August 2012: The Fight is Done; The War is Won

August 2012

Finally...the post I've been waiting to write since I started blogging! I was so excited for "Celebration Weekend" with my family. Leading up to the big weekend, my grandparents sent me a nice card and a generous check to celebrate with me. They wanted me to buy a cross necklace, and I found a beautiful necklace along with a ring with footprints on the front and the lines "it was then that You carried me" etched on the inside. Since my grandpa introduced me to that poem, I thought it was only fitting that I used his money to buy it.



boating

At church

 Celebration Weekend started on Saturday, August 4. My family and I went to the downtown Farmer's Market and enjoyed ourselves immensely...until the heavens opened and we were heavily rained on! After the Farmer's Market, we went out for lunch at Biaggi's, an Italian restaurant that has delicious gluten-free food. I made sure I ate exactly half of the pasta so I didn't feel too full. After lunch, we hit TCBY for frozen yogurt/sorbet before seeing The Dark Knight Rises in the IMAX theater. After dinner at home, we went bowling. I'm a terrible bowler, but I had fun laughing at myself anyways. It was especially fun when glow-in-the-dark bowling started! I went to bed that night feeling great and very thankful. The next day, Sunday, my parents placed flowers on our church's altar to thank God for the return of my health. I also played a piece on the piano for offering and my pastor read a prayer of thanksgiving that I had written. Several church members greeted me after the service with hugs and kind words. After church, we had updated family portraits taken before going to Big Creek for a pontoon ride. If you've never rented a pontoon before, I would highly recommend it! It's so peaceful and relaxing. The weather was absolutely perfect, and my family and I enjoyed laying out in the sun while lazily floating on the water. Our evening plans included grilling and mini-golfing. After we ate, my mom gave me a Willow Tree figure that she had been saving until I felt better. The figure is called "J'taime", which is French for "I love you". Mini-golfing was really fun! I am surprisingly much better at mini-golf than I am at bowling. It was the perfect weekend; there were several moments where I was shocked at how well I felt. I couldn't believe that I had finally made it to this point.

Willow Tree

The fun continued a few days later with the Tenth Avenue North and Toby Mac concert at the Iowa State Fair. The concert was August 9, and my birthday is August 10 so my parents included my ticket to the concert as a birthday present! It was an awesome concert! It was so great to listen to the songs by both artists that uplifted me and kept me going when I was so sick. The next day was my 17th birthday! I had a fun morning babysitting Lucy and Collin before my mom and I went to a bridal shower for a girl at our church. After the shower, my mom and I got manicures! We had so much fun. My birthday ended with homemade pizza at home, presents, and watching the 2012 summer Olympics in London. I was thoroughly spoiled with presents, but the best present of all couldn't be wrapped in a box: feeling well. I jokingly put a bow on my stomach and took a picture of me with the best present ever....a stomach that feels well! It was still amazing to me how well I felt. All I had known for 22 months was not feeling well. I was practically bouncing off the walls because I had so much energy! Since my stomach had so many problems for so long, it almost felt weird and strange to not feel chronically sick to my stomach. I felt like a completely new human being!

Best birthday present ever!

 I wanted to get back in shape. Walking on my NordicTrack after eating helped me feel less out of the breath, but I still had difficulty carrying my own laundry basket from my room down three flights of stairs. A friend recommended going to see a physical therapist who might have some ideas on how to get back in shape. I met with a doctor who suggested I see the therapist in her office twice a week. The first appointment was scheduled for the next week.


Finally!

