Osteoarthritis

I went to the Mayo Clinic about a week ago and I got some news to share.  I spoke with the surgeon and he confirmed that I have a pretty bad case of osteoarthritis in both of my jaw joints.  The arthritis is not common in young people so it was determined that one or all of the three jaw surgeries I've had was the cause.  Dr. Keller wants to do surgery in 6-8 weeks but I have school then so we are planning for it to be during spring break in March.  I am both excitied and nervous.  I'm excited because this may get rid of my pain!  I am nervous because there is a chance that my pain could stay the same or get worse.  I am just praying for it to work!  

I've Known It All Along

I have aways known that my disability and health issues take alot of my parent's attention away from my brothers and sisters and I have tried to make it up to them. One of my sisters feeling this came out a few nights ago. Its made me think about how I impact their lives. She is frustrated that I take so much time needing to go to various doctors all the time. I feel so sad that I can't make everything perfect. I wish there was something that I could do to make things right, make things even between us. All I can say is that life isn't fair and I'm sorry for that. Hopefully things will get better soon. Going to doctors, needing surgeries, pain issues... its all stuff that I wish I could change but its out of my control. That is so frustrating for me. I am thankful that my siblings have been understanding but I understand the frustrations they have. I don't know what I can do at this point.

Recent Happenings

Well it has been quite a while since I have been online. A lot has happened so this may turn out to be a long post. Don't worry... I will include pictures. :)

Well one of the biggest things that occurred lately was that one of my sisters, Charlet, moved out. It was quite sudden and I don't really know the whole story since I was at school but she is now living with my older brother. I have to say that overall the family has been much happier. I know it is a terrible thing to say but Charlet moving out is probably for the best for both Charlet and the family. I wish Charlet the best in whatever she does!

I have gone to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester a few times since my last post. I saw Dr. Reid on December 7th. He said that he believes he has found what is causing all of my jaw pain. He believes I have nerve damage from surgery and arthritis on both sides of my jaw. The treatment for this is not all that simple though. Apparently arthritis in the jaw is more complex than other joints. I have already tried everything that he recommended so the next step would be surgery. They would shave my jaw joint to make it smooth then add an implant. They said that they would have to do both sides separately so that means potentially two surgeries. Also, the surgery could possibly make it worse. It is sounding like the nerve damage is what it is so I have to deal with that. I have to say that even though this news isn't the best news I am SO glad to finally have an answer! I go back in a few days to talk to a surgen about the surgery to figure out if I will be having it or not.

My family and I went on a trip to Duluth to see the Bentleyville Tour of Lights. It was pretty awesome! The drive was about two hours but it was so fun! We got to walk through the lights and had hot chocolate and cookies, popcorn, and roasted marshmallows and this was all for free!

The Kids

Our Family

So about a week ago, my parents held a family fun night. They told us nothing about where we were going or what we were doing. It was a surprise. Well, turns out that mom and dad rented a limo to look at Christmas lights! We had a blast!
Hmm... Not as long as I thought... Maybe that because finals are over so my creative juices are just not there now till next semester.... Go winter break!

Results

Well I went to the Mayo Clinic today. It turned out to be an all day thing. I got there at 7:15am and left about 2:30pm. I saw Dr. Kevin Reid. He was pretty nice. He listened to everything I said, he came up with a game plan, and he told some jokes. He wanted to get some tests done before we try much. He said he wanted to know what exactly needs to be done.

I got an EMG done on my face. The doctor thinks I may have some nerve damage among other things and he wants to see how much there may be. That was NOT the highlight of my visit. I went in and they sent some electric shocks into my face to see response to stimulis. That seemed to go okay. After that a different guy stuck a needle into my face in a muscle. That was painful. Really, really painful. After I left there I went back to Dr. Reid's office and asked if he could give me anything for the pain that the EMG caused. He sat down again with me and took time to talk again and gave me a perscription for a muscle relaxant and a pain reliever. Let me say that so far I have been impressed with Dr. Reid.

