with a friend, they started telling rumours and kids didn’t want to have anything to do with me. I found a deserted corner just outside of the classroom, which was called the Caleb corner. If I stayed in my corner, nothing bad would happen.

Not long after, when I was about seven, I was diagnosed with Kawasaki disease. It was hard for me especially because my worst symptoms were blood red eyes which felt like someone put boiling water in my eyes. The skin on my hands and feet flaked like old paint in the hot sun, and a white coloured tongue with bumps (strawberry tongue) that felt like little snow-topped mountains. Because the disease is so hard to diagnose, the doctors were freaking out.

While I still have symptoms of Kawasaki disease, I won’t have it forever. Lacking friends to back me up and help me get over this hurdle in my life has been hard. I didn’t have the courage to face the bullies at my previous school, so I moved. Lucky for me, I ended up at a school that’s a better fit for me, and I made a terrific friend who is a kind of quirky, nutty professor.

It’s been two years, and I’m managing the condition with medication. I haven’t felt an attack since and I hope a never have a full attack ever again.

-Caleb