When I woke up on Tuesday, June 20, in my motel room in Alexandria, Louisiana, I had one item on my “to do” list: get to a hospital.

In spite of the excruciating pain I had been experiencing for the past two days, I was sleeping well. But I had no energy because I couldn't eat or drink anything without getting sicker. My mouth was so dry that chunks of skin were falling off of my lips.

Anyway, I resolved to get dressed as quickly as possible, throw some clothes into a suitcase, and call a cab. I did all of that but not without some interruptions – like throwing up.

I arrived at the hospital ar...