Zerbini Family Circus and...other stuff.

So far, my summer hasn't been entirely interesting. I've taken a few trips up to Kutztown to visit, gone to the gym (woohoo!), texted a LOT, and slept quite a bit. On my last visit to Kutztown, Joanna, Gina and I decided to go to the Zerbini Family Circus. Oh yes. It was just as amazing/sketchy as it sounds. It was fantastic. We rode a camel, ate way too much junk food (cotton candy and popcorn), watched a great and sometimes frightening show, and got to meet two of the clowns after!! It was an absolute blast. There are pictures on facebook. Check it out.


Then, on Wednesday, the real fun began. I went to the doctor for a regular visit. They took some blood. I didn't think anything of it. The next afternoon, the office called my house and told my dad that there was a critical issue with my blood. A normal hemoglobin count for someone my age is between 11 and 13. Mine was 5.6. That's bad. Apparently so bad that I had to go see the hematologist (blood doctor) at 8:45 the next morning.

So I go to Delaware County Memorial Hospital, up to the hematologist's office. Dr. Shore asked me a lot of questions and then told me and my mom that he wasn't going to take any blood because I didn't have any to spare. Yikes. He said that I needed to have an iron infusion. They took me downstairs to a room with probably 10 chairs in it, hooked an IV up to my arm (ouch) and just gave me a "test dose" of the iron to make sure I didn't have an allergic reaction. Wonderful. After she saw that I was ok, the nurse brought over a HUGE bag of this iron stuff. She said it would take about three hours to finish.

So we sat there, watching other people come and go. I watched TV, my mom read magazines and books, we ate lunch...in total, we were in the hospital for five and a half hours. When my bag was FINALLY empty, I was the last one left in the room. She put a nice big bandage on my arm and told me that I'll probably have to go back and do it again at least once. Sheesh.

So I have an appointment in two weeks where they'll do more bloodwork and see if my hemoglobin count is any closer to normal. PLEASE pray for me. If this works, it could be the beginning of a whole new Shanna! One who doesn't get tired and need to take naps in the day, who never gets dizzy or headaches or anything! I hope it works.

But, on to more good news! I'm going to Florida on the 25th to visit Ryan and Shelsy!! I can't wait! I haven't seen them in close to two months, so that'll be awesome. Maybe I'll update from their amazing new kitchen computer :D