So now I need to go back to the Mayo Clinic on November 13th for more tests. I have to meet with the physical therapist, get an MRI, try acupuncture, and get a Nero CT. After that I meet with the surgical team and Dr. Reid on December 7th.

In the meantime I will be taking a new drug named Nortriptyline for nero pian. Hopefully it helps! I am definately optamistic right now. I feel like I have a plan, that something is being done other than people saying, "I don't know".

About 8 Hours

There is less than a day (about 8 hours) before I will be at the Mayo Clinic. I optimistic but trying to not let my hopes up too much. I really want all of my pain issues to dissolve tomorrow with the doctors finding a solution but I know that there is a possibility that they won't have an answer. I know that these types of things are really out of my control and that kinda drives me crazy. I know what I want but have no way of getting there yet! I wish I could sleep right now but it takes me forever to fall asleep because of pain.

I started a Pop Tab War in my residence hall to raise money for the Ronald McDonald House Charities. So far the West side has gotten about 2.5lbs of pop tabs. The East side has about 5 ounces... They are a bit behind.... Tsk tsk tsk! There are 2 more weeks of collecting pop tabs before they are officially weighed.

School seems to be going well. I haven't failed anything (knock on wood) and I am enjoying most of my classes. We had our midterms recently and I got them back. I passed both of them. Whew! I also decided to add an additional lesson on my own. I decided to try to learn Spanish. Not sure how that will work out with the accent but I'm going to try.

One last thing, I went to my bowling class today. I got a 300, perfect score! But the only thing is that our lane was working weird and both of us on this lane got perfect scores everytime! Everytime I get a goodscore the lanes always seem to be broken in some way! :)

Buenos Noches!

Women of Faith

I went to Women of Faith Pre-Conference today. It was awesome! I go every year with my mom. I love going because the speakers are so amazing and I get to spend a whole weekend with my mom. At this pre-conference I got to see Marilyn Meberg and Sandi Patty speak. I was really interested in what Sandi Patty had to say. Her speech was about unpacking your box. She spoke about how everyone has a box of stuff that weighs us down (issues that cause you to feel shame or embarrassment) and how we need to find someone to talk to to unpack our box so no one is alone. (I hope that made sense to everyone reading.) It probably sounded much better when Sandi Patty was talking about it.

For those who do not know, Sandi Patty is an amazing singer. She has a voice range that is astounding. She appearing on Extreme Makeover: Home Edition for a family who had a member who was blind. She sang while the house was being demolished so the blind person could "see" the demolition. She sang some songs for everyone at the Women of Faith conference. During one of her songs she turned to the Deaf section and started signing what she was singing!
I was so happy about this I got my camera out and started recording (its a bit shaky). Towards the end of the video she asks all of the Deaf people to stand and join her in signing. I was so moved that she would think of the people who cannot hear her song and learn sign language so we could enjoy her singing as well. I joined in and signed along with her and everyone sitting around me. This was really the best part for me because I could appreciate her song in that way.

Unfortunately I can't attend the whole conference. I am on duty at my dorm and I didn't request time off soon enough so I had to come back and work. I am pleased that I did at least attend the pre-conference.

There is less than two weeks before I go to the Mayo Clinic. I am so hoping that something comes out of this visit! My pain level has still been elevated but I have been able to manage it. I hope that one day I don't have to manage it because it will be gone.

I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

If Only It Were True...

I went to my bowling class fully expecting to get the normal score ranging from 90-120. I got a surprise today however. I was bowling strikes! One after another after another! My scores today ranged from 184-245. I bowled four games and in order my scores were: 198, 216, 184, 245. Let me remind everyone that a perfect game is a score of 300. I must say I did pretty well...

If only that were true... (sigh)

I really did get those scores today but there was something I left out from the above, the computer was on the fritz today. Everyone in class was getting strikes because if you hit 8 pins or more the first time the computer automatically said that you got a strike. That means that I could miss 2 pins and still get a strike. I loved it because that means that I could look like a pro bowler when in fact I am completely average. After a while though I came back to earth and realized that I am still an average bowler with the computers going haywire. Oh well... It was fun while it lasted...

