A Busy Week...

I am so sorry that it's already been a week and I haven't written! It's been a busy week. Here's a quick little summary of what's been going on...

Tuesday:
 I went down to Salt Lake to the Huntsman Institute to see my doctor for my osteonecrosis (avascular necrosis). My doctor and all of his team down there are so nice and so sweet!! As nice as it is to see them and hear all of their kind and supportive words, it's hard at the same time. When we were leaving, I was talking to my mom kind of about that....I was telling her how great the doctor is, how much I appreciate all of them, but at the same time how it's hard; because when I see this doctor, even though we were mainly seeing him to get his thoughts on the osteonecrosis in my elbows, we end up discussing the entire picture. It's kind of a realization that I do have osteonecrosis throughout the majority of my body, that I have had to have major surgeries this past year (in 2013), that I'm still facing some big surgeries, and that some things, we just don't have the answer to.
So, my doctor looked at the MRIs of my elbows, and said that the osteonecrosis is definitely there but the good news is that my elbows aren't "shot" (collapsed) yet. He wants to send me to an orthopedic doctor who specializes specifically with elbows, so that maybe that doctor might know some more ideas on if there's anything we can do to keep the elbows from collapsing (kind of salvage them, if you will). Then, I'll follow back up with the doctor at the Huntsman in about a year, unless we have any questions sooner. (Between now and then, he knows I have my follow-ups with my other orthopedic doctors specializing on the different joints.)
I was also able to go over to my sister Jodi's for a little while on Tuesday, go to a neat class/workshop up at the hospital (it's a 'Living Well with Chronic Conditions' class that they teach for anyone who has, lives with, or knows someone with any type of chronic condition; they teach all different things to help with them--it's great), and then to my institute class that night! Needless to say I was utterly EXHAUSTED by the time I got home!!
Wednesday:
On Wednesday I was hurting and things, so I took it easy most of the day. My Ehlers Danlos had been flared up for about a week or so, so I was struggling with my joints hurting and popping and things. I'm definitely learning that an Ehlers Danlos flare-up plus Osteonecrosis (Avascular Necrosis) in most joints is not a great combination!
However, despite the pain and things going on, there was definitely good things that happened that day as well...I was able to go get ice cream with my sister Jill for her birthday, and I had my follow-up with my ankle orthopedic surgeon and (drum roll....) I got my cast off!!! I am now in a boot and able to put weight on my foot!! Yea!! (I'll put pictures up next time.)
Thursday:
Thursday was a homework day--I worked on studying most of the day, and took it easy as well.
Friday:
Friday was quite the adventure...remember how I'd mentioned earlier about my Ehlers Danlos being flared up?! Well, due to my Ehlers Danlos I also have what is called dysautonomia. Dysautonomia is kind of term that is used to describe different problems/conditions that arise from problems with your autonomic nervous system. See, Ehlers Danlos is a collagen disorder/disease, and collagen effects about 80% of your body; thus Ehlers Danlos can cause a vast array of various problems/conditions/disorders (dysautonomia being one of them). Anyways...Since Dysautonomia deals with problems from the autonomic nervous system, it can deal with one's blood pressure and heart rate/pulse.
So for a few days my pulse had been staying fairly low (it usually wouldn't go above 60), I hadn't been feeling real great, and Thursday night-Friday morning I'd slept about 15 hours. I decided I'd go to the doctor to see what they thought since it'd been a few days. Well, long story short...I ended up having to go by ambulance from the instacare to the hospital. My blood tests looked good at the doctor, my pulse was doing pretty well, but I started not feeling well, was about passing out if I stood, and my blood pressure started dropping. In the ambulance however, they checked my blood sugar (glucose) again and it was low (it was only 45). At the hospital though, they were able to run a bunch of labs which came back fine, they were able to give me some IV fluids and glucose to get my blood sugars and blood pressure stabilized, and I was able to come home that night!
Saturday:
I had a test for school that I needed to take and study for (I'd planned on studying Friday), and I also rested.
Sunday:
I made it to sacrament, had my home teacher over, got some homework done, and rested.

Anyways....This week has definitely been busy--it was full of ups and downs--but throughout it all, I have felt beyond blessed!! The Lord has blessed me with tender mercies every step of the way this week! I've been blessed with a great doctor and team down at the Huntsman, I got to spend time with my sisters Jodi and Jill this week, I was able to go to institute, I've been attending an awesome class/workshops to learn more about chronic conditions and living with them (which has helped me find all different strategies for sleeping better, different action plans, making new friends, etc...), I've managed to get all my school stuff done on time and getting decent scores, my blood work was normal (we wanted to make sure my adrenal glands and things were still doing okay with things), my ER doctor actually ran into my primary care doctor on a Friday night while I was in the ER and he came down to check on me and say hi, I was able to make it to church, and I've started overcoming some huge obstacles (a little at a time) this week!! I am so grateful for a loving, eternal Heavenly Father who loves me (and each of you) and is ALWAYS there for each of us!!! I'm grateful for an amazing family, wonderful friends, and just the most awesome people in my life! I am unconditionally grateful for the Gospel in my life and the tender mercies that the Lord constantly blesses me with!!
I hope you are each doing well! I am excited to write more hopefully tomorrow about the exciting things I'm learning and overcoming throughout all of this (that I'd mentioned above) and a continued update on everything!