Invisible Illness Awareness Week

I just found out that this week is Invisible Illness Awareness Week. An invisible illness is typically defined as an illness that you can't see from the outside. But it can also be defined as an illness that doctors have a hard time diagnosing and treating. In my case, I fall into both of these definitions. Just looking at me you would never know that a whole lot of my insides don't work the way that they were designed to. It took over 6 months (which really isn't that long) to diagnose my gastroparesis and another 16 months to figure out how to treat it. POTS is a little bit different. Once my brother was diagnosed we kind of put two and two together by ourselves but we didn't have another doctors appointment for 8 months or so. I was quickly diagnosed there and everything was set into motion pretty quickly.
Today I want to talk about why I fight to get up every morning. I fight for myself. I fight for my life because if I don't who will? (yes, I know a lot of my family and friends would but that is not the point here) Who would want to fight for someone who doesn't believe in and fight for themselves? I know that my life will never be normal. But who really wants to be normal anyways? I do fight for the life I have imagined, for example going to college and graduating from college. Don't get me wrong, the life I imagined is very different from how my life is going but that is completely okay. I am rolling with the punches that life throws my way. That is all I can do. We never know what is going to happen to us tomorrow or even in the next hour. That is why we have to live every moment to the best of our abilities. And I try to do that every single day.
This week is about awareness. Please share this post with someone in your life whether they have an invisible illness or not. I am always here to talk if anyone wants to know my story or if someone was recently diagnosed and just needs someone to talk things through with. There is a quote that speaks volumes about invisible illnesses although I'm sure it wasn't coined to be. I know I am going to mess it up but it is along the lines of "Be kind to everyone because you never know what someone else is going through."

Until next time,
    A :)

New News!

I finally have some news in regards to my medical life and I couldn't be more excited! I have said it before and I am sure most of you have heard me say it in person but I have always wanted to get genetically tested. In the last few weeks, my family and I have been talking about going back to the Mayo Clinic for our annual appointment because you can book up to 3 months out. I had expressed to my mom that I really wanted to be genetically tested before/when we are there for our next appointment. She talked to my doctor's nurse and somehow it got passed along because a few days ago I got a message from my doctor. The message said something along the lines of a mail out kit had been sent to be completed before my appointment in December or January. It was literally one sentence and I had no clue what it was talking about. This afternoon I went home to have dinner with my family and I noticed a letter from the Mayo Clinic so I asked my mom about the message I got and she said that we are going through with the genetic testing. I am like a kid on Christmas! All I know is that it is a blood test that I will get done here in Baton Rouge and we will send all of the results to Minnesota. I really want a whole genome work up but I don't know exactly what they are testing for. All I know is that this is a step in the right direction.
On another note, I have had a few bad days in the last few weeks. It is all a result of my doing or should I say lack of doing. I haven't been exercising as much as I should and I occasionally don't drink/eat the right things. I haven't been getting the sleep I need to. BUT, I am restarting right now. I need everyone's help to stay on track. I give ya'll permission to ask me how I am doing any time you see me. Ask me if I have exercised that day or when I plan on doing it. Thanks in advance for the support!
Unit next time,
   A :)