I may not be nicer, but my jokes are definitely better... when I'm not in pain

Hi, my name is Kelsey. I'm a 5'10", half japanese, fun loving, sometimes sarcastic, barista with a cat named Sparkles. 

As a lot of my friends know,  I always want to be the one that everyone can depend on.  Like Alex Trebek, I like to pretend that I have all of the answers, and if I don't I'll be the one by your side making it up as we go.  

One thing that the people in my life have been learning about me...with me... is that my independence that I have built for myself and stand so proudly by, has slowly been stripped of me as my own body has been jumping up and down on the breaks. 

Within in the past two years I have been in and out of the emergency room over 5 times for migraines alone, and that is only after trying to endure them for as long as possible so that I wouldn't have to pay the bill.


I eventually put together a contingency plan for those who get stuck with me most: just put me in a red wagon and roll me around the block a few times to confuse me a little and then walk away. This will always get rid of a migraine. I just couldn't bare to laugh at the ironic view of my own hand passing off my debit card to the nurse once again; all while still tethered to an I.V. for the past couple hours. The same hand that feeds my cat Sparkles and pours hundreds of cups of coffee every day. The same hand that then opens medical bill after medical bill for the weeks to come whilst still in recovery.

Within the past two months I have since learned, via x-ray, that my neck itself is actually sitting pretty at negative fourteen degrees. This has been putting pressure on a good amount of my nerves that usually sweep under the base of the skull and reaches like vines down the spine and out to my innards. Within two weeks of learning about my neck, I ended up fainting in the shower, smacking my head, and getting a concussion.

Since then, I have seen some significant differences in the way my body has been responding to every day situations. Daily I have been experiencing electric shocks throughout my nervous system, dizziniess and fatigue, random pain and nausea, and still... migraines. 

I have high hopes that with time and patience that this will just be another chapter in my life that comes and goes. However, in the mean time, my medical expenses are adding up with my multiple weekly chiropractor visits, my medications and doctors visits, and the days I've had to take off from work.  To be completel honest, the struggle is getting real. 

I'm already over the moon with the amount of love and support I've been given through these tough times. Thank you, so much. <3 <3 <3