When I was a teenager, I had to have my gallbladder removed. It was my first surgery and experience with anesthesia and painkillers stronger than Tylenol.

When they gave me the "loopy shot" before taking me back, I looked at my dad and told him he had four eyes, then I poked him in the eyes. I asked, "is this what being high feels like?" and the patient in the next bed over yelled back, "YES!"

I woke up groggy and it wasn't very eventful. I slept a lot when I got home and eventually had to take one of the painkillers I'd been given. For a few days, I mostly slept, texted people about the bagels I ate, and did jigsaw puzzles.

After about a week, I was able to go back to sleeping in my bedroom upstairs. I had taken one of the painkillers and fell asleep one afternoon. My mom came in after a couple of hours and saw me trying to tape a small rock to the wall. She asked me what I was doing, and I yelled back,

"I'M DECORATING!!!"