 August 15, 2012 was the day that kept me going through my health journey. I think I mentioned this a few times in previous posts, but it's time to elaborate a little bit. Around the time of my surgery (September 2011), I came up with the idea to get a Build-A-Bear after I felt better, dress it in scrubs, and name it after the doctor who got me feeling better. Of course, I should have known it wasn't going to be that easy. For 11 months I dreamed about the day when I would make that Build-A-Bear. I felt sad every time I walked past Build-A-Bear Workshop in the mall, and I was jealous of the people (mostly kids) walking around the mall with the iconic Build-A-Bear box. I had even been saving some of the money my grandparents sent me after my surgery for this bear.This was another "wellness bucket list" day that I was too scared to plan in case "something else" happened but after a whole weekend of celebrating my return to health, I figured it was time. I wanted to drive out to the mall--since driving was something I wasn't able to do when I was sick. Those of you who have been to Build-A-Bear know the routine. I picked out the carcass (what else would you call it?!) of a dark haired bear that was created on August 21, 19-something. I thought that was a funny coincidence since August 21 was the day when I got sick with mono. I stuffed the bear, put his heart in, and gave him an air bath before naming him. It took me a while to come up with the perfect name, but in the end I combined the first and/or last names of Dr. S. (my pediatrician), Dr. D.S. (my first GI), Dr. Di (my second and current GI), and Dr. R. (my surgeon). I added M.D., D.O. on the end of the name to make it sound more official. My mom came up with the cute idea to add black dress shoes with the scrubs in honor of Dr. R.'s sense of fashion. The store carried the black shoes, but I had to order the scrubs online. After it was all said and done, I cried tears of happiness in the hallway of the mall. I couldn't believe that I had my bear! It all seemed like a wonderful dream; my mom said that I had woken up from a nightmare.

There he is!

 A few days later, I started on the next item on my wellness bucket list. I had a follow-up appointment with Dr. Di the next week. When this appointment was made, I had just been hospitalized. I was amazed at how far I had come in four months. I made it a goal to take cookies and handmade thank you notes to the doctors and their staff who got me feeling better. It just so happened that I needed a TB test and a physical for my job at the daycare. Nurse T. squeezed me in Dr. S.'s busy schedule the day before my appointment with Dr. Di. This would be the perfect opportunity to give Dr. S. his thank you note. I set to work on crafting beautiful cards for my doctors. I also wanted to make cards for Nurse. T. and Dr. R. As a little reminder of me, I wanted to insert of picture of me with a sign saying "Thanks Dr. _____" in the thank you note. On a beautiful Sunday afternoon, my mom and I went to the lake (the same lake that we had walked around countless times when I was sick) to take pictures.
 August 21, 2012 was a special day. Not only was it my sister's birthday, but it was also the second anniversary of me getting sick. Last year, I was crushed on this day because I had been sick for one year. This year, however, I was thankful and excited about how great I felt. I may have been sick for 22 months, but I would take 22 months over 24 months.


End result

Very messy table!

 The next day was the big cookie bake for my doctors! In three hours, my mom and I baked chocolate chip cookies, peanut butter cookies, chocolate cherry cookies, rice krispies, and three giant chocolate chip cookies for my doctors. The house smelled amazing! I had been looking forward to the day for a long time and it lived up to every expectation! After baking cookies, we went to my first appointment with the physical therapist. It turns out the therapist specialized in visceral massage therapy, especially targeting the stomach and colon. The therapist was hopeful that some massage therapy would naturally help my stomach and colon move more. I was unsure of the whole concept at first, but the massage actually felt really good!

Cookie delivery day!

