For any of you from Fort Fairfield, way up there in The County, you may have heard the story of Amanda Bolstridge. For those of you who haven't heard, I'll give you a little background knowledge. Amanda is the younger sister of my classmate Kathy, who, about 2 years ago started complaining of horrible migraines. These headaches were so intense they would cause her crazy mood swings, to the point where the Bolstridge family had a feeling something more was going on. She was taken to the hospital, and later, after bouncing all over, was transferred down to Mass General Hospital in Boston. It was determined that she had encephalitis, which is a swelling of the brain. Doctors also found a small cyst on her left ovary that they believe may have contributed to the complications. After spending two months in a coma and a surgery to remove the cyst, Amanda almost immediately came out of the coma, and was ready to get back home.
I've known Amanda and her family most of my life. What they had to go through blows my mind. Being bounced around from hospital to hospital in search of answers must have been one of the most frustrating things in the world. Amanda's case turned out to be a medical mystery, solved by the gut feeling of an intern. I've learned so much from this story, and am in awe of not only Amanda, but her entire family. What started out as migraines, something fairly normal to some of us, turned into a very scary journey. We hear stories all the time and think it can never happen to us, or anyone we know, but the truth is, this can happen to any of us at any time. Each day is precious and we shouldn't take anything, or anyone for granted. My outlook on life has changed incredibly since my daughter was born 7 years ago, and it changed a little more after seeing this video of Amanda on television this morning. I'm honestly in awe of how strong Amanda was to fight through this, and also of her family for continuing to fight for answers and being so strong through the entire process. I would also love to give a shout out to the all the great doctors out there, not only Dr. Clark and Dr. Kolp from Mass General, but all the doctors out there that work so hard for all of us. I'm just saying...
About Me
- Mark
- I've always wondered if people actually read this stuff. I never do when I'm on other pages. Well, in case, for some strange reason, you find it necessary, I'll give you a little knowledge. I was born in The County. For those of you who don't konw better, that would be Aroostook County. For those of you who do, your jokes won't work on me, they are lame. I'm the son of an investment banker that squandered his every penny on tuna fish sandwiches in the late 80's, and my mother was the lead singer for the Bangles. Neither of those is true, but again, I'm convinced nobody is reading this anyways. I met my wife at a carnival, and we were married by the bearded lady in front of the entire clown brigade. I have a daughter who is training for the 2012 Olympics where she will compete in the Triple Jump and Javelin. We live in a nice little shanty in the woods and are hoping to one day have running water. Any questions?
