The Happenings

  Okay I know, I am two weeks behind on my weekly update, but I am here now!

  Since I last wrote some things have happened.  I had an iron transfusion over at Huntsman Cancer institute and that went really well. I didn't have any bad reactions to it which is awesome!! I go in next week to get my labs done to see if my ferritin levels have gone up. Cross my fingers that they have. It was a very long process to have the transfusion but it was a good time to get some sleep and bond with my mom. They started the iron in my IV and it looked like coffee. I thought it was pretty funny.

  I also went to Zions National Park and hiked the virgin river narrows with some friends. It was the most amazing and majestic hike that i had ever been on. It wore me out and I couldn't move the next day but it was so worth it. If you ever go to Zions National Park I highly recommend doing the Narrows. You wont regret it. I have crossed a few things off my bucket list because of that hike.

   My family and I also did the Fire Ride for the fallen firefighters. It's an amazing ride for a good cause. Once again it kicked my butt for being  on a motorcycle for a few hours but it was worth it. We had a great time and I got to enjoy some quality time with my family!

  I might be gone for a little while again because I leave for Hawaii next week! My best friend ( Big sister) and her husband live there and I am going to go visit them! I am so excited, it's going to be the best week and a half of my life!

THOUGHT OF THE WEEK:
My thought of the week is to ALWAYS be grateful for everything! Not kidding, you need to show the people you love that you reconize what they do for you and that you APPRECIATE it!!!  


SIDE THOUGHT:
October is right around the corner.....Literally. It's in like 4 days. I know that most of you are getting ready for Breast Cancer awareness and Halloween but October is also Dysautonomia Awareness month. I challenge you to tie one on for P.O.T.S.  Go to the link below and get an awareness bracelet and show your support for all of the people in the world who have Dysautonomia! Post your pictures in the comments section! I'd like to do a post about it if I get enough pictures!

https://www.etsy.com/shop/WhatKnotShop/search?search_query=Dysautonomia&order=date_desc&view_type=gallery&ref=shop_search

My mom and I are tying one on for POTS

A change for the better

  So this post is going to be pretty serious so bare with me.  For those who are new to the blog you are going to want to stop reading this post now and start from the beginning so you know what I am talking about.

  Most of you know that five (5) years ago I was diagnosed with P.O.T.S. It was really really hard on me. I had been told that I had to give up dancing, which almost killed me. My life and my families life had be flipped completely upside down. The sicker I got the less I went to church and I got bitter. My mom and dad were able to stay strong and have faith that everything was going to be alright.

   Me on the other hand I gave up on that faith. I had lost a passion of mine, that being dance, and "friends". I also was being gossiped about and people thought that I was pretending to be sick to get attention. It was really hard to deal with. I then began to think "Why me God?" "What did I do to deserve all of this?" "Why are you punishing my family?" I began to blame God and I became angry with him. I gave up on Him and all of the teachings that I was taught as little girl. I began to think that he didn't care about me, because if he did care about me I wouldn't be sick.

  I had this attitude for years. I didn't tell anyone how I was feeling. No one knew at that time I thought I hated God. I recently have made some very serious mistakes in my life. These mistakes made me feel like i wasn't worthy to be in the presence of a church member or some family. I was extremely ashamed of myself and I didn't know what to do. I went to my parents and told them how i was feeling, My parents en contacted on of my older brothers who has gone through similar things as me and has felt the feeling I have felt. My parents. my brother, and I  sat down and the four of us had a heart to heart conversation.

   As we were talking my brother (John) was inspired to show me a video, and this video changed my whole perspective on what I was going through. I literally was brought to tears. It was the most beautiful video I have seen.  Here is the link to the video.... I hope it works, if it doesn't let me know in the comments so I can fix it for you. I ask all of you to watch the video, whether you are a Christian, Buddhist, Muslim, or Atheist. There is just a good spirit about this video that it is enjoyable for anyone. I hope that you enjoy and love this video as much as I do. Anyway here is the link:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?cid=social_20140731_28870606&v=2w49_1a9X0Q

Right there in front of my parents my brother and I vowed to help each other do the right thing and keep each other lifted so we can be closer to God. Since then we have registered in the most amazing institute class and we try and have scripture study together at least once a week. I am so grateful for him and I am so glad that I have him by my side as we go through this together.

I am also so grateful for my friend who lives in Ceder UT, I would put her name but I don't have her permission. This girl has been so super supportive of me for everything Ive been through. I have had some friend troubles and she has been my shoulder to cry on. She has held my hand as I struggle with losing friends of a long time because we don't share the same values. No matter what I know that I can shoot her a text, call, or facetime her and she will boost me up when I feel down. She is a true friend and I am so blessed to have her in my life.

Having good friends that respect you for who you are and support you in your decisions and journeys through life are so important. If you have a friend that respects what you believe in and doesn't make you do anything that would go against your belief system I want you to grab them, and squeeze them and never let them go. They are the people you NEED in you life. Friends that lift you up and make you want to be a better person are so important, but you nee to be that same kind of friend to them. It is not a one way deal. If your friend gives you their hand and lifts you up, you better reach down and pull them up too. A friendship like this sounds like a fantasy, but they are real. You just have to have the right group of friends and work hard at lifting each other up and keeping your standards high. I cannot put more of an emphasis on this.

