Media personality Perez Hilton recently said he was hospitalized for 21 days after facing a life-threatening condition. Doctors who specialize in gastroenterology and family medicine say the case helps shed light on why it’s important to always communicate with your health care provider.
Hilton, born Mario Lavandeira, said in a video posted on YouTube Monday that he was hospitalized after taking medication for a week without food. He said he took the medication to treat the flu and “never” took it with food.
“And you’re supposed to take all of this medication with food because ... they can be hard on the stomach or the intestines,” he said in the video.
Hilton said that he developed an ulcer, which progressed to a perforation. The Cleveland Clinic states that a perforation is a “hole in your gastrointestinal (GI) tract” and that it requires “immediate medical care.”
The gossip blogger said that he experienced severe stomach pain the day before he was hospitalized and that he was taken to the hospital by ambulance the following morning when he got to the point where he “couldn’t walk.” He said he also developed sepsis.
