Before we get started here, let’s get two things straight.

Number one, this is not a blog for the faint of heart. If you don’t like hearing about doctor’s visits, hospital stays, all sorts of medical procedures, etc. etc., this is not the blog for you.

Number two, I am not creating this blog merely to complain about how awful my life has been for the past four months, although at times it may seem that way. I am simply taking you along with me on the journey I have been stuck on for quite some time. And despite all the struggles that I have been through lately, I still love my life and cherish all the people in it. Remember that.

Now that that is out of the way, I will introduce myself. My name is Amanda Pelletier. I am seventeen years old, and I have just started my senior year at Francis Howell Central. Kind of. If you would have stopped me four months ago, I probably would have rushed through the conversation as I was on my way to volleyball, voice, StuCo, or some other activity or school related function. Now, it’s a whole different story.

To keep things short, and to actually have something to blog about for next week, I will sum up my last month and a half of junior year, my summer, and the beginning of my senior year in two fantastically dreadful words I’ve been repeating endless times: I’m sick. This blog is all about what I’ve been through, from the first night in the emergency room when I thought I was going to have surgery on my liver, to the phone call I received just last week from the neurologists informing me of the benign cyst in my pineal gland that is inside of my brain.

I’m a medical mystery. An enigma. I’ve had severe pain in my upper abdominal region since April 15, 2012. Nothing helps it. I’ve been on steroids, anti-inflammatories, muscle relaxants, even narcotics. So far nothing has touched it. Most doctors I go to don’t know what to do with me, they just send me off to another one. And finally, this Friday, after four months of pain, nausea, dizziness, and unexplained weight loss, I have finally gotten one question answered. One more to go.

This is my story. My frustrations, my breakdowns, my moments of laughter, my moments of tears. Hopefully one week you will read this and you can rejoice with me when the doctors finally find an answer. But for now you can join me in wondering just what is going on inside of my body, and read all about the wonderful experiences one can have when venturing through the medical system in today’s world.

Trust me, things do get interesting.