A Little Bit of Good News Can Go a Long Way

Since my past couple of posts have been a bit on the sad side I have decided to update you all on some really great news. I have been meaning to let you all know about this but I have been very poor at posting this year so far. Anyways, many of you know that I have been taking a bone density shot every morning for the last year and half. I am on this because I have osteoporosis and it was pretty severe, meaning we needed an aggressive treatment. The scale for T scores is -1-(+4) is considered normal, -1-(-2.5) is osteopenia, and -2.5-(-4) is osteoporosis. My score was -3.2, so you can see why it was so urgent to fix the problem because breaking a leg in a wheelchair means surgery and more hardware being placed in your body to stabilize. Like I posted in the past it was a complete shock that my bones were in such a bad state because since I was injured I have been doing all the "right"things. Therapy, standing, calcium, and lots of milk but for whatever reason bone loss happens more severely in some people in chairs than others.

Now, with that background, on to the good news! At the end of last month I went and finally had my bone density retested. Going into the test I had decided if the scores didn't change then I was quitting the medicine because it is a medication that is a pain in the ass. The test is quick and painless, you just lay on a board and a machine scans you like an x-ray machine. We asked the technician what the scores were and to my surprise my score was up to -2.6!!!! That is HUGE! Gaining that much bone mass back in such a short amount of time is incredible! I have almost reversed my osteoporosis! I know a lot of exclamations but this is a big deal because at one time it was thought that you couldn't rebuild bone mass. I am so happy to finally have some good news and know that stabbing myself every morning for the last 18 months wasn't for nothing! So I have 6 months left on Forteo and I have made it my goal that come August I will be in osteopenia and have fully reversed the osteoporosis!

The Grad School Verdict is in.

As many of you know I applied to multiple graduate schools this past winter and I have received letters from all of the schools but one. I wanted to wait till I got all my letters before I announced anything. But I have a pretty good idea of what the last letter will say so I am writing the post without it.

So here is goes... I received 5 letters of rejection and I am assuming the last letter will be a rejection too. Not one of the schools I applied to wanted me. It is incredibly painful to think about. I got all of the letters within a week of each other, right before my birthday. Naturally I pouted that whole week and had myself a little pity party. However, I have now put my big girl pants back on and I am working on plan B. I am assuming that the main reason I didn't get into the programs because of my lack of experience. I don't think my G.P.A. or GRE score were very strong so in combination with that and zero experience I just wasn't a good applicant I believe. This is extremely frustrating because for my entire college career I was relearning how to live. I was attending doctors appointments, lawyer meetings, therapy of all kinds and none of this counts. To them it just looks like I was going to school and thats it but really I was doing so much more. Personally I feel that what I have lived through is more valuable than any "on the job" experience I will ever receive. But schools don't take that into consideration, they want you to play their game.

Which leads me to Plan B get a job and apply to schools for my masters. I have begun the job search which won't be easy because most jobs want you full time and with my physical therapy schedule it just isn't possible to work full time. So I might just have to volunteer somewhere till after the wedding and then get a job. As for masters programs the deadline to apply for next fall has already passed, meaning I will be off school for yet another year! Once again not ideal but there isn't much I can do about it at this point. There is still an off chance that Western Michigan will accept me into their program and all this worry will be for nothing but I am preparing for the worst and I will be okay with it.

I guess it is true that nothing comes easy in life. Especially things we want most in life, we have to fight for it. I am prepared to fight for it all.