Pre-Sick Sarah

Summer, 2010

Me on Easter, 2010, 14 years old

Meet a girl who I like to call Pre-Sick Sarah: 5'8'', 152 pounds, glasses, braces, and short black hair. She had just finished 8th grade--her last school year before high school. She lives with her parents, Paul and Denise, brother, sister and cat, Oliver. She is the youngest of her siblings and is home schooled. Her brother, Daniel, is studying abroad in Buenos Aries, Argentina and her sister, Rachel, has just graduated from high school. Sarah's summer plans include volunteering at the children's hospital in Des Moines, babysitting twice a week, reading the Harry Potter series, getting her braces taken off in July, and welcoming Daniel home from his five month long trip, also in July. In August, a cousin is getting married and Sarah, Rachel, Paul, and Denise are driving to Wisconsin for the wedding.

Pre-Sick Sarah is, of course, me! In case the title isn't totally obvious, the biggest storm I've ever walked through is a mere few months away. Before I can start telling my story, there are several things that I must say:

Daniel after arriving home from Argentina!

Oliver <3

*Pre-Sick Sarah hated going to the doctor, even for just a yearly check-up. I was convinced the doctor would find out that I was going to die in six months. I would get so worked up about going to the pediatrician that my mom would wait to tell me the terrible news that I had an appointment until the day before the appointment. I always viewed this as a backstabbing act. It wasn't that I didn't like the doctor, he was always so nice, but I just really despised going to see him. My heart was always racing around 160 beats per minute and I would sweat. The nurses always made comments about my racing heartbeat as they took my blood pressure--what I then thought was the worst thing that could ever happen at a doctor's office. My medical knowledge and vocabulary was very limited; my main "medical" problem was my teeth. I have had 13 teeth pulled, braces on the top, and four retainers. I was even more (and still am) terrified of the dentist than I was my pediatrician. Rachel was always the sick child of the family: she had chronic ear infections, tubes in her ears, walking pneumonia, swine flu, and a slew of other health problems. Me? My mom called me the "healthiest of all her children". I was very proud of my two-time record at the pediatrician, meaning I had only been to see the doctor twice in my whole life because I was actually sick.

*Pre-Sick Sarah enjoyed working out. I used to whine and complain every time my parents made us go to the gym once a week to work out, but something changed when I was 13 or 14. I found that I enjoyed jogging on the treadmill, riding the electrical bike, and moving to the rhythm of great songs on the elliptical. My mom made a chart for me to track my progress. I went from doing five sit-ups with my mom holding my feet to 60 sit-ups with no help at all! On summer mornings when I wasn't babysitting, I would wake up, eat breakfast, and work out. I ran laps around the garage, kicked a soccer ball around, and jumped rope. I discovered the Jillian Michael's 30 Day Shred and loved doing it so much that I did it on my birthday!

*Pre-Sick Sarah discovered Harry Potter. I first became acquainted with the Boy-Who-Lived through my sister, Rachel, who was reading the books and watching the movies. I decided to give the series a shot after my brother, Daniel, left for Argentina. I fell in love right away. I was completely transported to Harry's world when I read the books. I was at #4 Privet Drive with Harry in his cupboard under the stairs, I journeyed through platform 9 3/4 to get on the Hogwarts Express, and accompanied Harry, Ron, and Hermione on all their adventures. I cried in multiple parts during all the books--especially the seventh book. I sobbed for a good 45 minutes when Dobby died and cried through the last fourth of the book. Little did I know that the story about the Boy-Who-Lived would have so much impact on my life.

Now that you have met Pre-Sick Sarah, I invite you to follow my story through a long, twisting and turning health journey!

Family!