platelet donation - failed again, thanks SIBO

I attempted to donate platelets for the third time today. My iron count was good, but because my SIBO has come back, i have been taking the antibiotics again. Because the cause of this infection is unknown, they would not allow me to donate :(

When i first finally got diagnosed with SIBO, the doctor said "it just happens to some people." He didnt tell me what caused it or how i could prevent it from coming back. After doing some more research on the internet, most people who have had SIBO said that symptoms returned a couple of months later. I was hoping mine wouldnt, but they did, only a month and a half after i stopped taking the antibiotics. I scheduled a follow up appointment with my gastroenterologist for Jan. 13th. Hopefully we will be able to get to the bottom of this so i do not have to be on antibiotics for the rest of my life and so that i can donate again.

Please, if you have time, donate in my place. Donation is easy and convenient and saves so many lives.

INOVA Blood Donor Services

Christmas 2010

Christmas 2010 turned out to be an eventful one. I went to the Hawleys to drop off there gifts on Christmas eve and while uncle Zach was trying to get the present out of the box with his knife, he sliced his finger and ended up having to go to the ER to get 4 stitches. I felt sooooo bad. Then on Christmas day, my step dad broke a glass and sliced his finger open and went to the ER that night to get 7 stitches. We also got a phone call on Christmas day that my grandfather was in the ER up in NY for an infection in his leg. Thankfully they gave him some IV antibiotics and sent him home. I was supposed to go up to NY to see family on the 26th, but since i crashed my car and they were having a blizzard, i decided against it.

Despite all of the ER visits, we did end up having a very nice Christmas. we made hot chocolate and breakfast in the morning. i got a kobo, which is the borders version of the kindle, which i am very excited about since i have been reading a lot lately (let me know if you have a good suggestions on books i should read). i also got a new navigation system, since mine got stolen a couple of months back. i also got a crazy heavy duty pet vacuum which im sure was incredibly expensive and definitely something that i never would have bought for myself, but am very excited to have. Im sure it will get lots of usage once i buy a new house.

I did get a text from one of my old winwood families asking me to babysit on new years eve for 7 kids in the presidential suite at the Westfields marriott. cha-ching! so while everyone else is spending ridiculous amounts of money, i will be making it. $500 cash money!

totalled car # 2

at 1pm today, i totalled a car for the second time in 3 years (almost to the day). thankfully, this time, it wasnt my fault. i was just driving straight and this guy was trying to turn left in front of me and i guess he thought he had enough time. because i wasnt expecting someone to pull out in front of me, i didnt even see him until i was like 2 feet from his car. i probably hit him doing about 40. both of my air bags blew, i had a picture frame in the back of my car that flew into the windshield, shattering it. there was blood coming from somewhere. before i even realized what had just happened there were two ladies trying to get me out of the car. there was some type of liquid pouring out from underneath the crushed front end of my car. during impact, my hand must have come off the steering wheel and hit my key which broke off in the ignition (my hand is where the blood was coming from and my knuckle was definitely not where it was supposed to be). i refused treatment at the scene and the cop eventually wrote the guy a reckless driving ticket. if he pleads not guilty, i will have to go to court in march along with the two witnesses that were at the scene. im hoping he wont be dumb enough to try and say it wasnt his fault, since it clearly was.

this is just one example of how awful my luck is. only i would total my car literally 2 days after paying off the $3k that was left on my loan. i was so looking forward to not having a car payment. that being said, besides possibly having a broken bone in my hand and one in my foot and being a little sore (which im sure will be a lot sore come tomorrow morning), im ok and ill be getting a new car for christmas.

whatever doesnt kill us (literally) makes us stronger. after what i have been through in the past 2 months, i am going to be one resilient woman!

merry christmas to all!

i am apparently retarded and dont know how to rotate these pictures.

house hunting

i have decided that i am going to bite the bullet and buy a house. this is something that i have wanted for a long time and something that i put on hold for someone else. i spent the last year and a half spending every moment engulfed in a failed relationship. thinking of what i could do to make it better, trying to do things to make it better, i wanted it to work so bad, but obviously i was the only one. i am sad that it didnt work out and i will always care about jake. i learned a lot in the past year and half, a lot about love, life, and mostly myself. I believe that he is my soul mate, but not the kind of soul mate you may be thinking of...

"People think a soul mate is your perfect fit, and that's what everyone wants. But a true soul mate is a mirror, the person who shows you everything that is holding you back, the person who brings you to your own attention so you can change your life.

A true soul mate is probably the most important person you'll ever meet, because they tear down your walls and smack you awake. But to live with a soul mate forever? Nah. Too painful. Soul mates, they come into your life just to reveal another layer of yourself to you, and then leave.

