Photo of Lauren GibiliscoToday I am going to visit my grandmother celebrating her 80th birthday. I love my grandma and it is always fun to get together with all my relatives. After my doctor visit on Monday, I found out that my urologist is going to try something new for my bladder issues. I have a neuro stimulator implanted for my bladder that constantly spasms. It worked really well before but lately its not working as well. I get up almost hourly every night to go to the bathroom. This really tires me out because I never get any sleep. He is going to inject botox into my bladder to keep the spasms from occurring. He said he has had a lot of luck with this. He said it was done often on patients with MS or Cerebal Palsy. So I agreed to try it. It will last for one year. The doctor also had to inform me that there was a chance that it could paralyze my bladder. This thought really scared me. I thought, I get all the weird things happening to my body, so does that mean that I will have a paralyzed bladder? It this occurs, I would have to catherize myself for a year. Even though I am reluctant to do it, I will if it means I could get some sleep. My mom wishes they would inject it into my mouth so I quit talking so much. My mom is mad because the doctor won’t take a little extra and apply it to my mom’s face. LOL.

Well I have had my presurgical checkup and will have the surgery done on Wednesday. It is a 2 hour trip both ways to get to Omaha where my doctor is. I can’t wait to see if it works or not. Today I saw my psychiatrist. It was just a quick visit. He wanted to know how my constant checking things were doing. Was the medication doing what it is supposed to do for my bipolar diagnosis? It was all fine. We have to make a 1 ½ hour trip each way to see him. We are only there for a total of ½ hour. I feel bad my mom has to drive me everywhere. This has been a busy week. I will let you know next week how the surgery went.

Photo of Adam ZwanSome people are glorified for an invention or for a remarkable breakthrough in science.  However, others make their mark in history by being diagnosed with a rare illness that shortens life expectancy by half.  My place in history start in 1987 on September 18, living life as a healthy young man only to find health beginning to spiral downward in 1994.  The diagnosis of Type I diabetes was only the first mile marker in my marathon known as Wolfram Syndrome.  As one of 18 patients with Wolfram in the United States I found myself obligated to beat the statistics and surpass the life expectancy of 31 years old by controlling my diabetes and staying as physically active as I possibly could. I took a realistic look at myself and said that Wolfram Syndrome is the hand that I was dealt in life and it is my responsibility to make the best of what I have.
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