Diapers, School, and Social Anxiety?

II A Problem Manifests

Note: The Beginning of this Chapter Includes an Anxiety Attack. Reader Discretion is Advised

Sarah wasn't sleeping well; she had woken up for the third time during the night. She realized she needed to pee, badly. She glanced at her clock, 1:00 AM; how was it still so early? She considered trying to ignore the urge to pee so her body could more easily fall back asleep. Her efforts to block out the sensation in her bladder were interrupted by a fluttering in her chest. Sarah felt her heart and her eyes tilted with concern; "what was that?" she muttered. A few more moments went by and her mind was racing with "what ifs" until she felt another heart palpitation. Sarah had never experienced these feelings before, and she began to feel cold. She trembled, thinking "am I having a heart attack?" She rolled out of bed and made her way to the bathroom across the hall. It was dark and the only noise that could be heard was the humming of the fan from her parents' room. Sarah grabbed the bathroom door handle and opened the door but started to feel dizzy and hesitated for a moment. Her head felt like it was swimming and her breaths were becoming shallow and rapid. She moved for the light switch and turned the light on to try to pee. As her eyes adjusted to the light, her dizziness intensified, and she felt her heartbeat grow faster on her neck. Now she was truly afraid; Sarah's vision was starting to fade on the edges. Sarah turned backwards and stumbled her way down the hall, bracing herself up against the wall to combat the room-spinning sensation. She remembered reaching for the door handle of her parents' room, her legs gave out, then fogginess. She quickly regained consciousness but was shaking on the floor at the foot of her parents' room; too dizzy to stand. She still had to pee, but that was the least of her worries; Sarah firmly believed that she was dying. She hyperventilated on the cold, hard wooden floor and battled once more with her bladder. She reached her hand up as far as she could and started knocking on the door. She couldn't manage a hard knock nor could she muster up a voice with all her confusion and panic. As she did so, her dizziness brought her head down firmly onto the floor as her body attempted to regain equilibrium. She grimaced as she helplessly lost control of her bladder, creating a huge puddle on the floor. She lay whimpering, still stuck in the middle of an anxiety attack; her heart pounding. Just before she completely blacked out, the door finally opened; Sarah barely noticed. Her mother panicked and yelled so loud Sarah could feel the vibrations on the floor, "Mike! Get up! Call an ambulance!" and that's all Sarah remembered.

(End Reader Discretion)

Sarah awoke on her parents' bed. She was stretched out flat on the sheets with her mother pacing around with tears in her eyes. Her father had a stunned look on his face and was staring at the bed sheets. Neither of them realized Sarah was conscious. "Where are they, Mike? It has been 10 minutes and they're still not here!" her mother exclaimed. Sarah noticed the panic in the room and concluded something must be seriously wrong with her. She managed a mumble and her parents both turned to her, "honey, shh, it's alright, the ambulance should be here any minute. Please just relax if you can" said her mother. Sarah's confusion was all encompassing by this point, she was totally in-the-moment but only because she felt each moment could be her last. Her father grabbed her by the hand and reassured her that they would stay with her and that everything would be okay. The room was spinning, and Sarah took notice of the wet feeling between her legs; she had thoroughly wet herself at some point, but she couldn't remember much. The uncertainty and panic were interrupted with a ringing of the doorbell. Sarah's mother ran downstairs and opened up the front door, "thank goodness you're finally here. I don't know what's wrong with my daughter. Please help her" her mother begged the paramedics.

The three quickly made their way up the stairs to where Mike and Sarah were together on the bed, hands still clasped. One of the paramedics, a heavy-set man, took charge of the situation and started asking a bunch of questions to Sarah's parents and checking her vitals. Sarah was still in a blur, but she did notice a general ease and confidence in the man's attitude. "Hmm, well from the looks of things I think we should take you in to the hospital just to make sure everything is alright" said the paramedic. "My name is John; with your consent I'll bring a stretcher and get you loaded up in the ambulance." Both of Sarah's parents quickly expressed their agreeance and Sarah managed to nod her head through her dizziness. John glanced back at his partner who was standing at the entrance of the bedroom and gave a knowing nod, he went downstairs to retrieve a stretcher. John turned back to Sarah, "you're in good hands, young lady; everything is going to be fine. We'll get you loaded up and my partner and I will get you to the hospital in no time. I'll stay with you every step of the way." Sarah was extremely comforted with the man's confidence and composure, surely if she was dying, he would appear more concerned. John's partner quickly returned with the stretcher and together they gently moved Sarah from the bed to the stretcher. "Now I know you're dizzy but we're going to have to set you up until we get you in the back of the ambulance" said John. Sarah just let the paramedics take control. She felt incredibly dizzy but if anything happened to her, she knew she was in the right company. They carefully stepped down the stairs and carried Sarah outside her home and toward the ambulance. "We can wheel you now", joked John. They wheeled Sarah to the back of the ambulance and loaded her in the back, John sat next to her.

Sarah glanced out the back of the ambulance to her parents. They said they would follow behind in their car. John gave another nod to his partner, closed the doors, and immediately got to work administering an IV on Sarah. Normally Sarah would be anxious with needles and she had never had an IV before, but she trusted John as he was so calm and collected during her time of panic and uncertainty. A few moments passed and she noticed that John had successfully administered the IV and was cleaning up the wrappers and excess. "Young lady, what is your name?" asked John. "Sarah", muttered Sarah. "Well Sarah, you're doing a stellar job right now, just tell me; what is your worst complaint of your symptoms right now?" Sarah felt her head and managed to say, "dizzy." John went through the cabinets and removed a small vial of medicine, "this here is the good stuff, Sarah. This will fix that dizziness" as John injected the medicine into her IV. Sarah glanced around the ambulance and took note of all the medical equipment on board. She was still worried about her health; was her heart not working properly? John sat by Sarah and talked to her for a few minutes, trying to distract Sarah from her situation.

 After what seemed like an eternity, Sarah finally arrived at the hospital. John and his partner worked together to get Sarah out onto the ground and wheeled her into the emergency room. Sarah had never experienced any of this before, but she was glad John was still there. She watched as he checked her in at the counter and looked back at her every now and then during his talk with the nurse. The hospital wasn't extremely busy, there were a few nurses moving about but nothing out of the ordinary that would induce any extra panic for Sarah. After a few moments, John returned and told her he would be wheeling her into one of the hospital beds and get her settled in for the night; it was just after 2:00 AM now. John transferred Sarah from the stretcher to the bed by himself since she wasn't that heavy; he was well-equipped to lift much heavier patients. After Sarah was settled in bed, John covered her up in a hospital blanket and asked if he could get her anything. Sarah shook her head and said, "I'm okay, thank you." John smiled and checked back in with the nurse for a few moments. He returned and said, "okay Sarah, I have to get going now; my partner and I received another call. The nurse is heading this way as we speak. It was a pleasure meeting you, just relax and don't stress too much; you're in the safest place you could be right now." And with that, he left for the ambulance. It was the last time she would see John, or if she did see him in public, she couldn't recognize who he was out of uniform.