Camp Twitch and Shout Moment #3: Amazing Nurses Yet Again, A Tourette's and OCD Moment

So when I was at camp twitch and shout, I wrote a list of "camp moments" on my phone so that I would remember stories from camp that I wanted to write out on my blog.  For a while there writing these moments out would probably have made me cry because I missed camp so much! I still miss camp SO MUCH but I think now writing out these moments won't make me cry anymore but will make me remember the amazing times I had at camp. So, I'm going to write another one out on this post.

Camp Twitch and Shout Moment #3: Amazing Nurses Yet Again, A Tourette's and OCD Moment


This is another amazing camp moment that made me smile. On the second to last day of camp we had something called Wacky Olimptics. I had a lot of fun during the pre-Wacky Olimptics game because it was basically just like a giant scavenger hunt and I got to go with a group of three amazing campers to supervise them. Two of the campers were younger girl campers who weren't in my cabin but who I had the opportunity to get really close to throughout the time I spent at camp. The other one was a younger girl camper too who was quite adorable! I had lots of fun searching the woods with them for "ninjas", getting to stop by the petting zoo, solving riddles from the riddlers (camp twin lakes staff dressed up in funny costumes that we would run into and then have to solve their riddles to go past them), and giving piggy back rides to one of the little ones. 

After the pre-game was over, we all went to a field for the Wacky Olimptics. The kids loved playing the games there such as the apple sauce relay, the shaving creme hula hoop pass, and the many other fun games! 

The whole event was so exciting that loud with all the kids running around that it triggered my punching tic really badly. So for the majority of the games, I was punching myself in the stomach. That was not so much a fun part and ended up really really hurting! 

I was glad when the punching tic stopped a little bit after the Wacky Olimptics, but I was left with a really sore stomach and a decently sized bruise. So being my typical self and doing what i'm used to doing, I tried to, for lack of better words, "suck it up" and I went up until lunch in a lot of pain every time I tried to sit down, stand up, or move into a different position really. I also kept having OCD thoughts and fears that I had somehow managed to damage my internal organs with the punching tic or that I was bleeding internally slowly but surely. I was in pain every time I tried to move and my anxiety my through the roof and I remembered "Hey! I'm at a Tourette's camp! I bet I could have the nurse give me some Advil for the pain and maybe just maybe she could give the bruise a quick look and reassure me that I didn't actually damage any internal organs and then I know my day will get a lot better. 

So that's what I did. I went into the health lodge and for the first time in my life, I didn't have to lie and say I have a headache to get Advil for pain caused by tics. I didn't have to go through the rest of the day worrying about my internal organs either! The nurse was great. I told her that I had had a punching tic in the morning, that it would be great if I could get some advil for the pain, and that I know it sounds silly but it would be great if someone could just look at my stomach for a short second because my OCD was making me worry that I had damaged my internal organs. I was kind of half expecting the response I would actually get in the real world which would be something like a strange very confused stare. But the nurse was incredible! She smiled at me in the most friendly and reassuring way with not even a half a second of a confused look and gave me the Advil. Then she told me she was going to get the doctor to look at my stomach to make me feel better.

I waited in the waiting area for just a little bit and then the doctor called me into the room and looked at my stomach and both him and the nurse reassured me in the most perfect way possible that it would have been impossible for me to damage my internal organs or have caused internal bleeding because in the area that I punched there are simple no internal organs located there. I was able to actually relax and enjoy the rest of my day instead of worrying about the silly things my OCD makes me worry about. 
The Nurse also told me to come back later for more Advil if it kept hurting and I did go back later that evening for more Advil. The Advil did help to some extent but what helped the most was their kindness, understanding, and reassurance. There is no where else like camp and this right here is one of the reasons no doubt :)