My mom ALWAYS tells me: "Show me your friends and I'll show you, your future. As I have grown older and have been through a lot of friends, this actually has become one of my favorite quotes. It is so true. If you hang out with a group of friends that doesn't mind vandalizing a few small things, you are going to end up vandalizing peoples property. It happens all the time. Your friends have such an influence on how you act an what you do. Especially when you are young. I know how hard it is to stay true to your values and beliefs if your friends don't have the same ones as you. For your happiness and well being you HAVE to stay true to those beliefs and values. If you lose a friend because they have a problem with what you believe than you don't need them in your life. Trust me I know from experience.

Every Wednesday I am going to try and post an update on everything that is going on and give you guys a spiritual thought or something I learned in my institute class. The class is about personal revelation, so my thoughts that I wright my sound personal. That is probably because that is what my personal revelation was.

Today's thought of the day is one that I had in class.This is copied word for word strait from my journal that I use in class.

THOUGHT OF THE DAY:

If we TALK to god we can actually build a relationship with Him. If we just pray to him it becomes more of a routine/chore and very repetitive. If we try to have a conversation with Him it proves that we WANT to know him and have a strong relationship with Him. By having a conversation with him or at least attempting to converse with him we are putting action into what we are telling and preaching others to.


  Thank you guys for taking the time out of your days to read my blog. I hope that you have a great rest of the week and I will be posting again next Wednesday.

The Roller Coaster of Life

  Okay, so it's been awhile since I've sat in front of a computer screen and typed out a post. I apologize for that life is a crazy thing and time gets hard to manage. Especially when you are trying to hold down a part time job, see 5 different doctors, give your friends some attention, and take care of yourself. That's one of the reasons I've titled this post the Roller Coaster of Life. The last time I have posted was back in April and it is now September. I have a good four months to catch those of you who read my posts, who aren't my family. ;)

  A lot has happened since my last post, so I will try and start where I left off. Since April I have seen an Immunologist/Allergist and he has put me on some medications for my Dermatographia, which is if you put a certain amount of pressure and slightly scratch my skin it will brake out into hives in those areas. Its really weird but kinda cool cause I can use my fingernail to draw something on my arm and it will stay there for a good twenty minutes. Anyway back to what I was talking about, the medication has helped a lot, they also help with my Mast Cell Activation disorder. That just means that my hystamines in my body flare up at anytime and I have a random allergic reation. The hystamine blockers that they put me have helped tremendously.

  Also since april I have had to see a Hemotologist, aka the blood doctor, to see what has been going on with my ferritn (iron) levels. I have been more tired than usual and for those have read a majorty of my posts know that I get really tired. It was a little odd to me, then I started noticing all of these bruises that I've been getting. I'll bump into something at work and five minutes later I'll have a bruise the size of a quarter on my arm, leg, hand, or any extrimity. I called my PCP (Primary Care Physcian) she didn't do anything about it. She told me it was normal for girls to do that. I didn't agree with her and had a gut feeling that my ferritn or potassium levels were low again. I then called my P.O.T.S specialist and she had me get some lab work done. The lab resuslts came back and everything was normal except for.....that's correct my ferritn levels! They are supposed to be at a level 25 or higher. Mine at the time was 1. I went into my P.O.T.S doctor and she told me that it was normal and i just needed a supplement (which i was already taking) and have more iron in my diet (which I have a very iron and potassium rich diet.)

 So my Supermom (my mom) got me some herbal iron supplement to take. To put it into purspective for you it is a brown liquid that tastes like dirt. Yes, I know what dirt tastes like, I grew up with three older brothers remember. That seemed to be helping but then my dog, who is like 22 lbs (not that heavy), sat on my lap while we went on a Sunday family drive. The next day my legs were literally covered from thigh to ankle in bruises. He's sat on my lap thousands of times before and he's never bruised me before. So we made an appointment with the Hemotologist and they did more labs to see what is going on. They called and once again all of my other labs came back normal except for ferritin. The new supplement bumped me up a whole 2 points. Way to go mom!!

  My doc called me Wednesday saying that I need to get Iron transfusions. It's like getting a blood transfusion but instead of putting blood in my body they are putting iron in it. It's about a 7 hour process. So hopefully that goes well and that it helps me feel better. Fingers crossed.

  My job has been going pretty well. Somtimes its hard to get a lot of time in when I have my doctors apointments. While I am there I work so super hard. Sometimes I over do it at work and then I get home and I feel like I am going to fall into a bunch of little peices lol. I do my best to be a hard worker and I guess it paid off. I recently got a dollar raise. It was really nice to have the reassurance that my boss reconizes how hard I have been working.

  Life has its ups and downs and sometimes its really hard to go through. Like I always think to myself when I feel like I can't handle my hard days and  I want to give up: "With out the bad and bitter days the good days wouldn't be so sweet and happy."

Lesson of the post: BE POSITIVE!!! Always make the best of any and every situation you have to face in life. There is always something to learn form the bad experiances and there is always something to cherish on the good days. I can garuntee you that if you stay as positive as you can you will be so much happier in life. Trust me I know how dang hard it can be to be positive but try your hardest to be. You'll be happy you did.