Two years ago...

I've come so far, I really have. But I can't help thinking about this time two years ago. It was this time of year in 2010 when I started to get sick (quite literally, actually). I started in with a nagging nausea on Columbus day (Monday the 11th) while shopping with my mom at the mall. The next day I still felt nauseous but I was able to do school. I came home and started in with frequent vomiting. I was vomiting so much that it turned into dry heaving (not a pleasant feeling). Now, I can't remember when the hiccups started, but I had uncontrollable hiccups for days. Once case lasted FOUR days. It got to the point where my ribcage was just so sore and tired. My mom brought me to the doctor's office/emergency room multiple times and nobody could be really sure what the exact problem was. Eventually I was admitted to our local hospital. During my stay, I was so nauseous that nobody could eat in my room. If people wanted to eat while visiting me, they had to go to another room. I stayed there for three nights until I was strong enough to walk a little and less nauseous. My vomiting had also calmed down a little bit. I went home and spent a few days there but I also started to develop a weird, single, longer drawn out hiccup that usually happened around the time of throwing up. I wasn't getting better and finally we just decided that my mom would bring me to Maine Med (a larger hospital about 30 minutes from my house). After a visit to that emergency room, I was admitted to the Barbara Bush Children's Hospital (the children's wing in Maine Med). When I was at BBCH the drawn out hiccup I had experienced before turned into more of a seizure type thing that would occur every hour. Actually, this is how it went, I would get the seizure/hiccup thing, I would pass out, and then I  would wake up and then throw up. This happened every hour on the hour. (No, I was not looking at a clock and making myself do it). Eventually they spread out and I wasn't vomiting very often. I stayed in BBCH for three nights, also. It seemed like forever since I had been outside (little did I know that I would learn what that actually feels like). It's so weird looking back on that point in my life. I didn't think I was very sick at all. It's like my life finally got back to normal after that, and then I ran into a brick wall in November. I know I can't change what happened to me, but I do have days when I miss my life pre NMO.

Just a short rant...

Nothing makes me more mad than when people take advantage of things meant for handicapped people (i.e. lazy people using mart carts, people parking in the handicapped parking, legally or not, when they don't need it... etc). Earlier tonight when I went to the bathroom I saw that there was a girl who was waiting for a shower. I figured that there must have been a ton of people showering at the time. But as I went further into the bathroom I saw that there were FOUR open showers... FOUR OF THEM! We have five showers. The only shower being used was the handicapped shower (which the school basically built for me). You have got to be kidding me. This girl was so desperate to use the handicapped shower that she would wait while somebody else used it even though there were four free showers. I couldn't show my anger though (I have to save it all for the blog). So I did what I needed to do and went on my way. But in all honesty, people really just need to realize that things like that weren't made for fully capable people. And yes, we do mind if you use it. There have been many times that I have had to wait a long time for a shower because the one other person showering HAS to use the only shower that I can use. So I just ask all of you to be more aware of your actions. You may be pissing off a person in a wheelchair, and that's never a good idea. Especially when it's motorized. :)

The Ivanacs, Family Day, an Amazing Vampire, and AJ!!!

It's been a while since I've posted so there's a lot to catch up on.

First, THE IVANAC CLAN CAME TO VISIT ME! This was probably the highlight of my time at PhilaU so far. On September 22nd, Mrs. Ivanac, my 7th grade English teacher brought her husband, Doug, and her two girls Ellie and Gabby to Philly for a visit! Mrs. Ivanac is the coolest person ever. The last time I saw her was almost two years ago when I was paralyzed from the neck down and in the hospital. We spent the day in the back of sketchy restaurants, stealing forks, eating amazing dessert, being tourists, laughing at people in crazy outfits, and wondering if the drunk man on the bus was going to vomit on the stroller. Basically, the day was amazing!