I really did get these scores... I just didn't really get them...

If you look closely, you can see that I got 9 strikes this game. Only the 4 white one I got myself. The rest were computer glitches.

Mayo

Good news! I am going to go to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester on October 29th. Hopefully some answers will be found. I am willing to try almost anything to get rid of the pain. My mom wanted us to stay at the Ronald McDonald House the night before I see the doctors because my appointment is so early but I am too old so we will either be getting up at the crack of dawn or getting a hotel room.

My pain has been pretty bad lately and I have thought multiple times about taking Vicodin to try to make the pain lessen. Normally it doesn't work and since I am allergic to it, I get extremely sick from taking it. Each time I take it I seem to get more and more sick. I think pretty so I won't be able to take it because the reaction is so bad. I am trying to refrain from it by reminding myself that it really doesn't get rid of my pain anyway but pain is a big motivator to try something again and again even if it didn't work the first time.

I am also having alot of pain in my hands and wrists. It makes it pretty hard to take notes and write papers. I'm hoping that goes away soon and I can concentrate more on my studies.

Moved In

Well I am finally comfortably moved in. Now my residents are moving in today and this week. I'm hoping I have cool residents. I have both guys and girls so that should be interesting. Also, some of my residents are older than I am. Anyway, I am looking forward to being a CA in my residence hall.

I got my bed lofted so I can also have a futon in my room. :)

Unfortunately I can't watch T.V. on that television. That is my videophone.

My door covered with other CAs door decerations. The ones that I made for my residents looks like the one that is in the center of my door between the peepholes with the sign language on it. I think they turned out pretty well.

This is my doorbell. I had to make signs for it because last year people would walk by my room and push it for fun. I decided that I should post them right away so everyone knows why it is there and I don't run into problems with it.


This is my fire alarm (complete with flashy light) and my doorbell that flashes blue every time someone pushes the button. Its pretty sweet.

New Dorm

Well I am starting to move into my new dorm room. I am so excited!!! Here are some pictures of what it looks like before I move in. I even have a sink attached!

Relaxing

I am out of camp and loving every minute of relaxation. I am enjoying luxuries such as access to the internet and electricity. I almost went back to Northwoods for one more week but I decided that I needed to relax and recover from working at Singing Hills. Working almost 24/7 for two months can be taxing! My next task is to start packing for school. I am a CA this year so I move in early. I can't wait for school to begin this year!

Camp 2009

Well camp is offically coming to an end in 2 days. (sigh) It was quite an eventful summer. Having a camper with lice, being sick, homesick campers, cranky staff, etc... But eventhough there were some bumps in the road I still had a good time. I made new friends, got a tan, and got to be at camp. There were some significant happenings that deserve to be mentioned.

This smaller than what is was originally.

Well Like I mentioned in my last post I went to the ER. They were having such a difficult time getting blood that it was decided to do an I.V. just in case they needed something else or I was admitted into the hospital. Luckily I was able to leave later that night but without concrete answers and a gigantic bruise. Soon after I went to camp and all the campers saw the bruise on my arm and it was a big thing that week so I thought it earned a place here.

My sister and I learning how to scuba dive.

I was my sister's counselor for the week that she was at camp. Normally my sister hates going to camp because she gets bullied alot. But the exact oppisite happened! She had a fantastic time! I was so glad that she made friends and got along with the whole group! She said that I was an awesome counselor because I didn't treat her any differently than anyone else and she had a good time because of that. (I think she also liked having a familiar face around as well.)

My sandals on the flag pole.

At camp we play these games where the campers have to find the counselors and do a task to earn points. Well one of the tasks that was given was to find where I was and steal my sandals. Then another group had to string them up on the flag pole. I thought it was hilarious and had to take a picture.

Shante' and Me trying to be pirates. (Shante' succeeded.)

We had exactly one themed meal at Singing Hills. It was a shipwreak dinner. It was pretty fun. We had a conoe in the middle of the dining hall and we ate with cooking/serving utensils instead of regular silverware. It was pretty enjoyable have this much fun at a meal.

