Graduation Day!!

Finally, the big day! My high school graduation. At first, the doctors thought I would not be able to make it there,but since I was doing so well, he couldn't keep me from attending. I was beyond excitement. One of the main goals for me, was to walk with my fellow classmates. My sister had picked up a dress and my cap and gown for me. The night before, we decorated my wheel chair in excitement. When I arrived to the school, I felt a little uncomfortable at first because I didn't know how the other students would react to seeing me in a wheel chair. Everyone was nice though, and very helpful. My three therapists accompanied me, incase I needed help. Because I was in a wheel chair, I had to sit up front with my guidance counselor, just to be easier for me. The students names were called alphabetically, so I was in the middle. When my name was called, my therapists came down to the field, and my guidance counselor wheeled me foward. To everyone's surprise, my therapist Tina helped me stand to receive my diploma. My fellow classmates and everyone in the stands were so proud that they gave me a standing ovation. I was deeply touched and proud of both myself and my class. Right after all the diplomas were given out, it began to drizzle. But right at the end, there was a rainbow in the sky. It was a great day. Now normally everyone goes out to dinner to celebrate with their families, but since I still had a curfew, I could only go to Wendys to get dinner, then it was right back to the hospital. Although I didn't get to go out to a fancy dinner, I was so blessed that I was able to attend my graduation that day. It will definately be a day to remember and look back on!

Nothing but good news!

After being able to start eating regular food, my recovery ski-rocketed. I was improving at a fast pace now. I was on so many medications and in one day was taken off four of them. My dctor was so pleased with the way I was progressing, that he found it unecessary to be on those four medications. Instead of being fed my pills, now I was able to swallow them. It's funny, but for some reason, I was happy that I could swallow pills again. Unfortunately, the doctors allowed me to eat candy bars again. Yes, unfortunately. The unfortunate part was that my taste buds didn't like the taste od chocolate anymore. Yes, very disappointing. The best news shortly arrived after. I was finally allowed to take day trips home on the weekend! After those long weeks, I was finally able to be in my home again. To be able to leave though, I had to wear something like a harness in my seat, for safety purposes. I felt like a little kid in a baby-seat. But if it was allowing me to go home, it was well worth it! I had shortened days of therapy on Saturdays and none on Sundays, so Sundays were my full days at home. My dad would sign me out as soon as possible, and we'd pick up McDonalds pancakes for breakfast. The only bad thing about my day trips, were that I was not allowed to sleep at home. I had a curfew at the hospital to be back at 9 PM. If I slept at home, our insurance company would think that I didn't need coverage anymore and would stoppaying. It made me extremely upset, and many nights I cried to my parents, begging them to let me stay home. They persuaded me that it was for my benefit that I go back, and they were right.

A continous road to recovery

After slowly becoming able to breathe on my own, I was progressing very rapidly. Before I knew it, I was passing all my swallow tests and was beginning to be fed some "real" food! (pudding) In an effort to lower my secretion problem, I was given something called a cough-o-later. Basically, it's a machine I coughed into to get as much secretions out at once. This procedure helped give both me and my mother a better night's rest. My therapys began to increase, which was good. I was now taking speech therapy, school work therapy (English class so that I could graduate in June), occupational therapy and physical therapy. My days were now filled up, which also helped with the sleeping at night. A few days later, my trach was out and i was beginning to speak again! Itmade my family so happy to hear even the slightest noice from me. The doctor had also given me great news that in two days I would beginning to eat solid foods, which was very exciting for me. It's amazing what we take for granted.

The long stay in the hospital

I continuously was obtaining high fevers (over 100 degrees). Because I was on so many medications, it was hard to get rid of them and nothing seemed to work, besides time. I also was beginning to suffer severe migrains, which was not strange do to the fact I suffer from migrains regularly. But again, because I was on so many medicines, I could not take my prescription drug that helps with the headaches. Each day the doctors would try and get me to breathe on my own without the ventilator. An hour the first day, a few hours the next, and more and more each day. After a few days, I was slowly becoming able to breathe on my own. I was expressing a lot of secretions (mucus), which meant a lot of suctioning of the trach and my throat. This caused both me and my mother to have difficulty sleeping at night. At this point, both me and my mother reached a breaking point, which I think is understandable considering all we had already been through. Finally however there was a light at the end if the tunnel, I began my therapy. At first I could not do much because I was still having trouble moving any of my body parts. To get my blood circulating again, they had me on a standing table. The tables was lifted to an 80 degree angle to get the blood in my lower body circulating to my brain. Another excercise, belief it or not, they had me do was play games. I know it sounds crazy that playing games can be considered excercise, but when you can barely move your arms, trust me, it is. I played yahtzee, guess who, trouble, and lots of other easy and fun games to work on my fine motor skills. A great benefit when my little cousins came to visit me =)

The start of my diagnosis

I arrived at the PICU at Robert Wood Johnson still in a non-responsive state. Upon arrival, the nurses and doctors immediately started on tests to see just exactly what was wrong with me. Most of the tests, at first, came back with a false/positive result. In other words, there was no sure diagnosis yet. Never the less, I was put on lots of antibiotics and medications just to be on the safe side. I was constantly obtaining a fever on and off again. Some parts of the day I would manage to open my eyes and become responsive, but shortly after, I drifted back into the sleep-like-state. On the third day, I was put on a ventilator and feeding tube to help me breathe and eat (just as a precautionary). I was also put on to steroids and an IVIG drip to help boost my immune system. My first diagnosis came back as a positive for mono and Epstein-Barr.That Monday I was again diagnosed with another illness called ADEM. To help cure my immune system, I started a treatment called plasmaphoresis, which basically recycles my bad blood cells and puts good ones back into my body through a machine.I repeated this process for a few hours every other day for a week.