Kaitlyn Wallace - Digital Portfolio
Thursday, December 6, 2012
Tuesday, October 30, 2012
Free Write 10-30-12
This past weekend was great! I had so much fun shopping with Jess on Friday, then the ghost tour Friday night. Then Saturday just relaxing and kinda not really spent the evening with Zach. Sunday I had a great day doing nothing just slept in, watched a movie with mom, and carved pumpkins. Yestureday was the only day that I actually go bored. I really need to find a job because just laying around while everyone else is at work is no longer enjoyable. I honestly dont know how I feel about the whole Virginia Tech. deal. Did I react the wrong way by not getting super excited and telling him Ill move with him. I just hate the idea of moving. I think its different for him because he has never had to move out of Willard. I have moved so many times and in three different states. I just dont feel the need to move away from the one place Ive been able to call home. I dont want to be the reason he doesnt go and play football I just have so many doubts and worries about it. I truely do not like the idea of starting a family without my family right there to experience everything with me. I know Caleb and I are eachother family now but I still want my parents to have a huge part in my childs life. But I am so scared that he will move out there without me, that probably sounds super selfish but I dont want to be away from him! I just want him here with me! But I guess if it came down to it I would follow him where ever he goes, because I know he would do that for me.
Thursday, October 25, 2012
Free Write 10-25-12
It's been five months that I have been officially dating Caleb. It doesn't not seem like its already been that long, even since DJ broke up with me it doesn't seem like that was nine months ago! Its crazy how fast time goes by! Its so crazy to me how I always THOUGHT DJ was the guy I was going to spend my life with and I was with him for two and a half years. And now Ive only been with Caleb for five months and I know he is the guy I am going to marry. I love everything about him (well almost :)) I love how close he's become with my family, I love the way he takes care of me, how he would do anything to protect me. Its so nice having a relationship where we both want to be together just as bad as the other. I know he truly loves me every time he looks at me. And that fact that he knew I was the one before I ever gave him the light of day. It just seems so surreal to me. I never thought I would be the kind of girl to rush into getting married or moving out but now that I have Caleb I just don't see the point in waiting. There is no doubt in my mind that this is the guy I want to spend my life with. I probably just sound like some crazy love obsessed teenage girl but I'm not I honestly know he is my forever. He has defiantly become my best friend of the past six months. We have been through so much! I honestly would go out and marry him right now if given the chance. But seriously why is it that everyone around me is either having a baby or getting married? It does not make waiting for any of it easier. OK well I have no problem waiting on a baby but I don't like the waiting on getting married. I still cannot really believe that Lissie is going to have the baby any day now. It does not seem real yet, and I kind of wish it wasn't real. It breaks my heart thinking of everything that her and Joshua are going to go through. No baby should have to grow up like him or his cousin are being forced to grow up. I just hope that Lissie will make better decisions than Jennifer when it comes to her kiddos. Wednesday, October 24, 2012
Tuesday, October 23, 2012
Free Write 10-23-12
This weekend was so many things, Friday night just sucked. I mean there were some funny moments but for the most part it just sucked, I was not in a good mood, Tony was annoying me, and everyone was trying so hard to be funny. Then Saturday was a good day just in general, Mom and Zach made cookies, I sewed and then Saturday evening Mom, Zach, Tony, and I all went to the pumpkin patch. I really feel like mom is trying to replace Dad I know she is trying to find someone new to be happy with and have a life with but I think that there is a line on how you handle that with your kids. I do not like the fact that on Friday we had what Mom called "family" game night, then Saturday him going to the pumpkin patch with us. I feel like those are two situations where Dad should of been there. I know Im probably being too hard on my mom but it is just so hard for me to watch her completely move on, I understand that dad is moving on also but atleast he didnt have someone to introduce us to only a month after he had moved out. I just miss the way things used to be I know everyone always says that but for me its true it kills me that my parents arent together its not how I wanted it to be. But I guess does anything in life go the way we want it to, nope. I cannot believe tomarrow Caleb and I have been together five months it doesnt seem like its been that long but they it does. Hes been through so much with me in just that short time period although we have basically been together for seven months on the sixth. I cannnot believe next month will be seven months that Steeler has been gone. I miss him, I know that we were never super close but I miss his crazy antics, he was always making me laugh. Thursday, October 18, 2012
Free Write 10-18-12
Yesterday was such a good day! It seems like everyday I fall in love with Caleb all over again, its the little things he does that remind me daily why I love him and want to be with him. He means the world to me. I really wish mom would be honest with me and tell me that her and Tony are dating and stop pushing it off cause its only going to piss me off when she finally tells me. I really think that their relationship has been going on for a while now I think it started before dad even moved out and I'm sorry I don't care if your not happy in a relationship if you are still telling your kids and family that you are together at least respect the rules that come with being together. I don't know how I feel about the whole situation I'm sick of my parents treating me like I'm a child and want them to realize that I am
nineteen and can handle their adult problems because I'm sorry but I'm not as immature or little as they think.
