hello, again!

Once again, I have to start this blog out with an apology for taking so long to post. The past seven months have been jam-packed with some of the greatest times of my life and I cannot wait to share them with you guys! Between finishing my sophomore year at JMU, winning a second national championship with the Dukettes, being a part of my oldest sisters wedding, and spending my summer shadowing a few different surgeons, I’ve barely had any time to sit and complete a blog. I have so many amazing experiences to write about and I promise that I will be posting more often in the future. For now, though, I thought I’d share a milestone that I am very thankful to have celebrated this August.

August 15, 2016 not only marked my twentieth birthday, but it was also the day I was able to say I was officially ONE YEAR KIDNEY INFECTION FREE. To some this may not seem like such a big deal, but for my family and me this was something we thought I’d never be able to reach again. During my second semester freshman year we found out that I had become resistant to all oral antibiotics that could treat my infections. After some time in the hospital getting IV antibiotics, I was sent home with a PICC line so I could continue my medicine for another few weeks. Though I did get used to my Dad washing my hair in the kitchen sink and dancing with one arm, I was more than thrilled to have the line removed once the infection was gone. However, the damage had been done to my kidneys and I continued to fight off infections for the following months.

After new diagnoses and some advice from my favorite doctors at Cincinnati Children’s, I finally started to get a break from infections. Now I am proud to say that I am 13 months infection free. Trust me, there were many scares along the way, but I’m still infection free and incredibly thankful. This was the type of uphill battle I’ve mentioned before and I can once again say that the view from the top is as beautiful as ever.

This has been one of the first times that I’ve had a year where I haven’t been thrown a medical curve ball, and I can’t wait to keep sharing my experiences with you as they happen. I promise that there will be more posts very soon; I can’t thank everyone enough for reading my story.