12 (Medical) Things You Don’t Know About Me

Confession: I have a pretty big love affair with US Weekly. It’s off the charts, actually. And because I’m a naturally nosy person, one of my favorite columns is “25 Things You Don’t Know About Me,” where your favorite stars bravely and brazenly confess to those once-hidden and secret facts about themselves — I love Frosted Flakes! I have a Bachelorette viewing party every week! I drove a limo around Hollywood before I made it!

Ohh! Such revelations! Well, I just made those up, but they totally sound legit, don’t they? Anyway, I thought it would be fun to put my own twist on this little getting-to-know-you game.

I introduce: 12 (Medical) Things You Don’t Know About Me.

Are you ready? Get ready for the revelations…

1. My parents didn’t get a diagnosis for me until several days after I was born. They even found themselves looking through medical journals trying to “find me.” 

2. I didn’t take my first steps until I was 4. Apparently, I wasn’t into it because I was crying the whole time. 

3. Because of a clef pallet, I didn’t sip from a straw until around 3. I loved it, though! 

4. My longest hospital stay was 31 days. 

5. I once had a central line and a portacath at the same time. 

6. My veins are covered in scar tissue from being used so much and it’s hard to find one. Case in point: I went for a blood test last week and the phlebotomist couldn’t find one! 

7. It took 22 sticks one time to find a vein for an I.V. 

8. Another time, they had to cut into my wrist to find one. I’ve still got the scar to prove it. 

9. After one of my spine surgeries, it was hard to wean me off the respirator. 

10. After my last surgery, in 1996, I had a hospital bed in my room for three months. I loved it. My friends and I would sit in it and play Nintendo! That’s me in the photo, above! 

11. I used to get dehydrated A LOT when I was a kid. 

12. My doctor dubbed The Melissa Blake Diet as a benchmark for deciding when I’d had enough I.V. fluid and could go home. They’d hook me up to said I.V., I’d recover for a day or two, order a cheeseburger from the cafeteria and go home.

Now, of course there are more things I could mention, but we’d be here all day, so I thought it best to limit the list to 12. I’m sure I’ll do another one in the future.

What are some things people might be surprised to learn about you, friends? Any secrets you’ve been dying to share? Now is the time — and place! — to do it! xoxo