A soul mates purpose is to shake you up, tear apart your ego a little bit, show you your obstacles and addictions, break your heart open so new light can get in, make you so desperate and out of control that you have to transform your life..." - Eat, pray, love.

now it is time for me to do me, to do what i want to do, to do what i think is best for me.

back to house hunting...
we looked at 5 houses today. the two foreclosures were atrocious. we did see two places in brambleton that were very nice, one was more in my preferred price range, but i could probably afford either. one was a stacked condo with a garage, which my mom thinks is so important, i on the other hand have never had a garage, so for me, its not a big deal. it would be nice, but not worth the difference in price. the one that i am really interested in is on the third floor in the same complex. it has three bedrooms and two full baths and a really nice open floor plan. i would have to rip up the carpet, but i think with a little TLC, it could definitely be my home. i have to do some number crunching, but i think the cheaper, 3 bedroom is better for me than the nicer two bedroom with a garage. who knows, maybe something even better will come up, but i really like this one.

today is my mom's birthday

as i have gotten older, my mom and i have grown to be very close. our relationship wasnt always an easy one and i am probably to blame for most of that. at 28 i have finally realized how important family is, whether it is your mom, dad, brothers, sisters, grandparents, aunts, uncles, cousins, step parents, step siblings, these are all part of our families. these are the people who should always be there for you and you should always be there for them. sometimes i see the homeless people wandering around my really "safe" apartment complex and wonder how they dont have even one family member that would be willing to let them crash on the couch. i realize there are probably mitigating circumstances, but i am so thankful to know that if for any reason i needed a place to stay, a shoulder to cry on, a vehicle to drive, money, etc., that i have my family that i know would be there for me.

anyway, back to the birthday girl! i have been through some crazy times, some sad times, some happy times, some devastating times, times when i didnt think i could get out of bed and there has always been one and only one person who has always been there for me, to make me laugh, to hold me while i cry, to tell me its going to be ok, to tell me to get my ass outta bed, to tell me that im smart and beautiful and that this too shall pass. she has also been there next to me through the good times too, graduations, birthdays, new jobs, etc.

i just cant imagine my mom not being my best friend, or not being in my life at all. i am very lucky to be able to call my mom my friend, i dont think everyone has that, but i wish everyone did.

happy birthday ma, i love you!

Lucas & the Hawleys

I assumed that most people that i invited to read my blog already knew who Lucas was, but I was told the other day that this is not true...

When I worked at Winwood (a year and a half ago) in the toddler room, a new little boy name Lucas was in my class. He was only there for a couple of months before i made my career change. He was definitely one of my favorites, even though he would run from me and didnt want to play with me :( and his mom and dad were super nice and pregnant with Lukey's sister, Megan.

Last March i received a phone call from my old boss. She was so upset and told me that Lucas has been diagnosed with cancer. I couldnt believe it. I had no idea what to think or what to do. I had no idea what the prognosis was and had never known a child that had cancer. I went out and bought a bunch of gifts and went to Winwood and waited for the Hawley's to pick up Megan. Casey (Luke's mom) was so sweet and i couldnt help but cry. A couple of months later i arranged a fundraiser for Lucas up at SportBounce. It was a huge success!

Everyday I would read about what Luke and his family were going through. It was heartbreaking.

After many rounds of chemo and a bone marrow transplant, Lucas is currently in remission! During his many months in and out of the hospital i never got to see luke, but now that he is feeling better, i have gotten to spend a couple hours a weekend playing with him and his sister. The Hawleys are so amazing. It has really put my own life into perspective to see what the have been through and how well they have dealt with something that no family should ever have to endure.

Because of the Hawleys, i have started donating blood on a regular basis and hope to be able to donate platelets if my iron count can ever get above 12.5. I have attempted twice and my iron was 12.4 both times. I have also started a relay for life team in honor of luke and his family. They have truly been an inspiration and have been a huge influence on the positive changes that i have made in my life recently. I cant thank them enough.

Hopefully for those of you who didnt know about Luke, now you do!

You can follow Lucas and the Hawleys journey by clicking on the link below, and entering your email address under “Interested in becoming a member of this community?”

Team LUKE

platelet donation and other stuff

I was going to apologize for being a slacker, but i dont think anyone actually reads this anyway, but for those of you who do....

Last week i tried to donate platelets twice....failed. my iron count was .1 too low both times. ugh! she actually said that for a vegetarian, my iron count is pretty high, so i guess im doing something right. at some point this weekend, im going to drink a bottle of molasses and try again next week.

Work is going really well for me right now. im loving my job and have been getting lots of kudos from my bosses. we just released the project that i have been working on for the past couple of months, so i am very excited for that. we have our holiday party tonight, which i thought i was going to bring jake to, but obviously that isnt happening, so it will be different, but im hoping to still have a fun time. free food and booze. im hoping they have a chocolate fountain again this year like they did last year. there are also a lot of new people (that i dont really know) and a lot of people from last years party that are no longer with Chenega, so we'll see how it goes.

