Surprise Surgery & Another Recovery

April was one of the most surprisingly crazy months for me yet. Earlier in the month, I was at a climbing competition doing just fine and trying my hardest. But when the comp ended and my mom and I were driving home, I got a big headache, felt horrible, and started to throw up. I had lots of pain, especially on the right side of my stomach. Sudden and unbearable pain on the right side made me think "appendicitis," which made me feel even worse. Shortly after we got home, my parents decided I needed to go right to the Emergency Room. Everyone was super worried. I was in too much pain to get into the car, so my dad called an ambulance, both for the speed and because I'd get pain medication as soon as possible. At the hospital, I waited for five hours and couldn't eat or drink anything, which was difficult since I'd just finished a competition. After an ultrasound and CT, the doctors decided to transfer me to the Children's Hospital so I could have surgery. Yes, that's right -- surgery -- but not on my appendix. They'd found a cyst on my ovary that was basically "exploding." Three small incisions were needed to fix everything. I'm happy to say the surgery was successful, and I stayed in the hospital for three days. It took a while to be able to walk without being nauseated, but finally I regained my strength and was discharged! It was a rough couple of weeks not being able to climb while I recuperated. If you've been following my blog, you know this isn't my first recuperation. I've missed most of the important training for regionals, which are coming up on May 14. I'm going to have to work my butt off to rebuild my endurance and strength in the next two weeks. I'm looking on the bright side and telling myself I'll be able to compete in regionals unlike last season. In other news, school is almost out -- only 4 weeks left! I really hope the summer will pass without any injuries!