I cannot believe it has been 5 years already since my accident. Time really flew by. So many wonderful memories and blessings. I would have never pictured my life like this. It has been pretty eventful.
Year 1:
My first year was spent mainly in and out of hospitals and doctor's offices. I was in the ICU for almost a month and then rehab for about a month. I went home for about 5 months. I had home therapy for about 2-3 months. About 2 months later, I had surgery for a back neck infusion and stayed in the hospital for about 5 days. I had to go back to the hospital a week later to take my halo off because it shifted. (Painful experience!) I went back to rehab for about 3 weeks. In between all of the therapy sessions, I had numerous doctors' appointments with my spine surgeon, spinal cord doctor, urologist, and primary care doctor for follow ups. During this year, I met some of the finest people in the medical field.
Year 2:
I went to rehab at an outpatient location for about 2 months. Although I did not regain any movements in my legs, I could feel my arms getting stronger. I also started acupuncture, which really helped with my digestion and blood flow.
Year 3:
I did not do much. I just went to church, acupuncture, and follow ups with my doctors. The rest of the time I pretty much stayed home. I was a bum. :P
Year 4:
What a scary year for me! Why? One word. School. If my spinal cord doctor had not threatened me that he would stop treating me if I did not go back to school, I would probably still have been at home everyday. He really pushed me out of my comfort zone, and I am forever grateful to him for that. I took a total of 8 classes that year (3 fall, 4 spring, and 1 summer).
Year 5:
I have completed another set of 8 classes (4 fall and 4 spring). I finished my last final yesterday. This spring semester has been the hardest ever. There were like 2 days that classes were cancelled because of weather, so that threw me off track. In addition, I was in the hospital for almost a week after Spring Break
During Spring Break, I had gotten sick. It got worse the following week. On Sunday, I started coughing, so I told my mom to buy some Delsym. On Monday night, I took some Delsym and my regular medicine. I did not have an appetite, so I did not eat much before taking my medicine. Around 5 AM, my stomach was in pain. I immediately told my mom to make me a bowl of oatmeal. After eating, I threw up like 4 or 5 times. My stomach was in knots. I started dry heaving. My parents were worried, so they called for an ambulance to take me to the ER at the hospital by my house. The doctor gave me a GI cocktail to numb my stomach. They took X-rays, but nothing wrong showed up. They checked my urine and said that I had a UTI, but I knew that was not the reason why my stomach was burning.
I thought I would be leaving the ER in a few hours, but then the ER doctor wanted to keep me overnight for observation. My primary care doctor was out of town, so the doctor covering for her came to check on me the next day. My stomach was still in pain, and I could not get any sleep. She decided to keep for another day. I had to eat a little every hour or else my stomach would burn if it was empty. The next day I was sleeping when the doctor came by. She woke me up to see how I was. I was so tired and my stomach still ached, so she kept me for another day. My poor mom would pack up our things every morning to go home. She would sigh every time the doctor said I had to stay. Finally on Friday, I was feeling better and ready to go home. My mom got me dressed and ready. We waited for the doctor to come by and discharge me. Usually she would come around lunchtime but that Friday she came late at night. I did not leave until 9 PM.
For one of my classes, I had a very incompetent professor. I learned absolutely nothing from her. She created a syllabus and forgot to include Spring Break in the calendar. So throughout the semester, she had to move things around. For 2 weeks, she had conferences to attend and another professor came in to teach us. She came late one day, and everyone, except for 5 of us, left after 15 minutes. Literally a minute after everyone left she arrived and was shocked to see nearly the entire class gone. My professor gave us quizzes and then lectured over the quiz materials afterwards. Shouldn't it be the other way around? Lecture and then quiz over the material. Almost every class meeting, she would go over the calendar. Last Friday she thought we still had class and decided to give us a review. Everyone had to let her know that classes were done for the semester. She was in disbelief. Because she gave such an easy final last semester, the head of the department, who also taught the other section, made my class take his final. My class was screwed. It was brutal. Fortunately I went to his review, so I think I did ok. I learned more from his review in 2 hours than I ever learned from my own professor all semester. The next day I attended my professor's review, and she had one of my classmate, who also went to the other review, teach the class. Even when he was saying something incorrect, she did nothing to correct him. She actually kept agreeing with him. Horrible teacher. My mom was so frustrated with her disorganization and lack of teaching. Grr...
