Lying in a hospital bed. Nothing to do.

Can’t go outside. Can’t eat. Can’t sleep. Machines buzzing throughout the room. This is a close description of what junior Alejandra Espinoza went through when she was first treated at Cardinal Glennon Hospital in January. Espinoza was diagnosed with Type-One Lupus and she was kept in the hospital for over two months.

“I went to the doctor and he said I had a flu-like virus,” junior Alejandra Espinoza said. “Then I got a fever and couldn’t breathe. They said my kidney’s weren’t working and they had to drain my lungs of all the fluid the kidney’s weren’t getting rid of.”

Espinoza stayed in the hospital for over two months while the doctors there worked to clear her lungs of fluid and find out what else was wrong with her body.

“The day after she went into the hospital,” junior at Duchesne High School Megan Schmidt said, “they made an announcement at our school that she had kidney failure and it scared me to death. I thought she was going to die.”

Lupus is an unpredictable disease of the immune system in which the body attacks itself. It can affect almost any organ and there is no cure. In Espinoza’s case, the Lupus was in her kidneys. Espinoza was confused when she found out her disease, but she remained optimistic.

“It is so sad that a young person can get so sick,” Chemistry teacher Karen Hill said. “Sometimes though, you find young people who are so sick handle it much better.”

Although Espinoza was diagnosed with Lupus and kidney failure, she also suffered from several anxiety attacks and hallucinations during the first few weeks in the hospital. She thought she saw bugs on her bed and crocodile heads hanging from the ceiling.

“Once they put in Pirates of the Caribbean for me to watch and during one scene, I freaked out and wouldn’t let anyone touch me,” Espinoza said. “I was screaming and crying. That was one of the worst attacks I’ve had.”

Although Espinoza has overcome her kidney failure, she will have Lupus for the rest of her life. However, she can keep the disease dormant by taking medication daily. She has recently been released from the hospital, where she was completing physical and occupational therapy because she had lost all of her muscle mass from being bed-ridden for over a month.

“The first time I went and saw her she was unconscious,” Schmidt said. “It took me off guard. The second time I was her though, we actually had a two-way conversation.”

Espinoza had therapy every day except Sunday and her day usually ended around 4 p.m. Therapy was a very tiring time for Espinoza, who now tires out much more easily. The downtime allowed her to analyze herself and her decisions.

“I learned things about myself I didn’t know before,” Espinoza said. “I think I’ve grown up a little. I’ve learned to think things through and analyze things.”

Espinoza is planning on returning to North to do half days within a few weeks. She will not be able to stay at school for long periods of time because she tires out much more easily since she got sick.

“She was a great asset to our class, ’Hill said. “She wasn’t afraid to say she didn’t understand something. She was the brave one.”