New to the site...

This is my first post here. =)

My name is Courtney, I'm 16 years old, and when I was 15, I was diagnosed with a rare disease; Wegener's Granulomatosis. Usually people 50+ get this, so it was even more rare when we found out I had it...

The symptoms really started to show in September of 2007. I started losing my hearing. I mean I REALLY lost it! I couldn't hear anything unless people screamed it at me. I was always tired. Just walking from class to class in school and I was exhausted. Which was weird because the year before I helped out in the office for a class, and I was always on the move. Taking things to different classes when needed, and going back and forth through the building. I didn't get the least bit tired then! I started getting a fever of around 102 everyday. Same time. Like clockwork. I was puking and couldn't keep anything down. I was losing weight like crazy... And I'm a skinny girl to begin with! I was around 105 pounds, and managed to drop to about 90 pounds... =( And my joints! My knees and elbows started to really hurt. I couldn't bend them without excruciating pain. When I got to school and went to my locker I had to bend down to put my books away. I thought I'd never get back up! It was horrible. Then my eye turned red on the top. We thought it could be Pink Eye, but it was just a little spot on only one eye... We went to the doctor a lot those two months. I was on antibiotics to fight whatever it was. After about three different ones, that weren't working, my mom had the doctor admit me to the local hospital. I was dehydrated and needed help. That was on November 6, 2007. They did all kinds of tests on me with no luck. During the time I was there, I developed weird spots on me. A few on my foot, and one on a finger. After a while, we decided it was time to go to a more knowledgeable hospital; Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh, a two hour drive from home. Little did I know that on that day November 14, 2007, that I was in for a long time at the hospital away from home and was about to learn so much. We got there, and they all came in to see me, trying to figure out what was wrong. The next day I went in to have a kidney biopsy and a PICC line put in my arm (they couldn't get a regular IV into me, I was poked so many times for blood that my veins couldn't take any more!). They came in the next day and told me what we needed to hear... I had Wegener's Granulomatosis, I was in kidney failure and would need to be put on dialysis, that there was no cure and I'd have this for the rest of my life, BUT they could control it and I could lead a pretty normal life.

That's pretty much the beginning from my point of view. =) To read more about it and what's happened since then go to: http://www.courtneyupdates.com/ where my dad and now my mom write updates on how I'm doing. Now I'm going to start my own. With my take on everything. =) I'll try to write about everyday, and update often! =) I don't think they'll be as long as this one on a regular basis though! LOL =P