Western Week at Northwoods

Shante' and I was asked if we could help out at Northwoods for a week because they were short staffed. We both accepted immediately. (We both adore Northwoods.) When we got up there we both wanted to stay because the staff was so nice and the camp was like home. I got to lifeguard and run waterfront during some points of the week. It was awesome!!! I love Northwoods so much!!!

My tent T.P. when I got back to Singing Hills

This past week some people went around during the night and toilet papered all of the staff tents. By this time I am so greatful that camp is almost over!!!!

Happy Fourth of July!

Hey! Sorry for not posting in a while. I have been working at a Girl Scout camp since June 3 and we have very little electricity and almost no Internet connection there. I have been enjoying a nice 3 day break for July 4th and I will be returning to camp tomorrow. I will be getting a group of girls specializing in scuba diving. This group will also have my sister in it. I'm hoping I can treat her just like my other campers!

Well a few things have been happening since my last post.

My sister Lacy got confirmed. I am so proud of her! She had to memorize verses and answer questions by the pastor. She has worked very hard and now she has done it!

Congratulations Lacy!

A couple things have been happening at camp that is not really desirable. I was denied soft foods. The camp director said that I had to provide my own food for myself. My first group of campers had five girls and out of the five three got sick. They were a good bunch of girls however and I already miss them! I did get certified in Lifeguarding so I am pretty excited about being a Lifeguard at the waterfront. Shante' is a friend of mine working with me at camp and she is such a support for me there. She has been helping me work through my pain and give these girls an awesome camping experience.

Shante' and Me during staff training

In one of my previous posts I said that I changed my major. Well... I did it again. This time I hope its for good. I got accepted into the Elementary Education program! So now all I have to do is take the classes and of course pass them.

Last night I spent about four hours in the ER. I am still having joint pain (a lot in my hands), getting rashes on my hands and arms, feeling really fatigued, and I'm just not feeling right. My mom is thinking Lupus. I'm thinking Lyme Disease. The doctor last night was thinking Mono or atypical Pneumonia. But I am back home and going back to camp until the Lyme test comes back and until I can see a rheumatologist.

Happy Fourth of July! I hope you enjoy this day and get to see the celebratory fireworks!

Deaf Linx

Hey, I just wanted to show you Deaf Linx.  This website is a great source for really anything to do with Deaf related topics.  You can learn about Deaf Culture, American Sign Language, chat rooms, and a lot more.  You can also find out where Deaf events are happening in your area and a source for you to connect with other Deaf people.

So Far So Good

I had my Lasik surgery Wednesday.  It went pretty well.  My dad's medical money card thing didn't go through so I almost had to go home but luckily we worked it out and we went on as scheduled.  I wouldn't say I was too scared about getting surgery.  I was a bit nervous though.  I depend on my eyes so much for lipreading that any problem that could cause me to lose my sight would not be good.  The surgery itself was short but pretty weird.  The worse part for me was when the doctor pulled back a flap he made in my cornea.  When that happened my vision got 100 times worse.  I was just hoping that the flap wouldn't tear or anything because I realised how important that cornea is to seeing things.  It turns out I was their best patient of the day.  They said that most patients can't help but move around a bit but I was still as a statue.  The doctor was pretty impressed with that.  I just didn't want to open any opportunity for accidents!  My sight is a bit hazy right now but getting better.  The doctor said this morning that I had close to 20/20 vision so I am pretty happy that it seems to be going well.

I am still in the process of finishing my take home test.  If anyone has read White Teeth by Zadie Smith let me know because I need some input.  Hopefully I will have all of the test done and turned in by Monday.

My pain level is no worse or better than my standard of normal pain.  I am still looking into going to the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota and also someplace in the Boston area for any answers I can find.  I have a feeling that something is beginning to not be right.  I am getting random itchy rashes on my arms and some of my joints are beginning to hurt more and more.  I'm hoping it's just a bug going around but I may get it checked out if it persists. 

