Assignment 24 Caty Beth Gooding

 I think the biggest success of this year for me has been finding out why I am the way I am. For the longest time, I have been in poor health. I have never known why or even that I have not been running on empty. I used to be excited about life and school and friends and learning, and now I get excited about having the house to myself so I can sleep without getting in trouble. But it wasn’t an overnight sort of development. It crept up on me starting freshman year, starting with the sinus infections. I used to get them every other month or even every month at times. Then came sophomore year. I was still getting sinus infections, but not as many. We were very concerned about it as a family, so we went to a couple specialists. One doctor recommended surgery while another made me get a CT scan and said I was perfectly fine. We went to allergists that said I was allergic to certain trees and grasses (that don’t grow in Kentucky), and that was why I was getting sick. Eventually, we found out I had mono, and that I should not be in school. I was in the play that winter while battling mono and managed to balance both sleep and rehearsals and school until the summer when I thought I was better. I was, but then my problems started up again a couple of months after junior year began. We went to another specialist that told me to get another CT scan when I got another sinus infection. I haven't had a sinus infection since he told me that. We thought I was healed, and I wouldn’t have to worry about illness this year. But especially in the winter semester, I realized that I had stopped caring. Stopped caring about school, friends, even my future. I would have been content to lay in bed staring at the ceiling or sleeping until my life ended. We finally realized that I was not a "normal teenager" when it came to sleeping and being tired. I was fatigued, to the point where I could sleep 14 hours a day and up  and still be sleepy. I was drinking 6 cups of caffeinated tea a day just to get through. I was no longer living my life, I was just going through the motions with the vague sense that it could possibly pay off sometime in the future. Others would tell me how soon college would be and I would always wonder if I would even make it until then, because it seemed so far away to me and almost impossible to reach with how sick I always felt.

Recently, we have gone to another doctor. She recommended I do blood work for several things, including mono, and other mono-like diseases, and certain deficiencies, as well as allergies/ sensitivities. I was started on some pills to give me energy, and they helped; instead of running on 20% energy I was running on 30%. We got some of the bloodwork back, that told me I had deficiencies in iron (I was supposed to have 100 units, but I had 6), and in vitamin D (I was supposed to have 60 units, but I had 20). I started taking medicine to help with those. We also got bloodwork back saying I still had mono, or had contracted it again, and also CMV, which is basically the same as mono. I also had an immune system deficiency. I began taking medicine for my immune system and I was back to 50% energy. Finally, we found out that I have sensitivities to gluten, dairy, and eggs. So for one month I have to cut all of those things out of my diet, and see how I feel. I have been doing that for two weeks and now I feel back to 70% energy.

During the summer, I plan to relax and try to get back up to 100% health and energy so that I can finish my high school career strong. I plan to sleep as much as I am able, to eat healthy, keeping my sensitivities out of my diet if need be, and just start over. I believe that my worst failure of this year has to be letting myself get so sick without realizing it. Who stops caring about doing the things she loves, and doesn’t realize there is something wrong with her?