(bellybutton)
Levana: Ok well I was 16 and maybe starting from the month of September, I would get pains in my stomach and I was wondering what it was… then I went to the doctors because it was getting excruciating, like really bad. And they told me I had a cyst on my ovary and they were like, ‘Well it’s fine, you could live with it, you should get it removed but it’s not extreme.’ So I had an appointment for January (this was in November), and then in December it started to get really bad again. And then the eve before Christmas eve, December 23rd, I went out with my friends and um -- oh wait, I forgot something: the doctor, when I went, said ‘Don’t do handstands or anything like extreme,’ like – do you understand?
Svea: -- like, physical.
L: Yeah, and the night when I went out with my friends, I decided to do a cartwheel, so I literally did a handstand! And when I was being driven home it started to get really bad. And when I got home I started to feel really nauseous and my mom came in and asked if I was ok and I said no. She said I should try to sleep it off and the next morning go to the hospital. And when I went they said I had to get it operated on right away. So I’m just waiting to get it out in the hospital.
S: So they did the surgery right away?
L: Well I was waiting in the hospital for a while on medications, just waiting. And then I stayed over night.
S: And that was Christmas eve.
L: And then I got home Christmas day.
S: What was that like, coming home on Christmas day?
L: It was kind of weird because we usually have dinner as a family, and they’re Italian so they were all nervous, so it was embarrassing, I ruined their Christmas, kind of
S: Oh, ok…So what was your first impression of the scar?
L: I liked it because I like scars. And they told me it would go away – I had stitches and they came off…
S: Has that changed?
L: No, I’m kind of sad they’re disappearing.
S: What does this scar mean to you?
L: Just an experience in my life.
S: Do you think it says anything about you? When do you tell the story?
L: When people ask ‘have you ever had surgery’ or ‘have you ever been in a hospital.’ Should I also add the fact that they had to take out my ovary?
S: Yeah… what does that mean for you in the future?
L: They said I would be able to have children, but even if I couldn’t it wouldn’t really bother me, maybe in the future.
S: What about family?
L: Mom’s paranoid whenever there’s pain in my stomach, she freaks out like ‘I have to bring you to the hospital again…’