Finally Free from Finals

Woo Hoo!  I am finally free!  I just finished my last final.  I actually have a take home final that I haven't yet finished but I'm done with everything else!  It feels so great!  I'm hoping I feel this great when I receive my grades.  One of my classes, British Literature, was a killer class!  I'm hoping to pass it but I'm not expecting an A in that class (although that would be great!).   I decided that tonight I wouldn't do anything but relax.  I was at the testing center all day today.  My testing started at 10am and I didn't finish with all of my finals till about 5:30pm.  Whew!  It's over!

I signed up for classes yesterday.  Guess what one of my classes is... American Sign Language level 1.  I am already fluent in sign language and use interpreters in class but apparently I have to start at the bottom and work my way up.  Well at least it will be a nice and easy class.

I also changed my major.  Yes I changed it again.  Let's see... first it was Political Science.  Then I changed it to Global Studies.  After that I thought I would triple major with Education, Political Science, and Global Studies.  Then I was set straight by my friends that triple majoring wasn't a good plan so I thought Elementary Education.  Now yesterday I changed it back to Political Science.  Whew!  Did you follow all of that? :)  I know, it's a lot of indecisiveness.  I think I've got it now... hopefully.

My pain level today is hovering around a high 5.  I have been getting stabbing pains every once in a while but thankfully they don't last very long.

Tomorrow is the day that I get Lasik.  Today is the last full day I have to wear glasses.  Tomorrow after 1:30pm I will be glasses free!  I'm hoping the surgery goes well with no problems or set backs.  The doctor seems pretty confident so I am not too worried.  I will let you know how it all goes when I can.

Dad is OK

Well my dad seems to be doing fine.  He didn't have a stroke but he had a transient ischemic attack (TIA) which is kind of like a stroke but very short and it leaves no damage.  I read that people that have this is more prone to a very big stroke later on.  I hope that doesn't happen.  Thank you all for your prayers! 

Emergency Prayer Request

I just got word that my dad may have had a stroke.  He lost his peripheral vision.  He is in the ER right now trying to find out what exactly is wrong.  Please keep him in your prayers!  I am very worried and wish I were there to support him at the hospital but I am stuck at school studying for finals.  I will update later with information on how my dad is doing. 

No Longer a Teenager

Well this is it!  I am no longer officially a teenager.  I am now 20 years old.  I don't think of birthdays the same as everyone else.  I typically don't like my birthday.  When I was 4 years old my mom was cleaning out my closet and she took away some of my favorite clothes because I had out grown them.  I was so upset that I couldn't wear my favorite clothes anymore so I decided I didn't want to grow up.  I wanted to stay little and have everything be the same.  Well my opinion hasn't changed.  I still don't relish the idea of growing older.  The reason for my opinion has changed but I still feel the same.  I would rather just stay a teenager.  Teenagers can have responsibility but if they mess up then it is easily forgiven.  When you are older you have responsibility and if you don't follow through... big problems!  Anyway, I will stop grumbling now.

My family came to my school and had dinner with me to celebrate my birthday.  I was very happy to spend time with my family.  I love them so much!  The rest of my day was filled with writing papers and completing assignments.  I will have to celebrate more fully after finals.

Ice Skating

I got to watch my sisters and brother skate today at the ice show.  I love skating myself so getting to watch them was a great treat.  I am going to try to put up the videos I took.  Michael, my brother, looks like he is having a pretty good time... especially when he slides on his knees on the ice!  

Well I am feeling the pressure now at school.  So many final paper due at once and I am a closet procrastinator. :)  Right now I am working on the theory of the Multitude by Hardt and Negri.  Quite interesting but now I have to put my thoughts on paper.  Hmmmm...

My pain is still unchanged.  No relief but I haven't had any bad breakthroughs of pain in the past couple days so I am counting my blessings.  

Lasik Consult

I saw Dr. Allen today to see if I am a good candidate for Lasik surgery.  He said I was and that he could get both of my eyes done at the same time if I wanted to.  Right now I am undecided.  Luckily the doctor said that I can choose to do one or both eyes the day of the surgery.  Surgery is scheduled for May 13.  I have just enough time to heal before I go to Camp Singing Hills to work for the summer.  

