So, after I last posted, life got kind of hectic!
I have had to devote a lot of time to practicing and coursework. I have, though, spent a tonnnnn of time with all of my new friends here!
I'm really loving Fort Wayne! When I first moved up here, I was really nervous because I knew literally no one here on campus. Many of my fellow Music Therapy Majors were in the same boat as me, though, and we all became really close really fast!
I have had to devote a lot of time to practicing and coursework. I have, though, spent a tonnnnn of time with all of my new friends here!
I'm really loving Fort Wayne! When I first moved up here, I was really nervous because I knew literally no one here on campus. Many of my fellow Music Therapy Majors were in the same boat as me, though, and we all became really close really fast!
Life in Fort Wayne;
I won't bore you with too much stuff about my classwork, but know that I absolutely LOVE it.
This semester I'm taking 15 credit hours. These classes are Music Theory I, University Singers, Piano Skills I, Sight-Singing and Aural Perception I, Intro to Music Therapy, English W131, Voice Lessons, and Performance class.
At this point in time, my favorite class is Intro to Music Therapy, and my least favorite Music Theory I.
In fifth grade, when I joined the Indianapolis Children's Choir, I was given some of the basics in Music Theory - note names, vocabulary... that sort of thing. From there on, I had some sort of theory, including AP music theory in high school.
The theory I'm in now, is super easy for me because of this rather long history with theory. A HUGE thanks to my high school theory instructor for being an amazing theory teacher!
So yeah, being in that class is just torture at this point. The professor is a super nice lady, she just seems to go in so many different directions before finally making her point. Hopefully next semester's theory course is better!
Intro to Music Therapy is the best class I have ever taken! Most of what makes the class so fun, though, is the people in it. Everyone in our class gets along. We're all so sassy and crazy. I think we kind of scare the professor, but it's totally worth it.
For a few weeks, I was kind of questioning my major. Whether or not I could do this Music Therapy thing. After a few talks with a new friend here, and a long talk with my parents, I've decided to stay a MT Major. It's going to be a lot of work, but I'm really excited about my next four years at IPFW!!
Outside of the walls of Rhinehart Music Center, I'm having even more fun! The people here have made transitioning into college so easy and great. On the weekends we all spend time together just watching movies and and hanging out.
For awhile, my friend had a kitten in her apartment. We'd all go over there and play with him and he was perfect. But... after a little over a month, student housing kind of found out... and decided they did not quite like that... So Bane is now living with another family :[[ A picture of my little man will follow after the last of this post <3
So, yeah.! Life here is fantastic. I would definitely recommend IPFW as a school for anyone wanting to go to college. Everyone is so friendly and helpful, and I'm really happy here. I think the next four years of my life at IPFW will be fantastic, and I'm excited to see what my future here holds!
My little man <3:
This semester I'm taking 15 credit hours. These classes are Music Theory I, University Singers, Piano Skills I, Sight-Singing and Aural Perception I, Intro to Music Therapy, English W131, Voice Lessons, and Performance class.
At this point in time, my favorite class is Intro to Music Therapy, and my least favorite Music Theory I.
In fifth grade, when I joined the Indianapolis Children's Choir, I was given some of the basics in Music Theory - note names, vocabulary... that sort of thing. From there on, I had some sort of theory, including AP music theory in high school.
The theory I'm in now, is super easy for me because of this rather long history with theory. A HUGE thanks to my high school theory instructor for being an amazing theory teacher!
So yeah, being in that class is just torture at this point. The professor is a super nice lady, she just seems to go in so many different directions before finally making her point. Hopefully next semester's theory course is better!
Intro to Music Therapy is the best class I have ever taken! Most of what makes the class so fun, though, is the people in it. Everyone in our class gets along. We're all so sassy and crazy. I think we kind of scare the professor, but it's totally worth it.
For a few weeks, I was kind of questioning my major. Whether or not I could do this Music Therapy thing. After a few talks with a new friend here, and a long talk with my parents, I've decided to stay a MT Major. It's going to be a lot of work, but I'm really excited about my next four years at IPFW!!
Outside of the walls of Rhinehart Music Center, I'm having even more fun! The people here have made transitioning into college so easy and great. On the weekends we all spend time together just watching movies and and hanging out.
For awhile, my friend had a kitten in her apartment. We'd all go over there and play with him and he was perfect. But... after a little over a month, student housing kind of found out... and decided they did not quite like that... So Bane is now living with another family :[[ A picture of my little man will follow after the last of this post <3
So, yeah.! Life here is fantastic. I would definitely recommend IPFW as a school for anyone wanting to go to college. Everyone is so friendly and helpful, and I'm really happy here. I think the next four years of my life at IPFW will be fantastic, and I'm excited to see what my future here holds!
My little man <3:
Illness News;
For those of you who are here for my thoughts on illness;
Not gonna lie, the first two months here were rough on the illness. Really rough. The week I was packing up my room for college, my doctor started me on a new medication called Gralise (gabapentin). In order to do this, he had me stop taking Lyrica (commonly known as Satan).
So basically, I was experiencing the side effects of a new medication while going through withdrawal of an old one.
Don't you love the withdrawal process? ugh.
The first few weeks of being on gralise, I did not notice much different. I think a lot of that was because of the transition of moving into college, starting class, making friends, and the withdrawal took a toll on me.
I am really happy that I started that medication now, though. While the changes are subtle, and the pain is always there still, any little bit of relief helps. At this point, I'll take what I can get.
