#justagirlwithgp

[zebranothorse]

Welcome to the new blog - “on my nerves”

Given my newest, more all-encompassing diagnosis of small fiber neuropathy, I have retooled this blog to better represent the spoonie life I live. Welcome to “on my nerves” formerly known as “Just a Girl With GP.” 

[zebranothorse]

[zebranothorse]

Officially past the 2,000 post mark!

:)

[zebranothorse]

Blog Changes

Hey! :)

Just a little note to say hello and point out that some changes are occurring on the blog. I'm doing some fresh new layout changes and I've updated some pictures and information in my sidebar. I have also added a navigation button for "chronic pain" under which posts about chronic pain will be filtered!

[zebranothorse]

Blog Construction Update

You may have noticed that the blog's been like a little chameleon lately. :) Well, for a variety of reasons, I've been hunting for the perfect theme for the last week and I think I finally found it. :D Now, the colors and pictures might change, yes, but I think this layout finally serves the purposes I need it to for my blog to look and operate like I want it to operate. (Tabs, sidebar, pages, links, etc.)

I'm pretty excited about it. :D I hope you like it. 

Well wishes to all. 

-Kelsey

[zebranothorse]

A little bio...

Since I just had to type this up to put somewhere else, I thought that I might as well just copy it here, in case you'd like to know more about me or you haven't been following my blog for awhile and are curious about how my chronic illness story developed...

Hi, I'm Kelsey. I'm 22 years-old and from Ohio. I love writing, music, theatre, animals (especially cats!), and anything purple, plaid, or sparkly. I'm currently living with several chronic health conditions: idiopathic gastroparesis, gastroesophageal reflux disease, and dysautonomia.

Until you're given a reason to, you sometimes take health for granted, especially when you're young and you feel like you're nearly invincible.

I just recently graduated from college in May 2013. When I got to college, I started to struggle with some debilitating problems that made day-to-day school routine a lot tougher for me. It started with sudden fainting, in very isolated and separate incidents. Then, in March 2011, halfway through my second semester of my sophomore year, I became very sick. At first it seemed like I had a bad viral infection, and it seemed to go away after a bit. However, only a few days passed, and then I felt awful again. That was the start of a months-long rollercoaster of stomach illness. I was nauseous 24/7 and because of this, I had trouble eating and drinking fluids adequately. I had acid reflux and severe stomaches daily. I had strange, sharp chest pains. I became very malnourished , dehydrated and weak. To make matters worse, it felt like my doctor wasn't taking anything I thought or said seriously. It seemed as though he'd already decided that my illness was either "all in my head," or that I had an eating disorder. Neither of these suspicions were true. I became frustrated, and so did my parents, family, and close friends, because we suspected that the problem wasn't being dealt with properly, and meanwhile I just became sicker and sicker.

I ended up in the hospital, but after a few days, I was allowed to go home. I had to continue to rehabilitate myself at home, though. I had an NG (nasogastroentral) feeding tube, and spent a month couch-ridden and hooked up to the machine to try to restore nutrition. After that, I had to try to recondition and reintroduce my body to more typical eating habits and physical activity. For the second two years of college, my life was all about symptom management. I took medicines to try and curb the worst of my illness. In January 2012, I saw a new gastroenterologist, and it didn't take him very long to determine that I have gastroparesis. Gastroparesis means that the patient has a partially to completely paralyzed stomach, and it empties at a delayed rate, causing a variety of symptoms like nausea, pain, bloating, inadequate nutrition, etc.

During my last year of college, I was required to undertake a year-long research and writing project in order to graduate. As a major in English writing, I was permitted to write a creative or personal project, i.e. a novel or personal narrative. I chose to write a memoir about my life with my illness. I received a rank of "honors" on my project, received a grant to attend a writing conference to supplement my work, and also won several writing awards.

I hope to add to and edit my memoir as I continue to find my way through treating and living with my chronic illnesses, and maybe have it published one day. But the journey continues to unfold in front of me. In late January 2014, I had a tilt-table test performed to try to find a cause for my chronic problems with fainting, extreme fatigue/weakness, and lightheadedness. The cardiologist overseeing the test informed me that my autonomic nervous system appeared to not function properly, causing me cardiovascular symptoms, as well as probably being the culprit behind my idiopathic gastroparesis.

In 2012, as I prepared to write my thesis, I created a chronic illness blog called "Just a Girl with GP." This blog became more than a hobby and research aid, as it connected me to many other people with chronic health battles, and gave me a chance to spread awareness and hope regarding chronic long-term illness. It is still running today. :)

[kdramallama]

Tagged by doyougnomi~

If you are tagged on this, read on and follow the steps!

Rule 1: Post the rules.
 Rule 2: Answer the questions you were tagged on and make 11 new ones.
 Rule 3: Tag 11 new people and link them to your post.
 Rule 4: Let them know you’ve tagged them

1. A song you can’t stop replaying?

I honestly haven't listened to much music lately but I've played a couple of the songs from Frozen more than a few times

2. One place where you would like to travel to?

Hong Kong~ One of my closest friends moved back a few years ago and I miss her so much!

3. Any pets?

1 precious little kitty cat, my oldest cat passed away just this morning :(

4. An artist/ band you would like to see in concert?

Hmmm maybe SHINee?

5. Any books you are currently reading?

I haven't read anything in a while, though my sister has a running list of things she wants me to read 

6. If you could learn any language(s), which would they be?

Spanish, Mandarin & Cantonese, ASL and Korean...I'd love to be able to speak French too!

7. Worst movie you've ever seen?

I've seen a lot of so-bad-it's-good movies, but I think the worst (or at least, my least enjoyed) movies I've seen are probably the Resident Evil movies

8. An actor/actress that you would watch any and all of their movies/shows?

I'm a sucker for James Stewart movies

9. Favorite piece of clothing?

In the past 3 years I have had exactly one pair of pants that come pretty darn close to fitting me and for that I am grateful!

10. Would you ever run a 5K?

I would probably need a hospital if I even attempted :-P

11. A song that needs to be played loudly?

ALL OF THEM except for any dubstep or heavy metal because they make me feel panicky v.v

My questions!

1. What is your biggest pet peeve?

2. Favorite video game?

3. Winter or Summer?

4. If you could live anywhere in the world, where would you pick?

5. Cats or dogs?

6. Favorite things to do on your days off?

7. A skill you wish you could have?

8. Favorite animated show/movie?

9.  Do you have a hobby?

10.  Favorite place to shop?

11.  Would you ever get a tattoo?

[heresthethingaboutit-blog]

justagirlwithgp replied to your post: i just want real food so much :’( i legit just...

totally know the feeling. hang in there! sending along well wishes and good vibes <3

thank you so much!!!! i hope you're doing well <3