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While I was in the ICU in Minneapolis Children's Hospital, there were a couple of days that were critical as to how I would heal, hence the ICU. The whole time though, the hospital had this Ronald McDonald's House, and though I have still never seen it, I am very thankful for it. My mom got a lot of mileage out of it those first few stressful days when she needed a meal but had been worked into a frenzy over worrying about me. Then when she and my dad and siblings were all there, she noted that it was helpful to be able to get a meal for the whole family. After this whole terrible sickness period of my life, I plan to go back the Children's hospital and volunteer to help those who helped me. And I will probably say hi to the nurses on the ICU, because sadly I know all their names. I was there that long. Anyway, my experience at the hospital has changed me and made me view things differently. A real eye-opener.

Being Able to do Your Own Thing

I am also slowing becoming more independent, I don't know if that's the right word, more able to do things on my own. In the hospital I was so sick at the beginning I couldn't do anything but lay there and watch TV. Then I graduated to films, and began to walk longer distances, and the pains became a little less and I could do a little more. After the first week or so I got pretty good at getting myself out of bed, unplugging my IV tower (I was like 7 feet tall and my 3 or 4 antibiotics hung from it, plus had a chargeable battery), going to the bathroom, then going for a walk, coming back to my room, plugging myself back in, and crawling back into bed. It sounds lame, but that little bit of self-sufficiency made me feel awesome. To be able to do something on my own and not rely on others made me feel better. When I got home from the hospital Wednesday night, I when to bed, and then woke up to make my own breakfast. Scrambled eggs and toast, and I felt glorious that I did it on my own! :D Such a little and silly thing, but I did it! It's these little steps that are going to keep me sane and recover. I am going to appreciate being able to do things for myself so much more, because for the past two weeks my life has really depended on nurses and doctors, and to some degree still does. I cannot wait to be completely healed. As it is I still have appointments with doctors and my new shipment of IV meds arrived today. Yeah.....

Wish I Could Really Sleep

Sleep. I did a lot of sleeping in the hospital the past two weeks, and it was all interrupted and not very good quality. I would be sleeping in my bed and someone would strap on the blood pressure cuff and measure me. Or I would be beginning to wake up and a nurse would be pulling blood from my PICC line for Labs to find out my white blood cell count, my hemoglobin, and my vitals. I am really enjoying sleeping in a real bed in my house, with now prodding nurses, and no machines beeping continuously throughout the night. Being able to sleep for 8 hours at a time sounds like heaven, and I still cannot do that at home yet. I cannot wait to kick this infection in the but and be a normal person. As the film "The Princess Bride" quoted "If you haven't got your health, then you haven't got anything" which I have found to be very true. It's hard to be happy and enjoy things when you're super sick. I watched this movie in the hospital, ultimate sick day movie, and people were passing by in the hall and looking in at the movie and smiling. It's such a universally known film. 

Importance of Family

Alright, so another thing in the hospital that I have really come to appreciate is my family. They made it a point to visit me all 13 days that I was there, sometimes even twice a day, with multiple parking passes and staying late at night and keeping me occupied. It's troublesome times like these that you're true friends and family shows, and my family really cares about me. This whole times has been stressful on all of us and I feel bad, but it's the sort of crazy random happen-stance that couldn't be prevented. The way a family deals with these things will shaped and in the end strengthen them. I am also really happy to be home and away from the hospital. I still have to have IV antibiotics though and my mom has to administer them to me, just like a nurse. I can tell she doesn't enjoy it, but I'm worth saving. :P This is also one reason I am super thankful this Thanksgiving.

Wonderful Arms

I think it's been 3 weeks or so since I last posted something, but it's understandable, I've been pretty sick. Many of you know this, and recently I got out of the hospital. Hoor-ay! While in the hospital I became very much aware of a lot of little things that I never really noticed. For instance, I love my arms now. At this moment I have a PICC line, which is basically a hyped-up IV line, in my right arm which makes it difficult to bend my elbow which means I have to eat with my left hand and grab for things with that hand and depend more on that hand. It's hard, but I am getting better at it. There was one day in the hospital, and I felt really pathetic, but I had the PICC line in my right and an IV in my left hand, and I was hungry. My dad was a pal and fed me, and honestly enjoyed it and but I felt feeble and was so happy when I got one of my arms back. A little thing that makes a big difference. Enjoy your arms people and being able to use them! :)

Stupid Mistakes

Well...it has been a long time since my last post, super busy life right now. Ugh...Anyway, tonight was Halloween. Did anyone do anything fun? I had a great night at theatre till 6, got let out early, went to Chipotle with all the other people who got out early, and then trick-or-treated in Champlin. All in all a really fantastic night...Until my sister, who has granted me the lovely honor of calling her an "idiot" for eternity, though I won't cause that's too mean. Anyway, the night was great until my sister lost her CELLPHONE! The phone she had just gotten a month ago! I was furious because of her carelessness and the fact that my butt would be in trouble as well. But I kept calm and we retraced her steps for the entire night, that took about 15 minutes. She was just about ready to ball her eyes out  but eventually we found it, and I made sure that she had learned her lesson. "Make sure to check your s**t before you leave any place". I think she got the message. Has anyone else ever done something so profoundly stupid?

IB Diploma

Has anyone ever talked with Ms. Larson and found out the percentage of dip cans who gain an IB diploma? I feel like that's an important stat that I never heard before I joined the program. Is it a lot of people? Ms. Larson often talks about how kids get college credit for certain courses, but does that mean they rocked one course, did poorly in others, and didn't get the diploma. My mom really wants me to get this diploma, and I will try,  but is it really all that? I am tired and a bit skeptic this morning, I was just wondering.