by Maya Girimaji, features editor

Junior Alexis Kuppersmith traveled to Spain this summer, and along with getting to experience the Spanish culture, she also got to experience what it’s like to have salmonella in a country that’s 4,713 miles away from home.

What is salmonella like?

It’s not pleasant. You don’t have any appetite.

How did it start?

I’m actually not sure. One day, it was a Monday and it was really hot outside so I thought “Ok. Maybe I’m just dehydrated.” So, I drank a lot more water than I usually do. I relaxed a little bit. And the next day I still had a headache and I was still really tired. I got really mad at myself. Maybe I didn’t drink enough water. So I kept drinking more water. And then it got to the point where I couldn’t really eat that much anymore and I was fainting a lot. Again, I thought it was just really bad dehydration. But, then I realized my clothes didn’t fit. I was staying with a host family and my host mom demanded that I weigh myself. I’ve lost 12 pounds in six days. Of course she was pretty horrified because when you’re feeding someone you don’t want them to be losing copious amounts of weight, so I went to a hospital. They put me on an IV and said that I was just really dehydrated.  They said “Come back tomorrow if you still can’t eat.” And I still couldn’t eat the next day so I went back and they tested my blood. They also kept me overnight for two days because they were afraid I would damage my internal organs. After the two days, they discharged me and told me the only thing they knew I had was a lost of appetite. And two days later when I got my results, it turned out I had salmonella.

Were you scared since you were in Spain?

My host family was so great. They visited me every day. They were there before the doctors were in the morning. I really wasn’t that scared. I was a little scared during the overnight portion of it. But, for the most part, there wasn’t a communication barrier, the doctors were really nice, and the whole time I just thought I was dehydrated.

What was the hospital like?

It kind of felt like I was in a textbook chapter. Everything was labeled. It really didn’t seem like any other hospital. But, one thing is that it was a private hospital because I’m not a Spanish citizen, so I’m not covered by the government’s health care. It was probably nicer than most hospitals would be.

How did you get through it?

When I finally got wi-fi, I could call my parents on WhatsApp. I read a lot. Some of the [members] of the host family I was staying with played cards with me. It was really nice. For the days before I went to the hospital, that was a little bit harder because, again, I just thought I was dehydrated. No one really was that concerned.

How long did this go on?

It was twelve days long.

Anything else you want to add?

So I wasn’t sure if I should tell my friends because no one wants to really hear that you’re sick. When my friend Nour asked me how I was doing, I said “Well, usually I would be worried about college, but now I’m not, because I have connections to an IV.” And I thought that was really funny, but it turns out that I hadn’t told her before that I was in a hospital, so it kind of freaked her out. For me, it didn’t seem like a big deal because I just thought I was dehydrated, but everyone else kind of freaked out about it. It does sound really weird. I mean, you’re in the hospital in a different country.

What’s the healthcare system like?

They wanted to test me a lot. I guess it’s just because people are usually covered, health care-wise. I think they payed a lot more attention to. It was really nice even though they just thought I was dehydrated.

How was this all payed for, since you’re not a citizen and you’re not covered by health care?

My parents had to pay for it, so that was definitely one of the downsides of this situation.

Kuppersmith has long since recovered and uses the communications skills she practiced in Spain as the President of Consol’s Spanish Club.