2005

During my semester in Los Angeles, I began having some knee pain.  I was aware that I had a bone tumor called an osteochondroma, but it had never given me any trouble, until then.  One night while working at Billabong I was climbing up a ladder and my knee popped.  It hurt really badly, and felt like my muscle had caught on the knobby tumor that was sticking off of the bone.  I couldn't exten my leg all the way and had to keep it slightly bent for the next few days until it got better.  I decided to see an orthopedist there, and he told me that if this continued to happen, I would need to have the tumor removed.  Of course, it continued to happen.  Christmas break of that year included a knee surgery for me, and I began the Spring semester of 2005 on crutches and with my leg in a splint so I couldn't bend it.  We made the most of it, and drove electronic carts around Walmart using my leg as an excuse.  Jacob, on the other hand, didn't have a scar or crutches, and was soon kicked off of the cart by Rick Support Manager. 

After all that I'd done, Jacob took care of me.  He took me to class, picked me up, brought me medicine and candy, and continued to love me for who I was. I loved him back.

Since one surgery just wasn't enough, I soon discovered that I had a large cyst on my remaining ovary, the evil predacessor of Derwood, the cyst that had destroyed my left ovary as a teenager.  So, Spring Break 2005 was spent in the hospital having yet another surgery, with yet another ugly incision.  It was not fun.  Jacob was there through it all, and bought me some DVDs and candy for my recovery.  After a night in the hospital, I went home to Jacob's apartment to recover.  My mom had caught a stomach virus in the hospital, which I then caught.  Throwing up with a fresh incision on your abdomen is not fun.  I spent that afternoon and evening back at the hospital  emergency room.  All the retching had caused my incision to split open, and I was bleeding.  Not the Spring Break I would have envisioned for myself. 

Life was soon back to normal, and I moved into a new apartment with my former dorm roommate.  That fall I began my senior year as a student in the college of Mass Communications at LSU, and I enjoyed it.  I knew I didn't want to stay in Baton Rouge forever, but was complacent.