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! :)