The Homestretch

Well the semester is almost done and I cannot wait! Spring is in the air and I am getting anxious to be outside. I have been tempted to skip class but I will use all of the will power I have not to. I will still diligently attend all of my classes even though I wish to be frolicking outside in the weather that is finally warm enough to not need a jacket. Less than a month and I will be free from homework, deadlines, and exams until September. We are now in the homestretch of the semester. The end is in sight.

My pain level is still higher than normal. Normal before surgery was hanging around a 4-5 on a 1-10 scale. Now its a little more intense and of course annoying. I just refilled my Vicodin so I should be set for a while. I am still eating really soft foods however I may have to push myself a bit because Grandma Rierson is here and she is an amazing cook. I don't want to miss her cooking because we don't get to eat her cooking that often. Her food is worth having some pain for.

I have a doctor appointment on the 22nd for my eyes. I am getting Lasik in one eye this May. We are doing one eye at a time because medical things always seem to go wrong and my eyes are pretty important since I cannot hear. I would just live with glasses but they are causing problems with my "special" ear so I have to do something and mom says no to contacts.

Trying to Stay Positive

Well I am still in a lot of pain from surgery.  Basically everything from my shoulders on up is hurting along with nausea.  I don't think all of the anesthesia has exited my system yet and that stuff makes me pretty sick.  The muscles under my tongue are still swollen so moving my tongue much is a no no.  A banana is difficult to eat.  I am pretty much stuck with soup like foods for now.  Luckily today I don't have to babysit Tori (like I normally do Mondays) so I can relax and focus on catching up with assignments and getting well.  I found a song with lyrics that really speak to me in my situation and reminds me that this pain I have is only temporary.  One day I will go to heaven where there is no crying, pain, or burdens and I look foward to that.  The song is "There Will Be A Day" by Jeremy Camp.  In the mean time I will try to remain positive and live life to the fullest.

American Sign Language University

I found this awesome website that will help anyone learn American Sign Language for free!  The ASL University offers a lot of resources.  There are free lessons complete with new signs, finger spelling practice, and history.  After each lesson there is a quiz to see how much you have learned.  Along with the lessons (which is totally cool!) there is also a library, dictionary, jokes, and so much more.  I have enjoyed using this site and I am sure you will also.

Surgery

Well I had my mouth surgery on Thursday April 9th. The surgery was expected to be 3 hours but it ended up being 6 1/2 hours. It went better than I expected although now I am pretty sore. I haven't yet been able to eat anything solid. It hurts too much to chew or to open my mouth wider then the width of a finger. I am hoping it will get better soon!

After I got out of surgery and became more aware of my surroundings I checked some blogs that I regularly follow. I am sad to say that Erin Buenger passed away while I was in the operating room. I never met this amazing girl but I have been following her story for quite some time. She was a strong and courageous girl who fought neuroblastoma for 82 months. Everytime I checked her blog, it lifted my spirit. She was fighting for her life but she always had a smile on her face and encouraged others to live in each moment. Erin, you are greatly missed.

Car Light Story

I thought I would share one of my stories about being Deaf.  One of my fears of driving is being pulled over by the police.  I am afraid that they won't believe that I am Deaf because I speak so clearly.  Well about a year ago I just got my license.  I was driving back home from a babysitting job.  It was getting dark and I wasn't paying very close attention to my driving as I probably should have.  I pulled up to a stop sign about a mile from my house.  I stopped and saw a police car to my right stop after I did.  I made a left turn to head home and then lights started flashing.  My heart sank into my stomach.  I wasn't speeding I knew that!  After I pulled over he pulled up behind me.  He had a bright light from his car shining into my side mirror and when he came to my window he had a flashlight shining into my eyes.  I couldn't see a thing!  Lipreading was impossible with all the light pouring into my face.  Right then I made the decision that I wouldn't make a sound.  I handed him a card that said "I am Deaf."  After he read the card he started to flail his arms and try to act out what he wanted.  Finally he communicated that something was wrong with my lights.  I don't know exactly what because his miming was difficult to understand.  After everything was figured out he told me I could go.  During all this time I was so scared that I was going to get arrested or something terrible like that.  I was so relieved afterwards I almost sped home.  Thankfully I haven't had to go through that again!