Now that i have no reason to stay out here in the ghetto of falls church, i have been thinking about what to do about my living situation when my lease is up at the end of april. do i rent a place for another year or two? do i get my own place? do i get roommates? what the hell am i going to do with 3 crazy cats? or...do i just bite the bullet and buy a place? owning my own home is something that i have wanted for a long time. when i met jake, i put all of that on hold. decisions, decisions....

I'll stop boring the 3 people that read this now.

Relay for Life - Team LUKE!

It's official! I have started a relay for life team in honor of Lucas and the Hawley family. The event is on June 4th/5th from 1pm to 6am at Heritage High School in Loudoun. The link to the Team LUKE page is below.

http://main.acsevents.org/goto/TeamLUKE

I dont think there is anyone out there who doesnt know someone who has had, currently has, or has died from cancer. All of the proceeds from Relay for Life go directly to cancer research in hopes of eventually finding a cure. Lucas and the Hawleys have definitely been my most recent inspiriation, but my grandmother is a breast cancer survivor and her and my grandfather have both had skin cancer as well. My moms best friend lost her battle with breast cancer over 10 years ago. She left behind a husband and two young children.

Relay for Life is a great way to raise money for cancer research and to make new friends with other cancer survivors and other people that have loved ones who have battled this awful disease.

Please consider joining Team LUKE or making a donation, even a small one will help!

Thanks to all of you for your suppoort!

Eat, Pray, Love

So my best girlfriend sent me this book (all the way from upstate NY...thanks Stef!) and told me i HAD to read it. So I did...

I was a little hesitant at first since I don't consider myself a religious person, but I figured if it was good enough for Stef to actually mail it to me (as opposed to her just telling me to go buy it) that I should give it a shot.

So, this true story is divided into three sections. In each section Liz goes to a different country for different reasons. First she goes to Italy simply because she wants to learn to speak Italian. I really enjoyed this part of the book (which I think was stef's least favorite). She simply eats good food, meets new people, and goes to different places in Italy. Then she spends 4 months in India at her guru's ashram to meditate and do yoga. She meets lots of fun characters there as well. This was the most religious part of the book and coincidentally my least favorite, but still interesting. She finishes her one year journey in Indonesia spending afternoons with a medicine man and afternoons with a medicine woman.

its been a couple days since i started this post and just realized why the title is eat, pray, love. in italy she eats, in india she prays, in indonesia she loves.

i dont plan on becoming religous, but i think that reading this book has definitely made me more spiritual. its a great book to read if you are having difficulities in your life. although i have never tried meditation, i did fall asleep the other night saying to myself over and over again "you will be ok, you will be ok, you will be ok".

i have also recently learned that doing things for other makes me feel better about myself, so if you are ever feeling down, try doing something for someone else and you just might feel better!

thanks stef!

work blood drive

so i sent out an email to my co-workers today letting them know that i was interested in doing a blood drive at work and asked who would be interested in donating so that i could see if we could get enough people. i was very disappointed in the responses, or lack there of. within seconds of sending out the email, the first response was "im not interested, thanks." then i got a couple of people giving me excuses that there blood is "no good" or whatever other bullshit excuse. then i actually got one response that said "sure, i'll donate just to find out my blood type". Are you fucking serious? I actually emailed that person back and asked if they ever knew anyone who had/has cancer or need a blood transfusion and then said, i guess your motives for donating blood dont really matter. so far i have only received responses from 4 people that are interested in donating (out of around 40 people that were on the email).

that being said, i have found myself judging the people that have responded negatively or not at all. i only donated for the first time last week and was definitely inspired to do so by a brave little boy that has endured so much in his battle with cancer, so who am i to judge? but now that i have donated and learned about the necessity of blood, plasma, and platelet donation and how many lives can be saved by doing something that costs nothing but an hour of your time, i cant imagine not continuing to donate.

again, as i go through one of the most difficult times in my life, i am so grateful for the things that i do have and one of those things is my health. there are so many people out there that are not nearly as lucky as i am. i know that there are many people out there who do many things for other less fortunate people whether it is blood donation, donating to charity, volunteering with various groups, etc. but i feel like MOST people probably dont do anything. not to mention people that are fighting pitbulls, neglecting their children, polluting the environment.

i know that no one can do everything, but everyone can do something.



Lucas Hawley, the bravest little boy i know

try it, you may be amazed at how good it makes you feel.

