Last Week in Town

This past week has been super hectic as my family and I prepare for me to leave. It's been a week filled with many 'lasts' for me. Here's an update:

Tuesday- Tuesday was my last day of high school. ever. It's crazy to think that I'm finally done with high school! Tuesday night was also my last chance to see friends so a bunch of us went to Oklahoma Joe's for dinner and then hung out for awhile. It was hard to say goodbye, especially knowing that I won't see them until april/may.

Wednesday- Wednesday was (hopefully) my last transfusion in Kansas City! For several months now, I've been getting blood transfusions every two weeks so a typical wednesday for me is a day spent at the hospital getting blood. I've known many of the nurses for nearly five years and spent way too much time with most of them. :) They surprised me with a gift card, balloon and ice cream as a going away present. Here's a picture of me with a few of the nurses. Theresa, the nurse to my left, was the first nurse to draw my blood nearly five years ago. I'm hoping the fact that I saw her on my last day will be a good luck charm.

Thursday- Thursday was Thanksgiving. Seeing as how I'm a senior and plan to move to NYC next year, it was probably my last Thanksgiving that I will spend with my family. My mom and I went to lunch at The Bristol and then I went to see my Dad, Stepmom, half brother (ethan) and brother (Jameson). My dad and stepmom gave me some early christmas presents to keep me busy during my first few weeks in the hospital. I got a NYC calendar to help me count down the days, a few 'adult coloring books' to keep me busy and a scrapbook for me to record my journey. Here's pictures of me with my two brothers, Ethan and Jameson.

Later that night, my mom and I decided to surprise Jameson by doing one of our family traditions. Every year, on the night that we set up our christmas tree, we get a bunch of junk food and a movie and we pull our mattresses out into the living room so we can sleep under the tree. My brother was bummed that we wouldn't be able to do that this year so we decided to do it early. Again, this will probably be my last year to participate in our christmas mattress tradition.

Friday- Friday was packing day. I cleaned my room, did laundry and finished packing my life. I managed to fit everything into a black suitcase, a blue tub and two clear tubs. Here's my life for the next four months:

Saturday- Today is my last day in town. I spent the day relaxing and trying not to stress about tomorrow. I watched TV, went to dinner with my family and went over my packing list. It's starting to hit me that I'll be leaving my home in roughly 12 hours. I don't really know how to wrap my head around it but I know that I'm as ready as I'll ever be. It's hard to leave home but I know that I'll be coming back home soon. This is just a hibernation for me. Tomorrow brings a new challenge and a new journey for me, but I'm not afraid.

**Reason of the Day: While packing, I noticed that my mom had bought a kleenex box with gerbera daisies on them. She said she picked that box because she remembered that gerbera daisies are my favorite flowers. Personalized kleenex boxes are always a reason to smile (RTS). **

Last Weekend in Town

Good afternoon, readers. This past weekend was my last full weekend before leaving for Minnesota and it was quite eventful. Here's the rundown:

Friday: On Friday, my classmates in Journalism brought cookie cake and milk for me as a way to say goodbye. I honestly did not expect that and it was nice to know that I will be missed.

Saturday: It was my mom's bright idea to get family pictures done. Ugh. We had originally planned to get them done later but due to transplant, we had to move up the date. My mom, brother and I drove out to Topeka to meet with the photographer who did my senior pictures and she shot some great pictures of us. I'll post some when we get them back. Then we met for lunch with my Aunt Laura, who we don't see very often. Laura told me a story about another one of my aunts, Mary, who suffered from several conditions as a child and now lives in a facility where we can't visit. Apparently when she was a kid, she used to have a stuffed elephant named Macaroni that would go with her to all of her medical appointments. As a 'going away' present, Laura gave me a stuffed elephant just like Mary's. Macaroni Jr. is now packed and ready to travel with me to Minnesota.

Sunday: Two words. Family Thanksgiving. If you know anything about my family, you know exactly what this means. A day filled with too much food and too many family members packed into my Dad's house. My family only gets together a few times a year so it's always special when we get to see each other. Right now, my family has decided to only produce little boys so we have a total of six little boys under the age of ten, and two boys under the age of 15. Quite the handful. It was kind of a bummer to know that this will probably be the last time I will see everyone for awhile but it was nice that I got the chance to say goodbye before I leave.

Monday: Today was my second-to-last day of school for most classes but my last day of school for debate because I have an appointment tomorrow during debate. Mr. Witt had everyone do an "appreciation circle" as a way to say goodbye to me. The appreciation circle was something started by Mrs. Mountjoy as a way to say something nice about a certain person. It was cheesy, but sweet. It's getting harder to keep from crying as I say my goodbyes, especially to the debate kids because I've gotten to close to many of them.