Last weekend, my parents came to visit me. It was weird to see them because the last time I saw them was 6 weeks before when they left to go back to Maine after dropping me off at school. I hadn't gone a day without seeing my parents in the two years prior and suddenly I was on my own. I was pretty excited to be off campus for a while. My parents took me out to dinner on Friday, then on Saturday we went out to breakfast and had lunch at the school's parent's weekend barbecue. It was so nice to have food that wasn't "dining hall food". We then met up with some old friends who lived in Maine but currently live in Maryland. And while we were visiting, my sandal broke. THE ONLY PAIR OF SHOES I HAD FOR THE WEEKEND. I was staying with my parents at my aunt's house that night and my school was a good 30 minutes away from where we were and we were meeting people for dinner soon. We found that there was a mall very close and it happened to be the exact place where we were going for dinner (The Cheesecake Factory!). Bobbie, one of our friends who we were visiting suggested that we try Nordstrom Rack. Being from Maine, I had never heard of this store before. It's basically an outlet for Nordstrom, aka, discounted designer clothes. Little did I know Nordstrom Rack and I were about to become BEST FRIENDS! They carry designer shoes all the way up to size 13(my size)!!! NO WAY! This is literally the COOLEST store ever! The only store that ever carries size is Payless. The shoes there aren't always cute, and there's never many options. Nordstrom Rack had tons of shoes in my size! I hadn't been able to shoe shop like that in years. Dinner that night was very good and I got to stretch out on the pull out couch at my aunt's house! On Sunday my mom and aunt took me shopping at the King of Prussia Mall (the 2nd largest mall in the United States) where we shopped all day. I ended up with a new (and very cute) winter coat, a sweater dress, and two (desperately needed) bras. The day was extremely successful and at the end of the night it was hard to say goodbye to my mom. I didn't get to say goodbye to my dad. I was still sleeping when he left for a guy's day with my uncle. I'm working on getting them to come down this month. But if they don't come down this month then I won't see them until Thanksgiving. (yes, mom, I know you're reading this.... come to Philly!!)

Now, the amazing vampire. When my parents were down here for parent's weekend, they took me to get a routine blood draw at a nearby hospital. I HATE having my blood drawn, which is very ironic considering I am on blood thinners and need my blood drawn about once a month. Anyways, my veins are extremely difficult to get blood from and sometimes the "best" phlebotomists can't get it. Well, at the Roxborough Memorial Hospital there is an amazing vampire (phlebotomist) who got my blood with only one stick and zero pain! This was definitely worth blogging about because it's so hard to get my blood and this trip was such a success!

Finally, today (October 7th, 2012) , my cousin Sara, author of Adventures of a Cool Mom delivered her baby! His name is Austin Xavier Jones (to be known as AJ) and he's super cute! I'm really jealous that I'm not there to be able to meet him while he's still a newbie, but that will make going home for thanksgiving that much sweeter. So yeah, Sara, here's AJ's shout out! I told you I'd post one for him! :)

Truly Happy for the First Time in a Long Time!

For the first time in almost two years, I feel like I can say that I am truly, 100% happy with my life. I feel like the fact that I was given the opportunity for a fresh start is a big part of why I am so happy. I'm not reminded everyday that my life is not the same as it used to be, and that I'm not the same person anymore. Instead, I am in a new place where everybody only knows me as who I am at this point in my life. I don't see the poisonous people who I once called my friends. Instead, I see a group of absolutely wonderful friends each and everyday. They aren't friends with me because they knew me before I was sick so they would feel guilty if they stopped being my friend (like a lot of people at home were). They're friends with me regardless of my handicap. In fact, I think the best part about Philadelphia University is the friends I have made. And I have so many different groups of friends. Some I see more than others, but they're all so awesome. I feel like they all have been so accepting of me. My life is going in the perfect direction for me right now. I feel like I'm going to be so successful here.

Interesting Experiences...

So the first thing I need to do is give a shout out to my cousin Sara. This summer I followed her blog Adventures of a Cool Mom religiously. She was sort of my inspiration to write this blog. So yeah, everyone should go look at her blog (when you're done reading mine, of course) because she's hilarious slash awesome slash pregnant.

Now back to the reason the actual reason why I'm writing this post. It's been a month since I moved into college and I have definitely had my share of interesting experiences (hence the name interesting experiences).