Lost dog and cat rescue

So yesterday was my first time volunteering with the lost dog and cat rescue. I thought this was going to be super sad, but it actually wasn't. There were lots of very nice volunteers and I also got to meet some nice people that were looking to adopt. There were three different litters of puppies that I thought would be adopted very quickly, but it was actually the dogs that were a little older that people were interested in. My dog was Simon. Hebwas so sweet but someone had obviously starved him, so he was very skinny and boney. After two hours he curled up on my lap and took a nap. It was absolutely adorable. I've always loved dogs and wanted one, but I don't think Zion, Dexter, and hummus would be very happy with me if I brought them home a dog friend :) Drinking Starbucks, playing with dogs and puppies and talking to lots of new people for 3 hours on a saturday was totally worth it.

If you want to volunteer just go to www.lostdogandcatrescue.org they send out a weekend email asking who would like to volunteer and where. If you want to volunteer that weekend you just reply to the email, if you don't, then you don't, there is no commitment.

Let me know if you want to volunteer and I'll go with you!

a very rewarding experience

after spending an afternoon with Lukey last weekend, i decided that i needed to do something. i needed to do something to make a difference. unfortunately, i dont make enough money to donate to the cancer research foundations, etc. but there is something that i can do for free, so that is what i did. on tuesday after work, i went to the inova blood donation center in dulles, va (over by the mall) and donated blood for the very first time in my life. i wasnt nervous or anything, but i was totally unprepared for the overwhelming feeling of self worth that this experience provided me.

i was so surprised by the amount of people that were there donating. people were on their laptops, or watching movies on portable dvd players, or reading their books. obviously some of them were regulars, employees calling them by name. everyone was super nice and very thankful. luckily i didnt pass out or anything although because i have low blood pressure, it did take a little longer than normal. when i was done, i had some oreos and a bottle of water and was good to go!

so while i was there i learned that you can donate whole blood every 8 weeks, plasma every 4 weeks, and platelets every 2 weeks. platelets only last 7 days, so they are always in high demand. these are used for motor vehicle accident and burn victims as well as cancer patients and probably numerous other things that i am unaware of.

the rewarding feeling that i got from this experience is unexplainable....life changing for sure. i will now be going back every 2 weeks to donate whatever i can. i have also talked to some people at work and will hopefully be setting up a blood drive there soon.

i would like to thank the Hawleys and Lucas who have been a huge inspiration. they are so strong and so brave and have endured things that people cant even imagine. You guys are always in my thoughts and i am so proud to know such amazing people.

so to all of you who have never donated, or have thought about donating, or who have only donated once or twice, get out there and make a difference. you can save lives....

http://www.inova.org/get-involved/blood-donor-services/index.jsp

Dulles Town Center 
45745 Nokes Boulevard, #160
Sterling, VA  20166
Map and interactive directions
Hours of operation
Monday — noon to 8 p.m.
Tuesday and Wednesday — 10 a.m. to 6 p.m.
Friday — 6 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Sunday — noon to 4 p.m.
Closed Thursday and Saturday

thanksgiving

as i go through this difficult time in my life i feel that on this day it is important for me to remember the things that i am thankful for. right now i feel like i have hit rock bottom, dealing with relationship issues and family stuff, but then i think that in comparison to many other people, these are just small bumps in the road of life. so today, i am thankful for my health, especially since i finally figured out why i had been so miserable with stomach issues for almost a year and have since been feeling much better thanks to the antibiotics that i took 3 times a day for over a month. im thankful that i have a decent job, that i have recently come to enjoy and feel like i am actually getting good at. i am thankful for my crazy family, even though we have been through a lot and continue to work on our issues, i know that my mom will always be there for me, no matter what. i am thankful for recently reconnecting with my aunt amy up in NY and being able to spend time with my little cousins. at 28, i have finally realized the importance of family. i am thankful to have an amazing best friend, who lives way too far away, to support me, help me, make me laugh, and tell me when im being stupid. i am thankful that i met a man a year and a half ago that completely changed my life. i have learned so much about life, love, and myself in this time, its absolutely amazing. i am thankful for the Hawleys and that Lucas is currently in remission. this family is truly an inspiration to me, they are the strongest most loving and caring family that i have ever met. im thankful for all of my friends, even though we may not speak everyday or see eachother every month, i know that we will always be friends, and i am thankful for that!

so even in these times of personal struggle, i have many things to be thankful for. so thank you all for being in my life.

heather

my first blog

so, i never ever would have ever thought that i would end up being a blogger. i have probably only read one or two blog posts in my entire life and definitely never thought about actually blogging myself.

that being said, over the past couple of years, my life has dramatically changed. over the past year and half, my life has changed even more. and now, over the past month, i have gone through more changes than ever before. so i figured, why not try something new.

questions, comments, and concerns are all welcome. hope you enjoy....

heather