Our Story Part 3

It has almost been 2 months sense the last time I updated my blog? Has it really been that long? I am really slacking! Well at least I can blame some of it on Brandon. He has been really busy and has not been able to help me get it updated. Brandon and three other partners started a Company and it has been taking up a lot of his spare time. We are really excited about this opportunity and hope we can tell you more about the project they are working on when he gets a little closer to their launch date. Last time I was telling about my experience with Lupus, kidney failure, and Chemo Therapy. I started Chemo on July 3rd 1996 at the University of Utah. It was funny to me because the nurse that started my IV and hooked me up to Chemo could not even handle the bag of Chemo without these big gloves on to protect them. I was thinking you won't even touch the bag and you want me to feel good about you pumping me full of this stuff. I was really scared but I felt like I had to be strong for me and my family. On the 4th of July Fairview has an Annual bike ride. I was feeling so good that I wanted to go do it, but my mom didn't think it was a good idea.

This is kind of how Chemo went for me. I really didn’t ever feel sick. After every treatment I would wait thinking I would be deathly ill at any moment, but it never happened. I was prepared to lose all my hair. I had already lost a lot of hair with my Lupus. Then all my hair started to come back. It was amazing. I felt great, and my body started to respond to the treatment. I had treatments for a year and a half. My kidney function improved, and all of the other Lupus symptoms started to go away. It was a miracle. I felt better than I had felt in a very long time and I kept all my hair.

I got better and was able to enjoy college. I went to Snow College and loved it. I had so much fun with friends and was able to move beyond all the health problems that had been dominating my life for the past few years. I was also helping to Coach Drill team for my High School, and really excelling in my classes. I graduated from Snow in 1998. The funny thing is that for some strange reason I stayed at snow for a third year, even though most of my friends were moving on. I just felt like I needed to stay. It was not until the first day of classes of spring semester that I would find out why.... (hint is in the picture above)

I think that is a sufficient teaser for my next blog entry. I promise will not be in another 2 months. I will try to get a few in each week from now on.

Our Story Part 4

Our Story Part 2

 

Okay it is time for me to get back to tell you our story. The first part might be a little long drawn out but I will do my best to make it entertaining. So last time told you about how important I feel about attitude, and how it was dance that helped me learn the importance of having a positive attitude in all I do.

All of my crazy interesting health issues started to appear back in high school. It started my Junior year. I was in the middle of a Drill Team practice when I started to feel a strange pressure in my leg. It started to swell and before I knew it it was twice the size of my other leg and started to turn a strange purplish color. The next day I went to the doctor and they did an ultrasound and found that I had a blood clot in my inner thigh. So I found myself in the hospital on Valentines Day. Not really the most fun way to spend a holiday. Not much time passed and I found myself once again having another blood clot.

This second clot prompted my doctor to send me to the University of Utah to see a specialist. They then told me that I had a condition called Lupus Anticoagulant which is a really fancy name for a blood clotting disorder. It didn't mean that I had Lupus but it did mean that there was a possibility that it could turn into Lupus. They then put me on a blood thinner to keep me from clotting. I was also hospitalized one other time for a blood clot, until they could get my blood levels under control.

My Senior year was going great. The blood thiner was doing its job. I had no more problems with blood clots. Then my health really took a turn for the worse. Around Christmas time I started to feel very fatigued, and totally lost my appetite. I was stuck with fevers weakness that completely incapacitated me. On New Years Eve my family took me to the hospital. That night they did some tests that determined that I was having Kidney Failure. It was then that my Doctor diagnosed me with full blown Lupus. Lupus is an autoimmune disease that causes your immune system to attack itself. Lupus causes your immune system to attack vital organs, like the kidneys, liver, heart, and brain. Basically all any vital organ is fair game. In my case it had attacked my Kidneys and had successfully started to cause them to shut down.

