Well, Here Goes Nothin'

Where to start... Well, I guess ladies first. We will talk about me :) My name is Brittani. History... I have a lot of it for a 20 year old. I will just cut to the chase. For as long as I can remember my health has not been the best to say the least. In 3rd grade I went to Chicago to a children's research center. I was diagnosed with something that is called cyclic vomiting syndrome (It was on an episode of Grey's Anatomy!!). It is very rare, and I normally have to explain it to doctors. When I went to the children's research center, they said that as I grew they would learn. It was so new that they did not have much information on how it would be as my body changed. I was on medication until my 6th grade year. From my 6th grade year till my Sophomore year of high school I was medication free :) Then my sophomore year of high school I started having small symptoms again... migraines, severe acid reflux, vomiting. The vomiting was not near as bad as it was when I was younger, but migraines and acid reflux were new to me. During my junior year of high school, things progressively got worse. I passed out in the cafeteria at school. It was the first time I had ever done that. It was terrifying to say the least. I remember feeling light headed and having cold sweats. I asked a friend to walk me to the nurses office. They sent this girl to carry 150lbs of dead weight. ... not the most intelligent decision they ever made.

I did not make it to the nurses office before face planting in front of half of my high school. I was known as the girl that passed out during lunch for a few months. I remember losing my hearing first. Then I lost my eye site and speech. Then I lost consciousness. Passing out was not the scary part. Coming out of it was. I remember hearing friends around me saying "Brittani, can you hear me?" "Brittani, we are here." but I could not respond. It was like I was paralyzed. My brain was comprehending and even could recognize voices, but I could not move or even open my eyes. Needless to say, I went through A LOT of medical testing. I was diagnosed with neurocardiogenic syncope (fainting). That year I was also diagnosed with vasovagal (over stimulation of the vagus nerve). I also was diagnosed with fibromyalgia. Yep, it is nuts I know.

I am thankful that God puts people in your life right when you need them. I say this because my sophomore year of high school God gave me a great guy that would be with me through every trial. 

I knew from day one I was going to marry him, and I did!

Since the beginning of our relationship, we have had to fight for one another. We went through a lot for each other. That may sound like we are young and naive, but until someone goes through what we went through, they will never know how hard it truly is no matter how old the couple is.

We got hitched in July :) In April of this year, I had a terrible grand mal seizure as a few of us were getting breakfast before the country expo. My younger sister was included in this group. I hate that she had to see that, and if I could do anything, I would not take away the fact that I had the seizure. I would want her to not have to see it.

Just a little spill on her. I love this girl to death. We may fight and bicker, but that is what sisters do. Truth is.. I do not know what I would do without her. She is a rock on the outside, but if you can chisel through it (believe me it is hard), she has the softest heart of anyone I know. She is my best friend, and I know that she would bend over backwards to do something for me if I need it. Okay... mushy period over... I am sure you will get more of that later.

And back to the seizure.... I was taken to St. Francis by ambulance (P.S. I did not have medical insurance). I was not allowed to drive for 6 months and the neurologist that I saw once put me on 200mg of Lamictal a day. Since I did not have insurance, I could not get the testing done that needed to be done. So now, here we are. I finally have insurance. I am not going to lie I may have cried a little when I got my insurance card in the mail. I set an appointment with my doctor to see what steps we need to take. She schedule the normal test. An MRI, which we figured would come back normal, sent me to a different neurologist to do an EEG and continue with whatever treatment I may need. I had the MRI on a Tuesday evening. On Friday, I got a call from the doctors office. They told me that the MRI came back abnormal, my heart sunk. She told me it was mesial temporal sclerosis. So, what do I do. I look it up on google scholarly articles, and it looks bad real bad... like brain surgery bad. I am a junior year nursing student. I do not have time to eat, breath, or sleep let alone have BRAIN SURGERY!! It was a rough weekend that is for sure. My whole family was a mess. I was a mess. I was scared, but not for brain surgery. School is my life. I love it, and I love the people that I will graduate with. I cannot imagine having to drop out of school and starting over with a different class. These girls are great. They are 100% supportive and want to help me get through this semester. Here they are :)

 If I fail or have to withdrawal, I do not know if I will go back. Unfortunately, the area that is affected by this sclerosis is the area that controls emotions and MEMORY. Did I mention I am a nursing student? Talk about struggling. 

My hubby... he is being so strong for me. I asked him why he wasn't upset. I had not seen him cry or anything. I was starting to wonder if he understood how severe it could be. He told me, " If i am not strong for you, who is going to be?" This is true. My family has fallen apart. Not that they are not there for me, but strength is not in their vocabulary at this time.

So my journey continues on Wednesday evening. I am having a more detailed MRI of my temporal lobe. I will keep you updated. Ta ta for now!