Tuesday, October 16, 2012
Personal Narrative
Kaitlyn Wallace
Mr. Neuburger
Eng. Comp. 101-132
6 September 2012
Personal Narrative
The Moment that Changed My Life
It seems like just yesterday when my mom gave me the news that would forever change my life. It all started around May 2009 when my younger brother, Zachary who was nine at the time, got sick with Mono. When you get sick with Mono, there are a list of symptoms you can get, but typically you only get three or four of the symptoms, but Zach got every symptom there is. It took everything my mom had just to keep his temperature from skyrocketing. We kept switching between Tylenol and Motrin, gave him cool baths, and tried to get him to just sweat it off. His high fever lasted for about a week, but he was still extremely lethargic.
Zach, who was normally a very energetic and athletic kid, did not want to do much of anything. He barley ate, and it did not matter what my parents fixed him to eat, he would eat a few bites of it and be done. He lost so much weight that summer he looked like a child from a third world country and not a child who could eat as much food as he wanted. After waiting about two months for him to recover, which is the typical time period it takes for people to get back on their feet after Mono, he still was not showing any real signs of improvement so my parents took him back to the doctor. They did more tests to see if anything besides the Mono was going on and everything came back normal, and the doctor said it was just part of the Mono.
Well, a few weeks after he had gone to the doctor, Zach began to shake. Whenever he would hold his hands out straight they would shake like crazy. My mom being the worry wart she is made him a doctor appointment for the next day. The doctor immediately sent him over for an MRI. The day after his MRI the doctor called my mom while she was at work. Now my mom who has worked in the medical field most of her life knew that if the doctor is calling you the very next day after a major test that it cannot be a good thing. The doctor informed her that Zach has Craniopharyngioma, which is a type of brain tumor.
My parents say that the world stopped spinning for days after that phone call. What are you supposed to do when your child is diagnosed with a life threatening disease? They spent their days and nights doing research. My dad said, “What is the point in even going to bed when you know you are just going to lay there while your mind wanders to horrible places.” Once the initial shock wore off, they started to think more sensical and figured out everything they had to do.
First, they had to figure out how to tell me. I cannot imagine how hard it was for my mom to tell me what was wrong with Zach. See, Zach and I don’t have your typical brother sister relationship, mainly because there are seven years between us. He is my absolute best friend and has been since the day he was born. I still remember walking into the hospital room seeing and holding him for the first time. Being a foolish seven years old, I made the mistake of telling my parents, “He’s better than Christmas.” For the most part I still stand by that statement because not a day goes by that he doesn’t make me laugh, although there are times more often now that he’s getting mouthy that makes me want to take it back.
It was just a day or two after my fifteenth birthday when my mom told me. She called me into her room and told me she needed to talk to me about something important. I went into her room and crawled up on her bed not sure what she was about to tell me, but I knew it was horrible news not because of what she said but because of the look on her face. Her eyes were red and puffy and her nose was running. I was terrified of the news she was about to give me, I knew it was something that was going to change our lives forever. My mom is one of the strongest women I have ever known, and to see her look so helpless scared me because I knew she couldn’t change whatever was happening. She took my hand in hers and explained to me why Zach had been having so my tests done. The doctors had found a brain tumor. My mom and I are not very emotional women, but this is one of those few moments in my life where she just held me while we cried. We cried because there was nothing we could do to protect Zach.
The second thing they had to decide was what neurologist and radiologist to take him to. This was where having a mother in the medical field can really help you out. She found a world renowned radiologist, Dr. Larry Kunn, who does a lot of work with and incredible organization called St. Jude Children’s research hospital. St. Jude is a nonprofit children’s hospital that provides the best care possible for sick children, and their main goal is to find a cure for childhood cancer. As soon as she discovered him, she hurried and called his office to make an appointment for Zach to see him. But, once she called and talked with the secretary she learned that they could not get him in to see the doctor for at least another six months.
My mom calmly hung up the phone and started devising a plan to get him in quicker. The next day she called his office again. Although this time she made up a name and pretended she was a patient and needed to speak with the nurse about her medication, knowing the secretary would put her through to a nurse. As soon as the nurse answered my mom just threw everything out there, told her all about our situation and how they said they couldn’t get him in for another six months. Once she finished the nurse was silent for a moment and told her to hold on for a moment while she went and spoke with Dr. Kunn. After being on hold for a few minutes the nurse came back and told my mom to be there in two days and he would see them. The next night we packed up and headed to Tennessee.
There were many more test and doctor appointments he had to go through to be admitted into the St. Jude program. After all the test and appointments were complete he was admitted into the program where he is still a patient today. It is crazy how one word, Craniopharyngioma, can completely change your life.
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