ABOUT ME

Wrote in 1997
I am a 27 yr old, female. And live in Olean, NY. And have almost all of my life. Except for a few years. But then I only lived about 7 miles away. Right now I live about 3 houses from where I grew up as a child. My parents also live here in Olean. I have a brother, David, that lives in Olean. He is separated from his wife. His children (Dakota and Katlyn),live with their mother in MI. I have another brother,Rick that lives in MI, with his family. A wife, Jacki, and son, Justin. I haven't seen them for awhile though. I have some pets. I have 3 cats: one is a female calico, her name is Chelsea. One is a male, all black (except for a little white on the chest), named
Ebony, and the other one is a male tiger named Toby.

5 yrs ago,1993 I was diagnosed with a rare disease called Goodpastures
Syndrome. After 8 mths of testing, hospitalization, put on a respirator, given
2 pints of blood, and even surgery, I found out. I was put on Cytoxan
{Cyclophosphamide} and Prednisone. And have been on them for the past
5 yrs. But I have been put on decreased dosages, only to be boosted back
up, after having relapses of the condition. I some day wish to come of these
drugs completely. And shown that I have gone into remission. But I am not
sure if that day will ever come. But I am hopeful. The major upset to me, by
having this condition is that, you never know what will happen next. One day
you feel great. Like you can run a marathon, and the next I am having
breathing problems. Not sure what I did wrong to become sick again. In the
past 5 yrs I have been in the hospital 11 times. It makes me wonder if I should
reserve a room a head of time. Unlike some others,I have only lung
damage at this time. I am fearing that this maybe the beginning of a long road
ahead of me. I wonder if I will have the same kidney damage as others are
experiencing. I guess that makes me wonder if I was diagnosed wrong. Since
I was diagnosed I have only had 1 kidney infection. Not that I would like to
have it. But it would put my mind at ease as to this is really what I have.

Signs and symptoms I experienced:

When I first began to get sick. I wasn't sure what it
was, but the symptoms are as followed:

Coughing up blood. It started at a small amount and increased thought
out the next 10 mths, before being diagnosed. The doctor I had
at the time, Said it was a sinus infection. And after 7 mths, a
reoccurring sinus infection. But the coughing up blood never
went away, just got worse.

Shortness of breath: I couldn't walk more than 10 ft without being
exhausted and have to sit down

Weakness: my body felt like jello. Like I couldn't control it.

Respiratory infections: I was having infections every week. I was always
on an antibiotic of some sort. Sometimes 2 at the same time.

Chills: I was always cold, never seem to warm up. Even on hot days.

Coughing: Was a major part of the symptoms. I was always coughing.
I was a smoker. So I excused it for a smokers cough. Never thinking
it could be something more serious.

The symptoms I experience now, when I am told I'm
having a relapse is:

Coughing, always comes first. its kind of a hacky cough. That usually
happens within 2 or 3 hrs of the chills.