I was born with a lot of health ailments. Doctors, allergy treatments, etc. for about 13 years. In a nutshell, my body has allergic reactions to lots of things which makes me mostly housebound. I can go places where my health gets affected and then I am sick. So, I go other places like the pictures above. Mountains are my favorite place to go. Love hiking and getting outside. Now, around the house where I live, that's touch & go. Neighbor doing laundry? Did someone nearby put down something for insects or weeds?
In a few years, I'll be on the family ranch where those things will be less of a problem. I'm mostly an on-line entity though. I teach math online for the University of IL NetMath program. Currently have a degree waiver for my work with them.
Reached the senior mark of college in May of 2008. Working hard to graduate in 2009-2010. If things go well, it will be Winter of 2009. If not, will be sometime in 2010. The degree will be a Bachelor's in General Studies from Indiana University's School of Continuing Studies. They allow one year to finish a class with up to a year of additional time. I have a special setup with them for my allergies and they have worked out really well accommodating my health issues. After completing the BGS, I may likely enter an undergraduate program for Mathematics or computers online (these weren't available when I set up with IU and after all the trouble I've had with schools before IU, I'm not interested in reconfiguring my degree - I will finish this one!).
I also have a hip injury that is just strange. I want to do more hiking and stuff in the mountains that my body just cannot handle at this point. I exercise regularly now. It'll get better with time. Just have to keep moving without a lot of intensity. No, I can't lift a lot of weight - I max out around 10 lb right now. My back got broken in gymnastics around 17. Doctors think it healed. It doesn't give me problems anymore. A few years after the back, the hip showed up as a major issue. It's complicated and physical therapy exercises to strengthen it tend to just hurt it. It's something I am figuring out own my own for the most part through trial and error.
So far, I've had two sinus surgeries. My ENT says I might just need to be cleaned out regularly, who knows. The first one brought up awful memories. The second one went so smoothly, I am still amazed months later. My sinuses still have their own problems - not from the 2nd surgery though! My health reaction tends to cause inflammation throughout my body and inflammation causes polyps. That's about all there is to that.
Managing health and reactions has been very difficult. My parents used to do that and I didn't have to think about it. When I moved out on my own, then it was up to me. To make a long story short, I'm still figuring it out and getting it down to a routine.
I telecommute for the University of IL and haven't been to campus. I can't direct you to Altgeld Hall or anywhere else on campus. I did get to appear via video conference at a University of IL event on distance learning. That was fun.
All my friends are at a distance. My best friends are several states away, one I have yet to meet in person. I'm on myspace, facebook, flickr, and blogspot.
I like school, hiking, swimming, and laughing. I live by myself, cook for myself, clean, do laundry, do dishes, etc. Most disliked chore? Cleaning the stove! Most liked chore? Probably dishes. Yeah, I know, go figure.
My two main priorities right now are work and school. My third is working on myself. People usually don't go through 13 years of medical treatments, doctors, make 1/3 of school due to health illness, and not have a few things to work out later on in life. Sometimes, I blog just to get stuff out. Don't feel like you have to fix me, okay. My health is what it is. It's not your fault so don't worry about it. My health is one of those things in life that 'just is.'
My life's complicated. Some days are good days. Some days are bad days. Some of it's mostly out of my control and some of it is in my control. My health fluctuates a lot sort of like a business cycle in Economics or an oscillatory curve in Mathematics. It is what it is. I've learned to accept it and make the most of the time I've got in this life. We all die at some point. So what's the point in worrying about death or being dead or any of that? I'd like to spend more time just doing things in life, even if it's imagining a beach with waves to relax while my body's going through a difficult reaction or hiking up steep trails in the mountains. Whatever it is, I'm learning to be my own best friend and companion. Feel sad? Cheer myself up. That doesn't mean I'm a loner (I love my online friends and communicating with them). It means I can't give someone else what I don't have. If I want to be a good friend, I need to be a good friend to myself. If I want to be a good life partner, then I'd better be that to myself.
Let's face it, if you're not happy with yourself, who the heck else is going to want to be around you? Exactly. So make some changes in the everyday choices, activities, behaviors, etc., etc. so that you like being around yourself. Happiness is probably the most appealing quality anyone can have. I spent too many years unhappy, worrying over my health, being afraid when I was really sick or sick for long periods. It was fairly devastating at some points in my life. Recently, I've just learned to accept we all die. And if one reaction puts me over the line, so be it. In the meantime, I cannot live in fear that feeling ill or being sick will 'be the end' so to speak. And, if it is the end, why do I want to spend it in fear, sadness, and despair?
It's about how you interpret things that happen to you. If you think it's bad, it is - for you. If you think it's good, it is - for you. That's the simple overview. Let's not try to cover all possible things. Some things are very hard to see any good in them at all.
As far as what I can eat - it's limited! No sugar, no bread, no spices, no restaurants, no artificial stuff, must be organic or natural, allergic to most fruit, and no dairy. Use your imagination for what's left, I do! ;) Otherwise, my diet's probably considered extremely healthy. I am not fond of salads. Actually, I don't miss sugar or chocolate. I have a taste aversion to sugar and ice cream. Chocolate? Well, I know my reaction so no thanks! You might think I'd be safe with those in my house? No. I will eventually eat them given the right reaction which gives me a craving for them. So no, I cannot have them in my space. Makes it kind of hard for anyone who lives with me ... like me staying at the parents for a while. There's only so long and I just have to leave the stash of potato chips and sugary treats (grandma's the candy queen). It's so nice to come home where none of that is around.
So, when I write that I cook, don't think I'm a gourmet. Chef Ramsey would fire me before day 1 ended. I cannot cook 3 things and have them done at the same time. It's OK though. I don't mind 2 things cold. LOL. Maybe someday I'll get the hang of it.
I'll close this with a picture of deer neat Choteau, MT.
Life's short, live it!
PS: Deer just like me. Nearly every trip I take, there they are. They even wait for me at home. I think they like my yard. Lack of mowing perhaps? Or the abundance of Russian Olive trees? I wonder. Oh, my neighbors' flower beds? ;)