8 surgeries and counting!

Two years ago I was diagnosed with RRP (reocurring respiratory papalomatosis). What it is is a virus that causes growths on my vocal cords and I have to get surgeries on it every now and again. (As I am writing this I am on my way for another.) The growths can form anywhere between my nasal passages to my lungs. Lucky for me I have only had them on my vocal cords. The only problem with that is that they then block my air passage and could cause me to die of suffocation. So far they have only been that bad once and I had been at risk of suffocation for about two weeks before I went to the doctor for my check up and then about 5 more days from then to the next surgery.
If I hadn't been diagnosed with it I would be dead right now. It is uncurable and I will have to live with it for the rest of my life.

I haven't updated this in a while.. Currently I am up to ten surgeries. The time between each surgery has gotten shorter again and there was only six weeks between nine and ten but only a week before my voice was lost again. Dr. Halum believes that the reason for this was a bad reaction to the new removal technique. I will now be going back for monthly check-ups with Dr. Halum. Also after surgery ten I learned that there is scar tissue on my vocal cord. Dr. Halum did her best to remove it but the scar tissue could lead to perminate voice loss.

I appreciate every bit of support that I get for my disease and we now have ribbons (similar to the pink breast cancer ribbon) that are black w/ white dots. Our slogan is "While I breathe, I hope." There has also been people getting tatoos of the ribbon and slogan!

I don't mind questions about anything and if there's anything you would like to know then feel free to PM me.

My 11th surgery will be on august 6th.. I wanna say itms the 6th.. i think itms the 6th.. I'll update this if I'm wrong..

Surgery is on Monday, August 6th (a week from this coming Monday). I don't know the time or anything yet. I don't know if it's late or early. I just know the day.. I'll keep this updated..

Also, the fundraisers that my mom's school (she's studying to be a cosmetologist) have been doing for us have been going really well. They have been giving us pretty much everything: food, clothes, shoes, and even money. We are getting a lot and it's helping us get back on our feet after we've been struggling so much lately.

So, I'm sitting in the waiting room for surgery number eleven right now..

lol. On the other side of the room there is a person snoring reeeeaaallly loud. Haha. It's funny. xD
In front of me there is an empty wheelchair thats wide enough to fit 3 of me in it, side-by-side. o.o

So, on my way home from surgery number 11. My throat is sore as hell. x[ But it went well, as a matter of fact, something weird happened this time.. There had been one massive pollup that was what I was supposed to get removed but when I was in the O.R., Dr. Hallum couldn't find it.. It had completely disappeared! At first it had freaked me out a little when mom told me after I got back from recovery but after I got the full story, it turns out its a good thing!
It could be a sign of remission (a long time when the virus is inactive) which is the most amazing news I could possibly get.
They removed some scar tissue while I was under and I'm hoping to get my voice to recover. For now, tho, I am on 3 days of voice rest. No talking at all. Not even a whisper. That shouldn't be too hard. Itms just gonna be me my sister for those three days.

Surgery went well and I'm hoping things are gonna start getting better for me

So far, so good....
Haha, I'm getting a bit of a voice back, still hoarse, and it cracks and squeaks a lot, but it's improving. That's good enough for me.

My next appointment is on the 29th. I'll get the usual scope (probably dont want details on how that works...not a pretty mental image) and they'll tell me if it's good or bad.
If my last surgery was a sign for anything, then the news should be good.
We did a fundraiser today, which involved me standing on a street corner holding up signs.. It went well. We sold lots of chicken. Woot! Mom's school has been doing a lot for us, and me. It's great. They're great.

I'll make sure to update this with any thing else that happens!

Two weeks of no talking.. F! M! L! ;A;

I'm currently going back and forth between having a voice and not having a voice. It usually depends on how much I've been talking and how much water I've had to drink..

wow...a lot has happened to you too since I've been gone huh?

Yeah... Haha... Yeeaahh.. Quite a lot..

12-12-12... Emergency surgery scheduled for tomorrow at 9am.

It came back with a vengeance and I'm barely able to breathe... Good thing I don't have Wellness this trimester at school...

I guess I'll update this. It's been a while since I have.. Anyway, the twelfth surgery had gone well (that's the last one I mentioned). And I haven't had an another one since. I go back next week for another appointment. If it goes how I'm expecting it to, surgery 13 is going to be scheduled soon.

Forgot to update this.. Anyway, next appointment is on yet another strange date... 9-11.. I'm hoping to go a little while longer without a surgery and so far this may be the longest I've gone without one (Yay!). It's a good sign. Another thing I would like to update you guys with is that I'll be going to New York for a fundraiser for people with the same condition. My mom has been asked to speak in front of everyone and was glad to accept. I was told there is going to be several celebrity appearances (so excited about that) and it's being held at Hell's Kitchen (Hoping to see Gordon Ramsay). Anyway.. I think that's all I have for right now. Feel free to comment or ask questions c:

Wow... um.... uh, well.... I just found this. ._. This is awful.. I really don't know what to say >_< But really cool about the fundraiser  Any idea who'll be showing up?

Yeah, it's a lot to deal with sometimes.. But it's not so bad now that I've been getting used to it.. For the fundraiser, I'm not sure who will be there. I guess I won't know until we actually get there. But it's a really formal event. One of the actors that was supposed to be there, cancelled because of some big controversy with his medical condition. I think he had throat cancer? I can't remember what his name was. He wasn't an actor I was familiar with. But yeah, other than that it hasn't been said who all is coming

Aw, poor guy. Ah well, anyway, when is the fundraiser going to be?

It's at the end of September. The 29th I believe. But I think we're going to drive there so I think we're leaving either the 27th or the 28th because of how long it would take to get there. When we originally planned it, it was just going to be me and my mom and we were going to fly there. But everyone else decided to go too so flying would cost too much.