Post by littleone2 on Mar 11, 2014 14:41:52 GMT
Hi Honeybees:
So glad to be joining this forum! I am a 20 years old college student, finishing up junior year for a finance degree. I work in non-profit finance and also as a student assistant in finance on my campus. I am very short (4'11'') but my small size doesn't contain my big personality! I love working puzzles, reading, music, public speaking, writing and painting.
I'm here because I am scheduled for two total hip replacements this summer. When I was 5 years old, I started experiencing hip and back pain, and a camp nurse was the first person to point out my odd gait to my mother. From that point on, I was taken from hospital to hospital (including the Mayo Clinic in 2000) trying to figure out what could be wrong. I was given several posibilities for a diagnosis, including the possibility of having Myasthenia Gravis. However, more testing ruled out those possibilities, and in 2002 I was diagnosed by a world-renown surgeon with Skeletal Dysplasia (although nothing very specific has ever been given to me). Currently, I have no cartilage between my joints, and my hip sockets grew flat while I was developing. Basically, I have bone rubbing against bone and my bones are starting to break down. If I don't have a hip replacement this summer, my pelvic bone will start to crumble and I won't be able to walk.
When I was 11 years old, I was put into a wheelchair. I have always been incredibly stubborn even as a child, so I taught myself how to walk again when I was 12 or 13. There were many days I was up at 5 or 6 am doing physical therapy, just because I was so driven to walk again. After I began to walk, I went on to do many things in junior high and high school, including winning music and national debate awards. I graduated high school in 2011, and started working full time and went to a community college. Interestingly enough, I worked at a fairly labor intensive job, and still enjoyed going to work every day. My boss and I became good friends, and he was so worried about me hurting myself that he bought me a stool that I could sit down at work. I have very good memories of that to this day.
After that, I quite my job and transferred to a 4-year college to finish my finance degree, and so far I have been able to walk around campus fairly well, although there are many days were it is difficult. I don't know what I would do without my boyfriend, as he is very understanding and always tries to take good care of me (even carries my heavy things around campus, etc). Even though I am very self-conscious about my gait, he says he hardly notices because of how beautiful I am. I have a very supportive family and many wonderful friends. Even though life has difficulties, I am so glad to be on this planet and especially to be studying at university.
Thank you for letting me introduce myself! I can't wait to hear everyone else's stories
.
So glad to be joining this forum! I am a 20 years old college student, finishing up junior year for a finance degree. I work in non-profit finance and also as a student assistant in finance on my campus. I am very short (4'11'') but my small size doesn't contain my big personality! I love working puzzles, reading, music, public speaking, writing and painting.
I'm here because I am scheduled for two total hip replacements this summer. When I was 5 years old, I started experiencing hip and back pain, and a camp nurse was the first person to point out my odd gait to my mother. From that point on, I was taken from hospital to hospital (including the Mayo Clinic in 2000) trying to figure out what could be wrong. I was given several posibilities for a diagnosis, including the possibility of having Myasthenia Gravis. However, more testing ruled out those possibilities, and in 2002 I was diagnosed by a world-renown surgeon with Skeletal Dysplasia (although nothing very specific has ever been given to me). Currently, I have no cartilage between my joints, and my hip sockets grew flat while I was developing. Basically, I have bone rubbing against bone and my bones are starting to break down. If I don't have a hip replacement this summer, my pelvic bone will start to crumble and I won't be able to walk.
When I was 11 years old, I was put into a wheelchair. I have always been incredibly stubborn even as a child, so I taught myself how to walk again when I was 12 or 13. There were many days I was up at 5 or 6 am doing physical therapy, just because I was so driven to walk again. After I began to walk, I went on to do many things in junior high and high school, including winning music and national debate awards. I graduated high school in 2011, and started working full time and went to a community college. Interestingly enough, I worked at a fairly labor intensive job, and still enjoyed going to work every day. My boss and I became good friends, and he was so worried about me hurting myself that he bought me a stool that I could sit down at work. I have very good memories of that to this day.
After that, I quite my job and transferred to a 4-year college to finish my finance degree, and so far I have been able to walk around campus fairly well, although there are many days were it is difficult. I don't know what I would do without my boyfriend, as he is very understanding and always tries to take good care of me (even carries my heavy things around campus, etc). Even though I am very self-conscious about my gait, he says he hardly notices because of how beautiful I am. I have a very supportive family and many wonderful friends. Even though life has difficulties, I am so glad to be on this planet and especially to be studying at university.
Thank you for letting me introduce myself! I can't wait to hear everyone else's stories
. 