From a little before move in on, I was having terrible insomnias. There were many things happening that I think caused these, but nonetheless, less sleep is not someone with chronic pain/fatigue needs.
I went through this for weeks and tried everything I could. Heating pads, no caffeine, no tv/phone in bed. Everything I could think of (well, the internet could think of..) I tried. Nothing helped the insomnias.
My sleep for so many years (nearly four, I believe) was controlled by the magical amitriptyline. But, for whatever reason, it crapped out on me and stopped working for me.
Don't you love when you've taken a medication for so long that your immune system is like "ahhh, no. You're normal. You don't get to be special and make this body feel better." Not cool, immune system. Not. Cool.
So, when I went to my doctor over fall break in October, I told him what was going on. He told me while not often, medications do stop working for people for a period time and put me on a new medication called Trazodone. Which is a fantastic gift from God.
The first night I took it, I was out late with friends, so I took it at roughly 2:00am..
I didn't wake up until 4:30pm.
So, yeah. It works. And it works well.
I've been used to getting less sleep than average for many years, but for some reason Trazodone is the magic pill that makes me sleep very well.
And thank God it works. I was getting grumpy.
I have two more appointments in January. One with my Orthopedic surgeon and one with my Pain Management Doctor. Hopefully they both go well.
I've been having trouble with my achilles tendon since july, so hopefully my Ortho can help with that somehow. My ankle has been popping and "giving way" a lot lately, so I'm thinking the Osteochondritis Dissecans (lesions in cartilage) is back with a vengeance. Hopefully he has more suggestions on what I can do for that. I've had two surgeries to repair those already. While I know the surgery would help, I've been "under the knife" many times over the past few years and am kind of sick of it.
The pain management doctor probably won't have any "good news." The pain, while controlled by medications, has been on a downward hill since at least March. I've basically run out of the treatment options Indiana/my physician has to offer. He's not a fan of the "treatments" that are not scientifically proven with extensive evidence.
While I'm very thankful that he is well versed in medical evidence, part of me wishes I could try some of the "trial" things like Ketamine Infusions or Calmare therapy. Hopefully I will in good time.
Thank you all for taking the time to consistently check out my blog for updates. I've redesigned over the past few weeks. If you have any suggestions or questions, feel free to send me an email at [email protected], and I'll work on that!
Thank you to all my friends and family who continue to follow my journey through life with RSD and Fibro. I appreciate you and love you all! I'll post again soon.. I hope :]
Not gonna lie, the first two months here were rough on the illness. Really rough. The week I was packing up my room for college, my doctor started me on a new medication called Gralise (gabapentin). In order to do this, he had me stop taking Lyrica (commonly known as Satan).
So basically, I was experiencing the side effects of a new medication while going through withdrawal of an old one.
Don't you love the withdrawal process? ugh.
The first few weeks of being on gralise, I did not notice much different. I think a lot of that was because of the transition of moving into college, starting class, making friends, and the withdrawal took a toll on me.
I am really happy that I started that medication now, though. While the changes are subtle, and the pain is always there still, any little bit of relief helps. At this point, I'll take what I can get.
From a little before move in on, I was having terrible insomnias. There were many things happening that I think caused these, but nonetheless, less sleep is not someone with chronic pain/fatigue needs.
I went through this for weeks and tried everything I could. Heating pads, no caffeine, no tv/phone in bed. Everything I could think of (well, the internet could think of..) I tried. Nothing helped the insomnias.
My sleep for so many years (nearly four, I believe) was controlled by the magical amitriptyline. But, for whatever reason, it crapped out on me and stopped working for me.
Don't you love when you've taken a medication for so long that your immune system is like "ahhh, no. You're normal. You don't get to be special and make this body feel better." Not cool, immune system. Not. Cool.
So, when I went to my doctor over fall break in October, I told him what was going on. He told me while not often, medications do stop working for people for a period time and put me on a new medication called Trazodone. Which is a fantastic gift from God.
The first night I took it, I was out late with friends, so I took it at roughly 2:00am..
I didn't wake up until 4:30pm.
So, yeah. It works. And it works well.
I've been used to getting less sleep than average for many years, but for some reason Trazodone is the magic pill that makes me sleep very well.
And thank God it works. I was getting grumpy.
I have two more appointments in January. One with my Orthopedic surgeon and one with my Pain Management Doctor. Hopefully they both go well.
I've been having trouble with my achilles tendon since july, so hopefully my Ortho can help with that somehow. My ankle has been popping and "giving way" a lot lately, so I'm thinking the Osteochondritis Dissecans (lesions in cartilage) is back with a vengeance. Hopefully he has more suggestions on what I can do for that. I've had two surgeries to repair those already. While I know the surgery would help, I've been "under the knife" many times over the past few years and am kind of sick of it.
The pain management doctor probably won't have any "good news." The pain, while controlled by medications, has been on a downward hill since at least March. I've basically run out of the treatment options Indiana/my physician has to offer. He's not a fan of the "treatments" that are not scientifically proven with extensive evidence.
While I'm very thankful that he is well versed in medical evidence, part of me wishes I could try some of the "trial" things like Ketamine Infusions or Calmare therapy. Hopefully I will in good time.
Thank you all for taking the time to consistently check out my blog for updates. I've redesigned over the past few weeks. If you have any suggestions or questions, feel free to send me an email at [email protected], and I'll work on that!
Thank you to all my friends and family who continue to follow my journey through life with RSD and Fibro. I appreciate you and love you all! I'll post again soon.. I hope :]