I’m aware that I haven’t blogged in awhile. Again. I decided not to bore you all with my continual crappiness. The past few weeks have been pretty tough, as have the past few months. For a quick update, I am still doing the iron chelation and the drug has become a little more tolerable. I’m able to eat more regularly and haven’t thrown up in awhile. I still have stomach problems and I’ve still been feeling pretty crummy but it’s more manageable at this point.
As far as my mood, it’s no lie that I’ve been struggling with anxiety and depression since I got home. Anyone who knows anything about what I’ve been through would not be surprised to hear that. It’s hard to admit to feeling depressed because it requires you to admit a weakness and admit not having control over things. As I’ve said before, I’m learning it’s ok to NOT be ok. It’s ok to have a bad day. It’s ok to feel like crap. It’s ok to wish things were different. As long as you realize that life won’t always be like this. I’m happy to say that although I feel depressed a lot, I do feel in control because I can distinguish the fact that I will not always be depressed. Life is unpredictable and things can always change.

(clever segway to my good news!)

Speaking of change…..

Today I went to the hospital for a clinic visit for the third day in a row. Today I was just there for four hours to get some phosphorus by IV. A few hours in, my Nurse, Cathy, walked by and here’s a lovely little play-by-play (as I remember it).

Cathy: Have you checked your email yet?
Me: What email?
Cathy: I’ll be right back!
(walks away and comes back with two pieces of paper)
Cathy: The first page is the chart I sent to Doctor Tolar (my doctor in minneapolis). It’s a chart to show your ferritin levels decreasing from the iron chelation we’ve been doing. The second page is the response that he sent me.
(I take the second page)
Second page: “Cathy, I think Elizabeth is ready to come for transplant now that her ferritin is below 1,000. She is remarkable! JT”

!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! <– lots of exclamation points

That’s right ladies and gentlemen. I’m ready for transplant! I’ve been on this drug for three months and they expected it to take 6-12 months for my ferritin to be low enough to get me ready transplant. There was even a chance that my ferritin would never be low enough to safely transplant. My results have been, as Tolar said, “remarkable”!

So what now? Well, I’m going to pack up my things, again, and move back to minneapolis for transplant! For those of you who have not been following my blog, you’re probably quite confused by this post. Sorry, you’ll need to catch up on your own. After talking to my parents, It looks like I’m going to leave in about a month- April 17/18. This will hopefully give me time to pack up, clean, and maybe finish my last class so that I can basically graduate before I leave.

I think that’s enough good news for one day. I will be updating more frequently as things unfold and as I plan to embark on this tough journey…….again.

PS- For those of you who have not already done this, you can get emails every time I post if you type your email in the box on the left. This takes away the hassle of having to check my blog on your own and allows you to keep up with my crazy journey.

Hope everyone else is having a great day!

Another PS- Special thanks to everyone who donated blood a few weeks ago at school. I get transfusions every 2 1/2 weeks and I can tell you, donating blood really does save lives! Without people like you, I would not be here right now. Thank you for your selfless actions.

Reason of the Day: This whole post? Duh! Good news is always a reason to smile (RTS).

The tournament will kick off on sunday with “Selection Sunday,” the day in which all teams find out what seed they are, and where they will be headed for their first and second round games. Tune into smeharbinger.net on sunday to see how I think the tournament will unfold and I’ll help you with your bracket as I pick my winners for each game.

If you don’t get the chance to watch any of the games, you can also catch a quick synopses of each game throughout the week here, and see how both yours and my brackets are turning out. After a rowdy year in the NCAA this year, I wouldn’t expect an all 1 seed final four, and a no upset kind of year.

All entries will be published on smeharbinger.net on March 25. They will also be published within a Facebook album on the Harbinger’s fan page.

If you would like your photo judged but not published on smeharbinger.net, Facebook, or both, please clearly specify your request in your e-mail.

Entrants must be currently enrolled Shawnee Mission East students. All other entrant’s submissions will not be published or considered for the prize.

By submitting a photo, the entrant allows said photo to be republished on the Internet or in the print publication of the Harbinger. Entrants must submit photographs. Illustrations or Photoshopped images will not be published or considered for the prize. All submitted photographs must be an image of the entrant. Entrants are responsible in the event of privacy violations of other individuals in submitted photographs. All photos containing illegal substances (such as drugs or alcohol, as per American law) will not be published or considered for the prize.

Thanks to Mr. Mueller for filming and recording the concert.

To download, right click (Mac users Control+Click), and select “Download Linked File” or “Save Link As…”

Click to download the Masterworks mp3

In addition to the job cuts, the district will also phase out a visiting teacher program for Arabic and Chinese, as well as increase the fees for all-day kindergarten classes. The district’s current deadline for finalizing its budget is May 1st, and those losing their jobs will be notified by that date.

Like many of the school districts in Kansas, the Shawnee Mission School District is facing a serious financial crisis and more challenges on the way. In the past two years, the district has reduced funding by $14.7 million from the state, and in the 2009-2010 school year alone, has reduced the budget by $10.6 million, along with more than 100 positions

According to Leigh Anne Neal, the Director of Communications for the district, in planning for the 2010-2011 budget, the district is facing even greater financial challenges than before, which has prompted superintendent Gene Johnson to develop a list of recommendations for budget reductions.

Among the recommendations is the termination of approximately 128 staff positions. With more than 87 percent of the district’s budget in salaries and benefits for employees, this looks to be a significant cut.

“This plan reduces costs and provides some limited revenue enhancements to meet some of the district’s budgets challenges,” said Neal. “These are very difficult decisions.”

“There is no program or position in the district that we do not see as valuable,” said Neal. “But unfortunately, the reality is that our district is not currently recieving funding to support continuing out operations even at the status quo.”

In total at the high school level, the recommendations plan is to cut 26 full time employees, or the equivalent. East alone is said to lose four full time regular education teachers. East will also lose one special education teacher.

Not only will teachers be let go, but assistant book keeping positions, two assistant athletic coaches and five random supplemental pay positions are proposed for reduction at every high school.

Along with the reduction in staff, East may also have some budget reductions. According to Neal, some reductions at the district level may also impact the schools.

“It is increasingly difficult to reduce to the levels at which our district is being asked to reduce without impacting out schools and classrooms,” said Neal.

First Part of Three (the sound will come on after a while):

Second Part of Three:

Third Part of Three:

Soundslide by Lindsey Hartnett and Anna Marken.

Laura Linn, the Director of Admissions at Drake University, spoke to the group about visiting and selecting schools. “We encourage everyone to not just settle,” said Linn. “There are really great schools for everyone out there.”

The Kansas University Professor of Design, Lance Rake, agrees.

“Setting up visits is a crucial thing to do,” said Rake. “Its important for every kid to know what they need to know.”

Linn gave advice like; Always visit a campus before getting admitted, Visit both large and small schools and talking to the administrators of the school.

Not only did the seminar offer help, but it offered information to students about ACT and SAT preparation. Stephen Heiner from “Get Smarter Prep” emphasized the fact that the tests aren’t all about academics.

“Its something that shows how intelligent people really are,” said Heiner. “Its not really that comprehensive it just shows the intelligence of the person.”

East parent Dave Clark, father of 2009 graduate Winn Clark, spoke about the ways an athlete can get to a division two or three school and play sports, but also attend a top 20 school.

In total, seven handouts were given to parents concerning what SAT and ACT scores were needed to get into colleges, along with helpful reminders and tips for campus visits. After the presentations were finished, parents and students had the chance to socialize and ask further questions about each subject with the speakers. Some of the most common questions asked involved administrations and the topic of being accepted into the college of their choice.