Suddenly all the other symptoms of Lupus began to make themselves known. I had ulcers all over in my mouth. I had flair ups of rheumatoid arthritis that made me not even want to move. I had alopecia, that is just a fancy way to say my hair was falling out. I had a very prominent butterfly rash on my face that is another calling card of Lupus. I was a mess to say the least. You can’t imagine how sick I was. This was not the way I had pictured spending my Senior year of high school. I was in and out of the Hospital and trying to juggle school, Drill Team, and have a semi normal life. My doctors were trying everything to try to save my kidneys and get my Lupus back in check. I felt like I was fighting a losing battle.

By the Spring of 1996 it was obvious that the medications were not slowing down the progression of my kidney failure. So they sent me to a Nephrologist (Kidney Doc) who decided that it was best to do a kidney biopsy. By the way that was one of the most uncomfortable things i have ever experienced. I had to be awake and it is a little uncomfortable to have a giant needle shoved in-between your ribs so that they can take a chunk of your kidney out. This was a bit of a hard week for me. I had a Kidney Biopsy, my wisdom teeth pulled, and I got salmonella poisoning all in the same week. After the biopsy they decided the best option to save my kidneys was to have Chemo Therapy. If the Chemo didn't work I would need to start dialysis and start looking for a kidney donor for a transplant. It was all so hard to deal with. I should be thinking about College and boys and having fun with friends. Instead  I was in a fight for my life. When I first found out I went down in my room and cried. Then I decided if this was what I was going to go through I would make the most of it. If I was gong to be sick and bald I was going to have fun with it. We got me three wigs that were super cute so I could hide my hair loss. I decided that I would not let it get me down. I refused to let it change my positive attitude.

That is about enough for tonight. I will try to write some more tomorrow. Goodnight.

Our Story Part 3

Our Story Part 1

I thought it would be kind of fun to tell you our story. Many of you have had a front row seat. Our friends and family have been there through all of the fun and trials that have brought us to where we are today. Brandon and I have shared our story with many people over the past few years. Our lives in a lot of ways have seamed like a Lifetime Movie, and those close to us can attest to this. We have had incredible Spiritual highs and unbelievable discouraging lows.

We share our story to hopefully help others who may be living through troubling times see that the light at the end of the tunnel is not always a train. (That is a quote from my husband by the way!) Trials bring us to our knees, and help to find strength beyond our own. It is when we hit our lowest of lows that we find our Savior is there to pick us up.

All good stories start with once upon a time..... So....

Once upon a time.... Just kidding. When I was in high school I was on the Drill Team. We were really good by the way. Three State Championships and one lousy Second Place. I am not bitter just stating the facts. To be that good it took a lot of practice, determination, and hard work. We practiced at least three hours a day, with double days twice a week. It was a big part of my High School life, the other part was spent with great friends. I was lucky enough to have the greatest friends in the world. They were always there for me in good times and bad, and were a great example to me.

Drill Team taught me a lot. I think that Dance and Sports for that matter teach us all we need to know about being successful in life. Nothing comes easy, and there is no shortcut you can take to get you to where you want to be. If you want something bad enough you must fight, push and do all you can to achieve it. Drill Team taught me one things that I think has in a lot of ways shaped me as a person. It is all about ATTITUDE! When we were about to take the floor every time we danced we would say a prayer, and do a cheer. The cheer was “Attitude Ladies!” Then when we were on the floor we didn't just dance we had the Attitude! We even had shirts that said “We don’t need your Attitude, we’ve got our own!”

For me life is all about Attitude. I love the quote, “Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it”. That is really the theme I have taken in my life. I always try to have a positive attitude, and a good outlook on life. This way of thinking makes life much easier. I have had a few pity parties but they are awfully lonely. So I try hard to always be optimistic.

So now you know where my Attitude comes from. I tell this simply so as I tell you my story you will understand why I am the way I am. I hope to tell you a little more each day.....OK maybe just as often as I have time to set down and spill out my feelings.

I am way too tired to keep this up so.... Good Night!

Our Story Part 2