This is Me. This is Real.

To be completely honest, I debated a good month or so about writing about this, because I don't want to be known for this "label/diagnosis"

If you have been around my blog and seen any of my pictures, you may have noticed I look different, you may have shied away from reading me because you thought I looked weird, but I seriously hope you stuck around to learn about me, and to share in my blog.  If not, I guess that's your loss!  

When I was born, I was diagnosed with what doctors call frontonasal dysplasia.  In English, it basically means, my ears are smaller than most, my eyes are farther apart, and my nasal cavity isn't what it's supposed to be.  

From what I have found on the interwebs and google, I have a very mild case of it, my nose is in one piece and I don't have a cleft lip.  

Ever since I was young, I have gone yearly or every few years to an all-day appointment down at the U of Minnesota.  I have had multiple surgeries, multiple long-term(more than a week) hospital stays, & a few stories that I am now able to look back & laugh on.  

A couple stories before I get to the rest of the post, one of the surgeries I had, I believe it was when they put the shunt in, but I can't remember, for sure, they sewed my eyes shut because they were afraid that if they didn't the brain pressure would cause them to pop out of the sockets, well when they sewed them shut, they had me under anesthesia because they did it right before surgery, but when they unsewed them, I was awake for the procedure, and my Dad was in the room when they were doing this, and I was yelling, Daddy kick the nurse, Daddy hit the nurse.  My Dad's a police officer, so I thought he could do whatever he needed to do to not have me in pain.  Keep in mind, I was only 7 or so at the time.  

Another time, I think it was during this same hospital stay, my mom had gone down to the McDonald's in the tunnels below Children's and the nurses were trying to force me to take medicine, and my mom says as soon as she got off the elevator, she could hear me screaming from the other end of the hall.  I just didn't want to take it, I guess! 

& now a few, you mess with my sister/daughter stories, I'll mess you up from my family:

When we were skiing one weekend up by my Dad's house, Lynn, my stepmom had taken us by herself & this kid starts spitting on the bag that I'm carrying and making fun of me, she went up the stairs after the kid, and said, keep it up & I'll kick your ass, now my stepmomma is not a violent person, very calm and collected.  

& Ryan, my younger brother, has punched a few kids because they were making fun of me. 

& when my stepsister Becky was younger, we were both at the park and some other girls were making fun of me, so she walks over to them & gave them an earful.  

Mady has always gotten upset about me being made fun of, she is very protective of me(at least for that reason, most others she picks on me!)

Some people have asked why I look the way I do, my answer is always, because God has a special plan for my life.  I would much rather look like this, and have my faith in God, then look "normal" and not have Him.  Or like I told a girl when I was cashiering after she called me funny looking, TWICE, I'd much rather look like me and have manners instead of looking like you and having none at all.  

I have been blessed with not only great parents and great stepparents, but an entire family that has never let me be treated like any less.  I have been asked before, if I would like to be a part of a support group for frontonasal dysplasia, and I've always turned them down, because I don't let this define me, and I forget I have it until somebody keep staring at me.  

Please, don't hesitate to ask me any questions you have, & I just want to let everybody know how much you all mean to me!  

linking up with Shawn & IA for Talk to Us Tuesday