It is unfathomable how a single phone call can change everything. When I received the news that I had to get my gallbladder removed, it was over the phone. When I received the news of my low white blood cell count, it was over the phone. My wacked out liver enzymes — over the phone. The cyst in my brain? No surprise here, it was over the phone.

As you can see, all of these things did not quite have the effect of a lifted weight or a relieved smile, but rather quite the opposite. I’ve become accustomed to the dread that accompanies every sharp trill of the telephone, every solemnly shut door when one of my parents goes off to discuss with the doctors quietly. This past week, though, my whole perception of the telephone changed.

About two weeks ago my parents applied to MAYO, a world-renowned clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, that takes cases like mine and gives patients one thing that no doctor can seem to do: answers. They condense a year or two of research and never ending appointments into a one to two week stay in or near their facility, and do the impossible by giving you a diagnosis. People come from all over the world to this place, just to give you an idea of how good it is. Thousands of patients are treated each day, and the hospital is composed of top-of-the-line doctors. Given all of this, I was not getting my hopes up for actually getting in, in fact I was actually bracing myself for rejection. However, this Tuesday, we received the phone call that I am, in fact, on the waiting list.

This is the kind of news that transforms my face into that relieved smile, the kind of news that makes me feel as if a ten-pound brick was just lifted off of my shoulders. Even though we do not have a specific date of when, I am definitely going to be on my way to Minnesota, and hopefully soon. I will leave this town a mystery, and (fingers crossed), return with all the answers we’ve been searching for all along.

To think that I am worthy to be of enough interest to them produces a feeling of contentment mixed with a bit of alarm, for it truly reveals just how sick I really am, and what a challenge I pose to all the people trying to figure me out. Although I do find some enjoyment in stumping even the most intelligent doctors, I would be quite alright if I were a normal, healthy human being, but sometimes life just wants to make things more interesting it seems.

I know that several weeks will probably pass before we hear any more news from MAYO in regard to when I will be visiting them, but nonetheless, I am keeping my hopes up that it will be soon. Just knowing that I am actually going there is enough to keep me content for a while. And as for that telephone, I don’t shy away from it anymore. I am reaching for it every time it rings.