She underwent a spinal tap and after further testing showed she indeed had meningitis, she was treated in the ICU. “They were giving me so much morphine,” she recalled, “And literally, nothing would stop the pain. I’ve never been in that much pain in my life. I literally thought I was going to die.”
At one point, she thought she did when she the pain made her lose consciousness. “Everything goes completely black,” she said, “and I was like, ‘I just died.'”
Meanwhile, doctors explained the situation to her mother. “They sit her down and they tell her I’m super sick,” Kent said, “and my white blood cell count is so high that there’s a possibility I might not make it.”
With the help of antibiotics, Kent recovered. However, the ordeal took a large toll on her body. “I literally lost 17 pounds in five days,” she recalled. “I went home and when my little sister hugged me, she thought I was gonna snap in half. I was so weak, I couldn’t even walk up the steps or walk 10 feet.”
