30 Things About My Invisible Illness You May Not Know

Figured I'd do this, to give a little more info about myself.

1. The illness I live with is: Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, Hypermobility Type
2. I was diagnosed with it in the year: 2005
3. But I had symptoms since: I can remember.
4. The biggest adjustment I’ve had to make is: Accepting the fact that there isn't a real treatment for this.
5. Most people assume: Nothing is wrong with me, and I complain too much.
6. The hardest part about mornings are: Just getting out of bed.
7. My favorite medical TV show is: House M.D.
8. A gadget I couldn’t live without is: My iPod. Nothing makes me happier than music.
9. The hardest part about nights are: Trying to fall asleep when I'm in so much pain.
10. Each day I take 7-11 pills & vitamins.
11. Regarding alternative treatments I: Will try anything to ease the pain.
12. If I had to choose between an invisible illness or visible I would choose: Invisible.
13. Regarding working and career: College is very difficult, what with getting up early and all the walking/stairs.
14. People would be surprised to know: I was told I would never succeed in college, but so far I'm doing great.
15. The hardest thing to accept about my new reality has been: There are things I love that I can no longer do.
16. Something I never thought I could do with my illness that I did was: Ski.
17. The commercials about my illness: Don't exist.
18. Something I really miss doing since I was diagnosed is: Being able to run.
19. It was really hard to have to give up: My dreams of being a chef.
20. A new hobby I have taken up since my diagnosis is: Horseback riding.
21. If I could have one day of feeling normal again I would: Run around, go downhill skiing, spend all day enjoying life.
22. My illness has taught me: Not to judge people so quickly.
23. Want to know a secret? One thing people say that gets under my skin is: "Did you know you parked in a handicapped space?"
24. But I love it when people: Know what my illness is, and understand.
25. My favorite motto, scripture, quote that gets me through tough times is: I am not afraid to keep on living.
26. When someone is diagnosed I’d like to tell them: Keep your head up, don't let this stop you from taking on the world.
27. Something that has surprised me about living with an illness is: How ignorant people are.
28. The nicest thing someone did for me when I wasn’t feeling well was: Let me sleep in.
29. I’m involved with Invisible Illness Week because: I'm sick of hearing, "You don't look sick!"
30. The fact that you read this list makes me feel: Grateful.

Having an okay time, until...

So far college has been okay. I moved in, got unpacked, and have been doing Welcome Week activities. Today, however, I managed to piss off the gods of chance, and paid for it.

I was participating in a competition of sorts, and I was to imitate a Jaguar. This entailed crawling around on all fours and growling. I figured, it's been a good day, so I did it. Right as I finished my imitation, I simultaneously put my knee down on my hand and yanked my hand forward.

Dislocated my index, middle, and ring fingers on my left hand all at the same time.

Well shit. I popped 'em back in, got an icepack from the student center, and kept going.
Fun.

Moving day is coming...

That it is.

This Wednesday (also known as tomorrow) I will be moving into the place I will call home this school year - my dorm room. I've been packing for the past couple of days, finally went shopping today, and have been all-around neurotic. I'm not sure how I'm going to handle it, but I have to push forward.

It hasn't helped that my back and fingers have been acting up, making packing and getting everything done rather difficult. I've been downright exhausted. I have to say goodbye to my beloved doxie, Oscar, and my cats. The whole idea of going away for school, the money it's going to cost, the effect it's going to have on everything, just drives me crazy.

It definitely doesn't help that I now have to transfer all of my healthcare to a new city. I have to find new doctors, explain my condition a million times, answer the same questions and hope that they listen to me. I have to register with Disability Services, which I'm doing on move-in day, so they know what's up and I can get help from them. This whole thing is a gigantic pain in the arse...but I'll live.

I know that the first few weeks are going to be a mess, but hopefully it will mellow out after that.

Who knows, maybe, under all the stress and panic, I'm just a little excited.
:)