I took this other professor for 2 classes, and he was nice. Maybe too nice. During his exam, he would sit in the front of class and do stuff on his laptop. People were cheating left and right. Some used their cellphones to get answers. Others would point out the answers and talk to each other. One time someone's phone actually read aloud the answer they were looking for. My professor just laughed. There was this pair of Vietnamese people who sat behind me. They would talk to each other in Vietnamese while my professor is lecturing. Very annoying. I would turn around slightly and glare at them. My mom really wanted to say something to them because she said they were not in Vietnam anymore and were being so disrespectful.
My last professor was great. Everything was explained clearly in the syllabus. We were always on schedule. He was a little strict on some things, such as no food in the classroom. Overall, I enjoyed his class. I am done with all my finals. I start my summer class next month, so now I am just relaxing.
Besides school, two awesome events happened. Two of my close friends got married. I already talked about Kim's wedding in my last post. An got married to her butter half last month. (Her husband proposed to her in from of the "You're My Butter Half" mural in Austin) An had asked me to be her bridesmaid way before she got engaged, and at that time I said yes. However, when she officially asked me, I had to turn her down. :( I cried quite a bit when I made that decision.
About 2 months before the wedding, An sent me a text to ask if I would do the speech at her wedding. I immediately said yes! Secretly, I had been hoping that I could do a speech because that was the only way I could still be a part of my best friend's wedding. I was so happy than An and I were on the same page. I was so honored that An and Hiep wanted me to do the speech at their wedding and grateful that the matron of honor, An's sister Thi, was letting me take her moment.
The night before the wedding I was in bed watching YouTube videos on wedding speeches. I had no idea how to start or what to say. There were like 3 or 4 videos where the maid of honors sang Taylor Swift's Love Story. Although that was a creative idea, I cannot sing, so I had to scratch that one. In the end, I wrote a one page speech.
I did not attend the ceremony. I only went to the reception with my mom. I took pictures with the newlyweds. The first one included my mom and I with the newlyweds. Then Kim wanted one with some of the bridesmaids and the newlyweds. Afterwards, Kim walked my mom and I to our table, which was in the front on the left side. We were seated with Gracia's mom and niece, Kim's husband and daughter, and two high school friends.
I was a bit nervous because I was unsure of how everyone would react to my speech. I asked Kim to hold the microphone for me and Gracia to hold my champagne glass. Kim told me the speech seems a little long, so I had to shorten it by a paragraph. When the time came, all three of us went to the middle of the stage. I was touched when the DJ announced me as the honorary bridesmaid. It was so special that all 4 of us girls were together in that moment.
Hiep's best man did his speech first. He did not need to read off of anything. He did such a great job. I had to read my speech off of a piece paper. I started off with telling everyone how An had asked me to do the speech. Then I told them that An and I met our freshman year at Cy-Falls High School. Everything was going smoothly until I turned to An and said her name. My eyes started tearing up as I talked about how much An means to me. I talked about Hiep a little and finished off my speech with blessing and a toast. Both An and I were crying to the very end of my speech. When Kim pushed me back to my table, I saw that mom had cried too. Man I had told myself not to cry too.
Gracia pushed me to the photo booth as Jennifer cleared the way for us. Kim was in line for us already with Abbey. Afterwards, my mom and I ate cake and called it a night. On the way out, several told me that I did a great job on my speech. I was so relieved and happy to hear that. Such an amazing night. :)
Thank you to everyone who has supported me on my journey! I would not be here without all this love. I hope the next 5 years will be even better. Stay tuned everyone!
