"Although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of the overcoming of it." – Helen Keller
I’m still sick, but I decided to go to school. However, I only went for math and chemistry.
I know that going to school while sick may be a death sentence, especially for me, but I have tests in both of those classes.
When I went to math today, surprise! No test. Testing tomorrow (Thursday) and Friday. 🙄
In Math I was a bit nauseous, a bit dizzy, and a bit paranoid. I wanted to leave the class and just rest at home, but then my grades would fail.
So that sucks.
I call today a success!
Remember December 12, 2018, when the G-tube doctor told me I needed to gain ten pounds in three months?
I have gained ten pounds!
I told the doctor that I don’t think the medication need me feel more of an appetite, so I’m going to stop taking the Periactin (Cyproheptadine).
My mom is still a little nervous (and I am too! March 26, 2019) about pulling it out so we’ll wait until June. During June we’ll pull out the G-tube for good!
Since I have had the G-tube for almost my entire life, it’s most likely the hole won’t close up on its own. We might need stitches to close up the hole for good.
Also, when we pull the G-tube out, the hole will be leaking for a few days. I will be dripping everywhere, so I predict a big problem.
Oh well, we’ll cross that bridge when we get there.
I still stayed at home today, because I was sick. Also, it’s a block schedule day, which means today is useless anyways.
Today I had another doctor’s appointment at Lucile Packard.
I woke up early today to get my blood drawn at the nearby Kaiser. Yesterday I took my medication at 9 PM so I could draw my blood at 8:30 AM.
Once my blood was drawn, my Mom drove us to Stanford. My appointment was at 10:30, so we arrived just on time.
First is echo, then the EKG, and lastly clinic (checkup) with the doctors.
During the echo, I was watching Bones. Bones is so cliche, it hurts. Why is Finn the most stereotypical southern character ever?
Shucks, I haven’t seen this much ash since my family BBQ!
(roughly quoted) (while sifting cremated remains)
Lol, okay.
Anyways, after the echo was the EKG. The EKG was very short, as always, but easy.
We updated the doctor at clinic about everything, and they said I was doing great!
Then we went to eat at the hospital cafeteria:
Today I had another personal training lesson.
I was kinda sick this week so I didn’t do any land exercise, aka I didn’t do any of my homework.
Of course, the exercise was painful. It’s okay though because it wasn’t as bad as March 2, 2019. Plus, pain is required for exercise.
The hardest part of personal training is that they always push you, so you don’t have time to rest. That’s why I feel better exercising on my own, and I get to listen to music.
After jump squats and lunges, I’m sore so I don’t perform well with other stuff. Oh well.
¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Honestly, I’m trash at push ups. Today we focused on push ups and I was so bad that we had to modify it by putting my knees on the ground. Lol.
The most fun part was doing this kung fu, martial art, butt squat thing. That was a fun exercise.
My Mom picked me up from the gym after my lesson. She’s training for another triathlon, so she couldn’t send me to the gym.
I bought some food from the gym: Toni’s high performance hot protein meal bowl (glorified oatmeal) and a banana muffin. Turns out the banana muffin had walnuts, and I’m allergic to walnuts.
I really shouldn’t call it an allergy, it’s more like a sensitivity. All walnuts do is give me Kylie Jenner lips, which is actually kinda cool.
Maybe it’s a blessing? 🤔 Many girls would kill for this.
Anyways, I shouldn’t have ate that banana muffin because I felt a little bad for the next few hours. I don’t use an EpiPen because I don’t need it.
When I came in to see my oncologist, he drank a jar of pee.
“April fools!” he shouted. “It’s actually Apple juice.”
I’m going to miss him. He’s going to retire on June 14, 2019. That means I’ll be switching oncologists.
Before you ask, I have an oncologist because I take a chemotherapy drug. Gleevec, the miracle drug used to treat my hypereosinophilic syndrome, is usually used for AML leukemia.
He had the idea to stop taking Gleevec at my last appointment (October 16, 2018).
However, since Gleevec isn’t hurting me, there’s no reason to stop it now. Especially when my oncologist is in the middle of retiring, which I think is a good idea.
Oh! I also introduced my blog to Kelly (my social worker when I was a child at Kaiser), and she said it was written beautifully.
Today my mom got her car windows tinted. I know that she already got her windows tinted March 16, 2019, but this time she got her windows tinted to the max.
It’s illegal to fully tint the front windows, but the back windows are completely dark. It’s totally gonna protect me from the sun.
My mom is awesome.
Today sucks.
I had another orthodontist appointment today, and they put a rubber band in my mouth.
What?
This is what it looks like:
This is absolutely social suicide.
I have to go to school and what will people think? “Why does he always cover his mouth when he speaks?”
I have to talk all the time. When I get up to do presentations, when I contribute to the class discussion, or when I work in groups. I always have to talk.
Also, it’s crazy! I haven’t seen anyone else with a rubber band in their mouth.
They say my bite is off, which is, wow, great.
I really want this rubber band out!
The manual says “wear it 24/7” and only take it off during “eating and brushing”. So that means I’ll have to replace it in school.
Ew!
Excerpt from Pleasanton Weekly April 5, 2019 issue:
2019_04_05.pls_.section1-pages-13
Full PDF Here (page 13 for Justin’s Heart of Gold)
Today I took my meds at 9:50 AM. I swear my alarm didn’t go off. I also checked the app and it said “every day”.
Maybe I’m being hypocritical right now but I swear it wasn’t my fault!