I guess I'll start with my first day of classes.
It's 10:45 and I start to make way up to a building (which I was told was accessible) by my dorm for my 11 o'clock American transitions (BORING!) class. When I get to said building, I realize the only way to get in is to go up 3 or 4 steps. When I look at my schedule to double check, I realize my class is on the second floor. I then see a group of adults who look like professors. I ask them how I am supposed to get to class. They then pointed out that there is a ramp on the side of the building (which was locked) but my class is on the second floor and the elevator was BROKEN. I couldn't believe that it was my first class of my college career and I was physically unable to go to class. The professors then apologized and went their way. I started to panic. When I start to panic, I get these little prickly itchies (yes, I made up that word) all over my head, neck, and chest, and sometimes the rest of my body. I'm not going to lie, I started to tear up a little bit. Was my professor going to be mad at me? Was I going to have to drop the class? The uncertainty of what was about to happen was undeniably terrifying. By now it was about 11 and class had already started. I saw a girl running as if she were late for class. I asked her what class she had and she told me she has American transitions. I was so relieved when she told me that! So I asked her if she could tell the professor that I couldn't get into the building and that I was sitting outside. A few minutes later the professor came out with the syllabus and explained to me that another prof. wanted to trade rooms and that my class would then be in a more accessible building. What a relief! He told me not to worry and I went on my way back to my dorm to hang out until my next class. Nothing like keeping me on my toes, right?

My next class was in an accessible building and I loved my prof! But my third class of the day seemed to be a repeat of my first class. Thankfully this time I was with another girl from my class who went in to tell the prof that I had no way to get in the building. So once again, they moved the class and I didn't have to attend the first class, which I really didn't mind. Thankfully, the rest of my classes all worked out and I have no problem getting to them.

The last interesting experience I'm going to write about is going into the city using public transportation.  I got the opportunity to do this last weekend with a friend of mine who grew up 5 minutes from campus. I figured she was the best one to travel with seeing that she knows her way around Philly pretty well. Anyways, after waiting with my friend Amber, the bus finally arrived and I began to get nervous. When it pulled up to the curb, the bus driver lowered the bus and the pressed a button for a ramp to fold out. I rolled onto the bus and looked around at a bunch of people who looked like they probably have killed a few people or do meth. Basically, I was pretty scared. The bus diver moved the seat for me and I moved my wheelchair into position. He buckled my chair in and off we went. It probably wasn't the best idea for me to be on Facebook while on the bus because by the time we arrived in the city, I was beyond nauseous. But when I got off the bus I was so excited that I had survived my first bus trip! We played in the city for a while, mainly window shopping, and about 3 or 4 hours later, we decided to head home. This time the bus wasn't filled with a bunch of meth addicts, but a lot of fellow college kids. I'm so happy I learned to use public transportation because now I feel like I can go anywhere! I'm not stuck on campus.

I guess I should probably go to accounting now... (look at all that enthusiasm jumping off the page) There will be plenty more interesting experiences coming your way... trust me!

My Past and Where I am Today.

My name is Caroline Hinckley. 

I have a rare auto immune disease called Neuromyelitis Optica which paralyzed me from the neck down when I was only 16. Since then, almost two years have passed and I regained my ability to walk. I am still very weak and have to use a wheelchair to get around, but I am trying my hardest to regain my strength. Adjusting to life in a wheelchair has not been the easiest thing I've done in my life. I used to be a very independent girl and never wanted anyone to do anything for me. While I was paralyzed, I had to have people do EVERYTHING for me. My independence was ripped from my 16-year-old hands. People had to feed me, bathe me, even scratch my nose for me. I hated it. I do things in a very particular way and trying to explain to my mom just exactly where and how I wanted my nose scratched was a nightmare. 

But over the last two years I have been able to gain enough independence to move off to college (8.5 hours away, mind you) and live on my own with nobody to help me but myself. The thought of this scared me for the longest time, but I have been here at college (in Philadelphia) for a month already, and I am loving it! I feel like my life is going right for the first time in 2 years. So I hope to use this blog to show people the other side of the girl in the (hot pink) wheelchair and to let others follow my journey through college.

Some pictures of myself

My nephew (Camden) and I

Prom!

I'm actually the coolest auntie ever!

My family and I at graduation