 Thursday, August 23, was labeled Cookie Delivery Day. My mom and I packed up Dr. S.'s thank you note and big cookie, Nurse T.'s card, and the tray of cookies for the staff. I also made a tray of cookies for the third floor (where I was hospitalized) and a special cookie for Dr. R. I drove the very familiar path to Dr. S.'s office. The receptionist recognized us, as always, and we briefly waited in the waiting room. I've never had that much fun in a doctor's office before! Nurse T. was thrilled with all the cookies and she had S., my favorite lab tech, come over and say hi. While we were waiting for Dr. S. to come in, I marveled at the fact that we were in the same room that we usually are when I visit my pediatrician but this time was different. When I was in this room for the past 22 months, I was beyond sick. I was exhausted, nauseous, pale, in pain, and I just wanted to feel better. This time, I was bouncing with energy, my stomach felt great, I had a healthy glow, I wasn't in any pain, and I felt a million times better! Dr. S. was so excited and happy that I was feeling better. He was also very touched by my giant cookie and card. He kept repeating, "you are too kind!" I wasn't expecting him to read my heartfelt thank you note in front of me so I was surprised when he looked up at me with tears in his eyes and gave me a huge hug. My mom took pictures of me with Nurse T. and Dr. S. before we left. Cookie Delivery Day wasn't over yet though; next we walked across the street to Dr. R.'s office. There was some extreme deja vu going on as I walked through the waiting room to the front desk. I flashed back to September 2011 as I sat, freezing cold and in so much pain, waiting to see the surgeon. I was amazed at how much progress, and how much I had been through, since the last time I was in this waiting room. I dropped the thank you note and cookie off with the receptionist and left the eerily familiar waiting room. I was impressed at how well my mom and I knew our way around the hospital as we made our way to the pediatric floor. I had another deja vu moment when the elevator doors opened to reveal the colorful and welcoming entrance of the pediatric floor. It was almost hard to believe that I was hospitalized on this floor just five months ago. As my mom and I drove home, I was filled with so many emotions. Usually on our trips home from the hospital, both of us were upset and my mom was on the phone with either my dad or grandpa. This time, we had actually made wonderful memories at the hospital!
 Day Two of Cookie Delivery Day came the next morning, August 23, when I had my follow up with my GI doctor, Dr. Di. Once again, I drove the familiar path to the hospital. While waiting in the waiting room, I thought of everything that had happened in the year (almost to the exact date) since I had first seen Dr. Di. I had been referred to him last August after my first GI doctor ran out of ideas. I had a second endoscopy and my first colonoscopy. I had my gall bladder removed. I went to hell and back-also known as the University of Iowa hospital. I had colonic constipation. I was hospitalized. I was diagnosed with IBS and gastroparesis. Now I was healthy! Nurse J., the nurse in the office, was happy to see me and hear that I was feeling better. He was also overjoyed with the cookies.
He said, "I've talked to your mom so much that it's kind of like we're family." I couldn't agree more! Shortly after Nurse J. left with the cookies, Dr. Di came in. He told me that I looked great, especially since I was always very pale whenever I came in. As for my medicine, he wanted to keep everything the same. He was very grateful for the tray of cookies and joked that I could come back every week with cookies. I would gladly do that! He was also grateful for his special cookie and card; he said that a lot of their patients and parents complain that he isn't doing enough. Both my mom and I repeatedly thanked him for everything he has done, but he humbly told us that we did all the work. After the appointment we made a follow up with the receptionist, who can always recognize me and knows my
 name, Nurse J. was looking over her shoulder and telling her to make the appointment when he was in the office.
"Sarah....you are beautiful. I know I'm not supposed to tell a lady to gain weight, but you should." Nurse J. complimented me. We all said goodbye and another round of thank you's before leaving.

My best friends :)

 I had the greatest feeling ever after two successful cookie delivery days. I felt like I was on top of the world. It still didn't seem possible that I had finally made it. I was 100% healthy and checking things off my wellness bucket list. Another item on my bucket list was to have a sleepover with my two dear friends. We had been planning a sleepover for over a year, but I was never healthy enough for it. I decided this sleepover would be my birthday party for the year, and we had a blast! We walked at the lake, and stayed up late watching movies and gossiping. The next day, we went to TCBY for frozen yogurt/sorbet and did some shopping. Both of my friends were so loyal while I was sick, and it was great to celebrate with them.
 August 30, 2012 marked my first day of my junior year of high school AND the start of my first year of high school that I was healthy for!

You might be expecting a big finish for the end of the my healthy journey. Of course, now that I'm healthy and done all these fun things to celebrate, why wouldn't it be the end? Alas....

TO BE CONTINUED.....