Year 1:
My first year was spent mainly in and out of hospitals and doctor's offices. I was in the ICU for almost a month and then rehab for about a month. I went home for about 5 months. I had home therapy for about 2-3 months. About 2 months later, I had surgery for a back neck infusion and stayed in the hospital for about 5 days. I had to go back to the hospital a week later to take my halo off because it shifted. (Painful experience!) I went back to rehab for about 3 weeks. In between all of the therapy sessions, I had numerous doctors' appointments with my spine surgeon, spinal cord doctor, urologist, and primary care doctor for follow ups. During this year, I met some of the finest people in the medical field.
Year 2:
I went to rehab at an outpatient location for about 2 months. Although I did not regain any movements in my legs, I could feel my arms getting stronger. I also started acupuncture, which really helped with my digestion and blood flow.
Year 3:
I did not do much. I just went to church, acupuncture, and follow ups with my doctors. The rest of the time I pretty much stayed home. I was a bum. :P
Year 4:
What a scary year for me! Why? One word. School. If my spinal cord doctor had not threatened me that he would stop treating me if I did not go back to school, I would probably still have been at home everyday. He really pushed me out of my comfort zone, and I am forever grateful to him for that. I took a total of 8 classes that year (3 fall, 4 spring, and 1 summer).
Year 5:
I have completed another set of 8 classes (4 fall and 4 spring). I finished my last final yesterday. This spring semester has been the hardest ever. There were like 2 days that classes were cancelled because of weather, so that threw me off track. In addition, I was in the hospital for almost a week after Spring Break
During Spring Break, I had gotten sick. It got worse the following week. On Sunday, I started coughing, so I told my mom to buy some Delsym. On Monday night, I took some Delsym and my regular medicine. I did not have an appetite, so I did not eat much before taking my medicine. Around 5 AM, my stomach was in pain. I immediately told my mom to make me a bowl of oatmeal. After eating, I threw up like 4 or 5 times. My stomach was in knots. I started dry heaving. My parents were worried, so they called for an ambulance to take me to the ER at the hospital by my house. The doctor gave me a GI cocktail to numb my stomach. They took X-rays, but nothing wrong showed up. They checked my urine and said that I had a UTI, but I knew that was not the reason why my stomach was burning.
I thought I would be leaving the ER in a few hours, but then the ER doctor wanted to keep me overnight for observation. My primary care doctor was out of town, so the doctor covering for her came to check on me the next day. My stomach was still in pain, and I could not get any sleep. She decided to keep for another day. I had to eat a little every hour or else my stomach would burn if it was empty. The next day I was sleeping when the doctor came by. She woke me up to see how I was. I was so tired and my stomach still ached, so she kept me for another day. My poor mom would pack up our things every morning to go home. She would sigh every time the doctor said I had to stay. Finally on Friday, I was feeling better and ready to go home. My mom got me dressed and ready. We waited for the doctor to come by and discharge me. Usually she would come around lunchtime but that Friday she came late at night. I did not leave until 9 PM.
For one of my classes, I had a very incompetent professor. I learned absolutely nothing from her. She created a syllabus and forgot to include Spring Break in the calendar. So throughout the semester, she had to move things around. For 2 weeks, she had conferences to attend and another professor came in to teach us. She came late one day, and everyone, except for 5 of us, left after 15 minutes. Literally a minute after everyone left she arrived and was shocked to see nearly the entire class gone. My professor gave us quizzes and then lectured over the quiz materials afterwards. Shouldn't it be the other way around? Lecture and then quiz over the material. Almost every class meeting, she would go over the calendar. Last Friday she thought we still had class and decided to give us a review. Everyone had to let her know that classes were done for the semester. She was in disbelief. Because she gave such an easy final last semester, the head of the department, who also taught the other section, made my class take his final. My class was screwed. It was brutal. Fortunately I went to his review, so I think I did ok. I learned more from his review in 2 hours than I ever learned from my own professor all semester. The next day I attended my professor's review, and she had one of my classmate, who also went to the other review, teach the class. Even when he was saying something incorrect, she did nothing to correct him. She actually kept agreeing with him. Horrible teacher. My mom was so frustrated with her disorganization and lack of teaching. Grr...