More updates to come throughout the week!

**Reason of the Day: Today Chris Carey told everyone in class a not-so-funny story about a time when he pretended be "all over" me at a debate tournament in order to make certain people jealous. Sometimes he isn't as funny as he thinks he is. Chris Carey's weird sense of humor is always a reason to smile (RTS). **

14 Days until Departure

Hello, again!

Hope everyone had a relaxing weekend. I, however, did not. My mom, brother and I have been very busy cleaning every inch of the house because it has to be spotless when I return from my transplant (due to germ/health issues). I am pleased to say that I accomplished my goal for the weekend: cleaning my room (including under my bed, dusting, closet etc). We even cleaned our garage! We had some help from a few of my mom's friends who have been so kind and generous to us as we prepare to leave. Another big accomplishment of the weekend, I have packed everything and it fits into three tubs and a small box. As an over-packer by nature, I'm quite thrilled to say that's all I'm taking.

For a quick update, notice that I have removed the "follow" application on the left and have replaced it with a new and easier way to subscribe. By entering your email address and confirming, you will get email updates every time I make a new post. This will be an easy way for everyone to keep up with what's happening while I'm gone. I do not anticipate having the energy to keep up communication with everyone so this is an easy way for you all to feel involved in my journey...without making me exhausted!

Hope everyone has a great week! I'll make sure to update later this week.

**Reason of the day: Today I went to Children's Mercy to get some blood work done and I saw a little girl, probably only a year old, waddling around with a doll in her hands. Her bald little head indicated that she was probably fresh out of chemo or still getting chemo. Nonetheless, she waddled around with a grin on her face while her mom chased behind her. Bald, waddling babies are always a reason to smile (RTS).

Background

Hello readers! I am pleased to introduce my very first blog!

With the recent events that have occurred, I have decided that this is a good time to start blogging. As an aspiring writer, I consider this to be my newest challenge.

For those of you who don't know or are just tuning in, My name is Elizabeth McGranahan and I have Aplastic Anemia. I was diagnosed nearly five years ago and I'm now about to undergo a bone marrow transplant. In order to catch you up to speed, It would require hours of typing and explanation. You'll have to settle for a brief recap. :)

Not only do I have Aplastic Anemia, but I'm also considered a "dyskeratosis congenita- like" patient because I have the genetic markers for DC, but none of the physical characteristics. Like I said, I've been battling this for five years and my health has been gradually getting worse. After spending a week at NIH for testing, I was referred to a specialist transplant doctor in Minnesota. I met with Dr. Tolar and from that day, it was decided that I would be getting a transplant from him in the near future. My situation is unique and tricky because I don't follow the textbook in terms of my condition. For example, many of my blood counts have been in the CL (critically low) range for months, yet I've been able to attend school and live a semi normal life. Also, I've had severe reactions to blood transfusions, one of which actually put me in ICU. My rare disease has been made even more rare by my combination of two incredibly rare diseases and that's why it's important that Dr. Tolar does this transplant. To put things into perspective, Dr. Tolar has only transplanted eight patients since starting this special protocol for my disease. Six lived. Two didn't.

I currently get red blood cell transfusions about once every two weeks but I still manage to go to school at Shawnee Mission East as a senior. I'm even scheduled to graduate on time with the rest of my class. I was just accepted to my dream college, The King's College, located in the Empire State Building in NYC! My goal is to start in the fall and pursue a career in journalism/ broadcast journalism. As you can see, I'm no ordinary teen.

Initially, I fought hard to get Dr. Tolar to wait until January 25th to start my transplant because I needed time to mentally and emotionally prepare myself. I did not expect what soon followed. People don't understand what it's like to wake up every day knowing that you're inching closer to a serious and risky transplant. It's taken a tremendous toll on my morale and my optimism. This, combined with increased sickness and fatigue, has caused me to decide to move up transplant to November 30th.

So that's that. I now have 18 days to pack my life into a few tubs and make the 7 hour drive to Minnesota where I will endure a week of pre-transplant tests, 10 days of chemo, bone marrow transplant day, and a 100 day countdown of time spent in the hospital and the Ronald McDonald house down the street from the hospital.

Read the "about me" section for what to expect on this journey and stay tuned for more. Feel free to leave me a comment. Have a great day!

**Reason of the day: Today in English Class, Jayson Williamson did an impression of the drunken guard from Macbeth. His impression made the entire class crack up. Drunken impressions are always a reason to smile (RTS).**