what long, strange month it's been
Phew.
So exhausted.
So, a lot has happened this month. Lots.
Let's start locally. And by locally, I mean with my family. As long as I can remember, my brother has had frequent headaches, neck stiffness, and weird sleeping patterns that make him sleep like, twenty hours and still be exhausted. I thought he was just being lazy. My parents didn't know what to think. He went to see a neurologist recently, who did an MRI and ran some tests.
We got the results back a few weeks ago. They weren't exacatly what we were expecting. He has a type 1 Chiari malformation, a birth defect. So naturally, my Mom freaked out. The doctor said no one really picked up on it until now because the symptoms aren't as obvious until early adulthood. It isn't as serious as the other types of chiari malformations, like his spine isn't coming out of his neck or anything. But it's serious enough where it looks like he'll need surgery. He was a little freaked out, but was glad that we finally knew what was wrong. It's not like he's in constant pain, but he's always tired and sleeps for most of the day now. Mostly he goes to class, sleeps, eats, and goes back to sleep. The surgery will most likely be in the summer, so he can finish school and have plenty of time to recover.
In other surgical news, my beloved monster of a dog had surgery on Tuesday. She had a mass...er...coming out of her rear. We thought it was a tumor and freaked. The vet saw her, but couldn't determine what it was. So they surgically removed it just to be safe, and it turns out the mass was a benign polyp, not cancer. One of my other dogs had cancer in her jaw, and they ended up removing it. I was afraid they were going to do that to my dog now. But she's fine. She was a little groggy from the anesthesia for a while, but my dad said she barked a lot this morning for her breakfast.
Here at Davis, things are improving drastically. After the first quarter went so poorly, I was seriously considering calling it quits and moving home. The commute would be nothing compared to getting depressed about eating alone every day and not knowing anyone. It was like elementary school all over again. I don't relate to my roommates at all, and so most nights I'd stay in my room alone, while the rest of them hung out with their friends. It was lonely. Last week though, everything completely changed. Ironically, it was the girl who lives across from my room. Her roommate is friends with mine, meaning that she spent most of her time alone. She's an English major. Last week after I went jogging, I went to the dining hall on a whim a little bit earlier than normal. We ran into each other and she asked if she could eat if with me. Ever since then, we've been eating together. It turns out we have a ridiculous amount in common, like adoring anime and reading a lot. We've also made it a weekly tradition to hit Baskin Robbins and Chipotle in town once a week. It's real fun. She wasn't sure what she was going to do about next year, since unlike me, she can't commute. Originally, she was going to go through roommate ads and just find a place to live that way. Finally, we both got the idea that we should get an apartment. Duh. So we're looking at ads right now and my parents are going to drive us around on Sunday to take a look at them.
I'm swamped with work for midterms next week, but I only have two, so a weekend of cramming should be fine. Hopefully I'll do well. Yay for school getting better!
So exhausted.
So, a lot has happened this month. Lots.
Let's start locally. And by locally, I mean with my family. As long as I can remember, my brother has had frequent headaches, neck stiffness, and weird sleeping patterns that make him sleep like, twenty hours and still be exhausted. I thought he was just being lazy. My parents didn't know what to think. He went to see a neurologist recently, who did an MRI and ran some tests.
We got the results back a few weeks ago. They weren't exacatly what we were expecting. He has a type 1 Chiari malformation, a birth defect. So naturally, my Mom freaked out. The doctor said no one really picked up on it until now because the symptoms aren't as obvious until early adulthood. It isn't as serious as the other types of chiari malformations, like his spine isn't coming out of his neck or anything. But it's serious enough where it looks like he'll need surgery. He was a little freaked out, but was glad that we finally knew what was wrong. It's not like he's in constant pain, but he's always tired and sleeps for most of the day now. Mostly he goes to class, sleeps, eats, and goes back to sleep. The surgery will most likely be in the summer, so he can finish school and have plenty of time to recover.
In other surgical news, my beloved monster of a dog had surgery on Tuesday. She had a mass...er...coming out of her rear. We thought it was a tumor and freaked. The vet saw her, but couldn't determine what it was. So they surgically removed it just to be safe, and it turns out the mass was a benign polyp, not cancer. One of my other dogs had cancer in her jaw, and they ended up removing it. I was afraid they were going to do that to my dog now. But she's fine. She was a little groggy from the anesthesia for a while, but my dad said she barked a lot this morning for her breakfast.
Here at Davis, things are improving drastically. After the first quarter went so poorly, I was seriously considering calling it quits and moving home. The commute would be nothing compared to getting depressed about eating alone every day and not knowing anyone. It was like elementary school all over again. I don't relate to my roommates at all, and so most nights I'd stay in my room alone, while the rest of them hung out with their friends. It was lonely. Last week though, everything completely changed. Ironically, it was the girl who lives across from my room. Her roommate is friends with mine, meaning that she spent most of her time alone. She's an English major. Last week after I went jogging, I went to the dining hall on a whim a little bit earlier than normal. We ran into each other and she asked if she could eat if with me. Ever since then, we've been eating together. It turns out we have a ridiculous amount in common, like adoring anime and reading a lot. We've also made it a weekly tradition to hit Baskin Robbins and Chipotle in town once a week. It's real fun. She wasn't sure what she was going to do about next year, since unlike me, she can't commute. Originally, she was going to go through roommate ads and just find a place to live that way. Finally, we both got the idea that we should get an apartment. Duh. So we're looking at ads right now and my parents are going to drive us around on Sunday to take a look at them.
I'm swamped with work for midterms next week, but I only have two, so a weekend of cramming should be fine. Hopefully I'll do well. Yay for school getting better!