5 years ago today my life changed

           Time really does fly let me tell you. 5 years ago today, my life changed in an unexpected way for good and bad. I was up in Wisconsin the summer of my soon-to-be 8th grade year when I found something on my chest that was very sore and looked like a pimple. I didn't think much of it until I was throwing around a softball with my dad and it popped. The moment I came home from vacation we went in to see my family doctor. Right when he saw it, he swabbed it for MRSA. It thankfully turned out negative, but I was in for a long year ahead of me. 

      My 8th grade year and half of my freshman year consisted of trying to find out what this thing was. I went to a wound care specialist after it duplicated, staying with her till the middle of my freshman year. She didn't really know what it was but just kept trying different treatments to see if we could get it to go away. I went through many silver nitrate treatments (which is basically where they burn your skin into a whole so you can grow back new, uninfected tissue) and two painful surgeries that consisted in 36 stitches right along my sternum. All the while, I was playing travel softball with this thing that felt like someone stabbing me every single day in the chest. Eventually, come freshman year, I was told I could not play softball anymore because it was getting worse and it hurt too much to play. I was a pitcher and I loved softball more than anything but I had to quite to better myself. Also during this year and a half, I traveled to 8 different doctors still trying to figure it out. 

        Finally, come sophomore year, I found a dermatologist and he diagnosed me with Hidradenitis Suppurativa. Basically what that is is where my sweat glands get infected at any given moment. It is usually at its worst when I sweat a lot or i'm really stressed out. Weirdly enough, the only sweat gland that acts up for me is on my sternum which is an odd location for this disease. It is more commonly found under your arms or in your groin area. However, my doctor has said that as I grow older, it can pop up in those areas. Along with HS, I am Keloid, which means that when I get a scar, it becomes very raised. So the typical response for when patient's sweat glands become infected is to go in surgically and drain that fluid, but doctors have to be very careful with cutting me open because of the way I scar; so I can't be cut open unless it is very serious. Lastly, my immune system is very weak compared to a normal person so infections are like a second nature to me and I constantly get them. If I got a scratch, I could get them. So I have to be very very careful if I get an open wound or if I'm around someone sick.

        So when they told me that I had these two things my first reaction was, "okay, how do we cure it and make it go away." That was the tough part. There is no cure. That hit me like a ton of bricks and I knew I would be in for a rude awakening. So we can't cure it, but we are working on finding a treatment that works for me. It still acts up to this day and I am constantly on antibiotics and getting shots. It is july right now and just this year I have been put on 8 antibiotics. As for shots, I go in almost every month and I have gotten as little as 3 and as many as 236. It all depends on how bad it is when I go in. Treatments have kind of stopped working for me right now because my body has gotten so used to them so I am happy to say that I got accepted for an appointment at the Mayo Clinic up in Rochester, Minnesota and I leave on Monday. I am absolutely terrified, but I know that it is for my best. 

        And yes, these treatments suck and I hate doing them, but everyone goes through something and life and it's just something I have to deal with. I'm strong and I can make it through. The bright side to my disease is that I know many more things about medicine and about myself then I did before. I know how much pain I can take and when I need help. Yes, I had to quit a sport that I absolutely loved, but it let me focus on my acting and singing way more and for that I am thankful. So take my advice and if you're dealing with something, always look to the bright side of things. There is ALWAYS a bright side. And remember that you are strong enough to get through anything that is thrown at you. You can do it!!!

"They say we're a freak when we're having fun,

Say you must be high when you're spreading love,

But we're just living life and we never stop,

Cause we got the world."

"We Got The World" by Icona Pop