Updates for August

Well it has been a few weeks since I've updated. New news again...I'm slowly weaning off of another medication!! I am weaning off of the Relafen which is a pain medication to help with the muscle and joint pains that I experience. It has helped in the past but now that I am feeling better overall, I don't need to have all of these meds. I want to be feeling this great without my meds! That's the goal! I am just very surprised that I am off of so many of the medications I used to take. I am off of the Nadolol, Midodrine, and soon to be Relafen too.

It is so wonderful to be feeling pretty "normal" for a girl who has seen it all, experienced so much, and is finally able to fully enjoy life again. P.O.T.S. is a condition that did hold me back socially and physically, but not so much anymore! I am able to go out with friends, walk around town when it's so humid outside, play ping-pong competitively with my family, and shop too! I used to never be able to do that. I wasn't even able to walk the length of my house or go up a flight of stairs! I used to never to able to walk for more than a few minutes at the most, and now I am able to walk for hours outside when it's hot, humid, and in a loud atmosphere.

Handling all kinds of sensory things was a struggle for me in the past and it has been so much easier now. I used to get extremely overwhelmed. It felt as if I was delayed and the world was going by so fast. It felt like I was in molasses while everyone else was on the go. I don't feel that as much anymore. I don't feel like I'm held back anymore. I can handle loud noises, have a better reaction time when playing games, don't feel lost in complex situations, and I can physically do things I haven't been able to do since before 2005 when I started having symptoms.

I am lucky. I definitely realize that. Having my hospital bracelet collection reminds me of that every day. I was not sure if I was going to be able to outgrow P.O.T.S. I didn't know if I was going to be in a wheelchair for a good chunk of my life. I didn't know if the doctors would ever give me a promise of recovery. One thing I did know...I wasn't giving up! I wasn't going to sit back and let my condition hold me back. I tried my best to fit in and do things that other people were doing. I tried my best to enjoy every situation I was in and to truly make the most of it. I tried my best to work hard in order to recover.

Now I'm there. I am in recovery. I am not in a wheelchair or bedridden. I am extremely successful in college so far, and not stuck at home while my mom was to care for me like some doctors assumed would happen to me. I am getting stronger, faster, and more thankful each and every day. :)