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Tag: hospitals

Missing a Safety Net: De-nial Not Just a River Anymore

by Becca on December 8, 2019

Myself getting prepared for a long day of testing at Mass General Hospital with my mom who is my safety net waiting in the car

My Safety Net

My safety net was what my whole life manageable.  My life was pretty much one big medical issue. Luckily I had two parents and two brothers to support me.  My safety net was made up of two people, my mom, and my dad. 

They didn’t always make the best decisions for me, in fact, sometimes their decisions messed things up for me really badly, but they loved me 100% unconditionally and always tried their hardest to make the best decisions for me.

It all started when I was eight and began dealing with muscle fatigue, then when I was ten I first got diagnosed with gastroparesis (a paralyzed stomach) and had to have emergency surgery to have 2.5 inches of dead bowel removed and then had to have an NJ tube placed.   

My NJ Tube

An NJ tube is a tube that goes in through your nose … Find Out What Happens Next

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Straight to Mass General Hospital

by Becca on November 20, 2019

I'm at Mass General Hospital changed into my hospital gown waiting for my IPSS procedure

When I woke up on the morning of December 13th, 2014, the first thing that I noticed was all the snow. It was coming down in snowballs, not flakes. The next thing I remembered was that I was making yet another trek down to Mass General Hospital that day. Dr. Swearingen, one of the top neurosurgeons in the country for pituitary tumors, was going to be meeting with me that day.

I had just been diagnosed with a pituitary brain tumor a month or two ago. My whole life I’d faced debilitating chronic illness in the form of gastroparesis, hypothyroid, anemia, SVT, POTS, A-fib, orthostatic hypotension, frequent episodes of hypovolemic shock, frequent episodes of passing out, muscle weakness, issues with electrolytes, and more recently, episodes of hypertension, bone loss, Type Two Diabetes, excruciating headaches, and fatigue.

My childhood had been swallowed by my chronic illnesses. Instead of going to school … Find Out What Happens Next

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