I took this other professor for 2 classes, and he was nice. Maybe too nice. During his exam, he would sit in the front of class and do stuff on his laptop. People were cheating left and right. Some used their cellphones to get answers. Others would point out the answers and talk to each other. One time someone's phone actually read aloud the answer they were looking for. My professor just laughed. There was this pair of Vietnamese people who sat behind me. They would talk to each other in Vietnamese while my professor is lecturing. Very annoying. I would turn around slightly and glare at them. My mom really wanted to say something to them because she said they were not in Vietnam anymore and were being so disrespectful.
My last professor was great. Everything was explained clearly in the syllabus. We were always on schedule. He was a little strict on some things, such as no food in the classroom. Overall, I enjoyed his class. I am done with all my finals. I start my summer class next month, so now I am just relaxing.
Besides school, two awesome events happened. Two of my close friends got married. I already talked about Kim's wedding in my last post. An got married to her butter half last month. (Her husband proposed to her in from of the "You're My Butter Half" mural in Austin) An had asked me to be her bridesmaid way before she got engaged, and at that time I said yes. However, when she officially asked me, I had to turn her down. :( I cried quite a bit when I made that decision.
About 2 months before the wedding, An sent me a text to ask if I would do the speech at her wedding. I immediately said yes! Secretly, I had been hoping that I could do a speech because that was the only way I could still be a part of my best friend's wedding. I was so happy than An and I were on the same page. I was so honored that An and Hiep wanted me to do the speech at their wedding and grateful that the matron of honor, An's sister Thi, was letting me take her moment.
The night before the wedding I was in bed watching YouTube videos on wedding speeches. I had no idea how to start or what to say. There were like 3 or 4 videos where the maid of honors sang Taylor Swift's Love Story. Although that was a creative idea, I cannot sing, so I had to scratch that one. In the end, I wrote a one page speech.
I did not attend the ceremony. I only went to the reception with my mom. I took pictures with the newlyweds. The first one included my mom and I with the newlyweds. Then Kim wanted one with some of the bridesmaids and the newlyweds. Afterwards, Kim walked my mom and I to our table, which was in the front on the left side. We were seated with Gracia's mom and niece, Kim's husband and daughter, and two high school friends.
 |
| Mom, Me & the newlyweds An & Hiep |
 |
| Me with Gorgeous People Jennifer, Me, An, Hiep, Kim & Gracia |
I was a bit nervous because I was unsure of how everyone would react to my speech. I asked Kim to hold the microphone for me and Gracia to hold my champagne glass. Kim told me the speech seems a little long, so I had to shorten it by a paragraph. When the time came, all three of us went to the middle of the stage. I was touched when the DJ announced me as the honorary bridesmaid. It was so special that all 4 of us girls were together in that moment.
Hiep's best man did his speech first. He did not need to read off of anything. He did such a great job. I had to read my speech off of a piece paper. I started off with telling everyone how An had asked me to do the speech. Then I told them that An and I met our freshman year at Cy-Falls High School. Everything was going smoothly until I turned to An and said her name. My eyes started tearing up as I talked about how much An means to me. I talked about Hiep a little and finished off my speech with blessing and a toast. Both An and I were crying to the very end of my speech. When Kim pushed me back to my table, I saw that mom had cried too. Man I had told myself not to cry too.
Gracia pushed me to the photo booth as Jennifer cleared the way for us. Kim was in line for us already with Abbey. Afterwards, my mom and I ate cake and called it a night. On the way out, several told me that I did a great job on my speech. I was so relieved and happy to hear that. Such an amazing night. :)
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| Jennifer, Gracia, Me, Kim & Abbey @ the photo booth |
Thank you to everyone who has supported me on my journey! I would not be here without all this love. I hope the next 5 years will be even better. Stay tuned everyone!
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