Catching Up

Well after missing a week of school because of the hospital and because I didn't get much sleep during the next week (spring break) because of pain, I feel like I have been constantly playing catch-up.  I'm hoping to get through this next week without many problems.  I have four tests and countless assignments due.  Luckily one of my classes Monday has been canceled and I can either study or get some more winks of sleep.  Ahh the college life...

Pain Update: My jaw still hurts constantly.  I will be having surgery on April 9th and hopefully that will relieve some of the pain I have.  Also, the pain in my right ear isn't as noticable as the pain right underneath my right eye.  I'm kind of wondering if something has moved/changed.  I will find out this Friday when I go to the doctor's office for my pre-op.

In the hospital

Well its been a while since I last posted.  A lot has happened in that time.  I guess the biggest is that I was admitted into the hospital last Sunday.  I was taking Tramadol for my pain and I'm allergic to it.  I had a bad reaction to the medication and my mom and dad had to come get me from school and take me to the hospital.  When I got there the Dr. said that he thought that after some benadryl and observation I would be ok.  That was before the Tramadol wore off.  Then my pain kicked in and I was admitted for the Tramadol allergy and pain.  So now my options for pain control are pretty limited.  Hopefully surgery in April will help with my pain.  I don't expect my pain to dissappear (although that would be awesome!) but hopefully it will lessen the intensity.

As soon as I got out of the hospital and recovered a bit I left home to help at the Model United Nations confrence.  I was part of the Secretariat.  I was still not feeling well because of pain control but I had a blast.  I got to see so many highschoolers get involved in a simulation weekend of the United Nations.  It is in my opinion one of the best programs out there.  

I've been having pain near my right ear now.  I'm not sure what that is but if it persists I will get it checked out.

Honoring Our Troops

A few days ago there was a big send off for some people in the National Guard. They were being sent to Iraq. I heard about it because a student from school was one of those people leaving. This will be his second tour. He is just 14 credits shy of graduating. When I learned about Ross Hedlund I thought back to a poem I once wrote for school in 7th grade. You can read it below. If you would like to follow Ross' journey though his second tour, you can find his blog at http://rosshedlund.blogspot.com/.

"The Army"

The people in the army
Risk their lives everyday
To make sure our country
Is safe from harm's way

Some go to Iraq,
To Japan, and Vietnam
Some don't make it back
To see the whole outcome

We owe it to the army
And to God up above
We offer them our thanks
With our support and love

Pin Cushion

Well I went to the clinic this morning. I was late but they didn't seem to mind much. Not many people were there. I sopke with a doctor first. We talked about the study and how it could impact the diagnosis of lupus or other autoimmune diseases. After that it was time for the blood draw. I told the doctor that I needed their absolute best person because I am a hard stick. Well, needless to say, it didn't work out well. When I told the nurse about not being easy to The nurse tried twice and missed both times. The second time she was digging around alot. I began not to feel well. After her second try the doctor and nurse were talking about sending me somewhere else to have my blood drawn. I didn't want to do that and neither did my mom. So my mom offered to try. She is a nurse so they said go ahead. She got it! They didn't get all the blood they wanted but they were satisfied with what they got. Now I'm off to babysit tonight.

















Pic 1: The nurse tried a heating pad to make the veins in my arm easier to get.
Pic 2: The first stick. Yikes!

Positive ANA

A couple of weeks ago, I had my blood tested for autoimmune diseases or disorders that may be the cause of all of my pain. The doctor called and said that I tested positive on the ANA test which means that I may be at risk for getting lupus in the future. So tomorrow I am going in to participate in a study. They want to find out a way to more accurately determine if my positive test will result in lupus or not. I'm not too excited though because they want blood. I have horrible veins so I expect to be treated like a pin cushion. Hopefully it goes better then I am prepared for!