Great Expectations, and A Few Other Things

Here is my book review on Great Expectations.

Great Expectations by Charles Dickens is a classic tale written in the 1900s about a young boy and his life's story. When he was a young boy, Pip, -living with his sister and her husband at the blacksmith's forge- is suddenly brought into great wealth, his whole life changes. Pip was never in a situation like it before, so in his new life he finds himself overwhelmed and confused. His expectations change many times throughout the book a different situations unfold, and he finds himself quite different from who he once was.
I thought Great Expectations by Charles Dickens was a good book, but it was boring at the same time. I liked the overall story, and I thought it was interesting, but it moved too slowly for me. I thought it was bring because I felt like a lot if the story was just crawling along, and it was driving me nuts. I had a hard time getting though it.
The book did have a lot of detail in it but that is one if the reasons it seemed bogged down to me. I can picture things really easily, and I often found myself skipping entire paragraphs trying to get through the book faster only to have to backtrack to make sure I wouldn't miss anything.
My top two favorite characters are Wemmick and Joe. They are my favorites because they are both always really kind and helpful to people. They both do whatever they can to help Pip, no matter what the circumstances were. I also rely liked the harsh nature of Estella, but I kept wishing she would all of a sudden turn nice.
My favorite part in the book would probably be when Pip found out who his benefactor was. I liked it because it moved faster than a lot of the book, and because I guessed who the benefactor was.
Overall, I thought that Great Expectations was an okay book. It seemed a little slow to me at times, but I liked the storyline. I would only recommend it to people who have a lot of time and patience for reading books. It did teach me some lessons though, and that is always important. It helped me to learn to appreciate what I have now, instead of being upset over something I don't have.

On a side note, this has been an extremely long week, but a pretty good one. This week I saw Hunger Games, which I just have to say was freaking amazing, and has now become one of my all time favorite movies. I also got my drivers permit. The test was pretty easy, and the wait at the DMV wasn't too bad, but driving for the first time? Yeah, that was pretty nerve wracking. Overall though, it was pretty fun, and I'm pretty excited to get my actual license. Overall, I think it's a pretty good way to start off forth term, so here we go.

Anxiety Disorders

So this is something I had to write for my health class. It may be a little boring, but it's also really interesting, so have fun learning some new stuff. :)

Anxiety disorders are the most common mental illness in the U.S., affecting 40 million adults in the United States age 18 and older, 18% of U.S. population ("Facts and Statistics"). There are many different types of anxiety disorders: Panic Disorder, OCD, PTSD, and many others. Anxiety disorders commonly occur along with other mental or physical illnesses, including alcohol or substance abuse, which may mask anxiety symptoms or make them worse ("Anxiety Disorders").

Anxiety disorders affect many people, and many anxiety disorders have similar symptoms. Some anxiety disorder symptoms are back pain, body aches, burning/itchy skin, chest pain, dizziness, heart palpitations, nausea, startle easily, twitching, weight loss or gain, difficulty falling asleep, and many more as well ("Anxiety Centre"). Many people feel like outcasts because they have an anxiety disorder, but that shouldn’t be the case. There are many ways that you can help anxiety disorders.

Different anxiety disorders can be handled in many different ways, but they can be controlled. People shouldn’t have to bow down to their anxiety disorders. You can take control, and get your life back. “In general, anxiety disorders are treated with medication, specific types of psychotherapy, or both ("Anxiety Disorders").” “Medication will not cure anxiety disorders, but it can keep them under control while the person receives psychotherapy ("Anxiety Disorders").” There are many different medications that can help treat a huge variety of anxiety disorders; many medications that help people take control of their lives.

Anxiety disorders affect 40 million adults in the U.S. alone. “Each year, they cost the U.S. more the $42 billion a year, almost one-third of the country’s $148 billion total mental health bill, according to ‘The Economic Burden of Anxiety Disorders,’ …” According to WebMD, “Anxiety may affect twice as many older adults as depression, according to new research. Researchers say generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) may be the most common mental disorder among the elderly, although little is known about how to treat the disorder among older adults (Warner).” “GAD affects 6.8 million adults, or 3.1% of the U.S. population. Women are twice as likely to be affected as men ("Facts and Statistics").”

Anxiety disorders may affect 40 billion adults in the U.S. but it doesn’t have to control their lives. There are many medications that can be prescribed to help control the symptoms from anxiety disorders. Anxiety disorders like panic attacks, or OCD may cause people to feel like they are outsiders, but with the new medications they can help people manage their anxiety disorders. I think that if people go to the doctor for their anxiety disorders then they can get the medication or treatments they need to put them in control of their lives once again. 40 million adults may have anxiety disorders, but they can be helped, and doctors and scientists are discovering new things every day; leading us into an even more technological age where anything is possible.

Works Cited:

"ADAA."Facts and Statistics.Anxiety Disorders Association of America, n.d.

Web. 10 Mar 2012.

<http://www.adaa.org/about-adaa/press-room/facts-

statistics>.

"Anxiety Symptoms." Anxiety Centre. N.p., n.d. Web. 19 Mar 2012.

<http://www.anxietycentre.com/anxiety-symptoms.shtml?gclid=CI7a-8X1864CFeYbQgoduxd5KA>.

"National Institute of Mental Health."Anxiety Disorders.N.p., 02, 011,

2010. Web. 10 Mar 2012.

<http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/publications/anxiety-disorders/complete-index.shtml>.

Warner, Jennifer. "Web MD." Anxiety Often Missed in Elderly More Older

Adults Affected by Anxiety

Disorders Than Depression. N.p., May 22,2006. Web. 19 Mar 2012. <http://www.psychologyandwellbeing.org/pn/modules.php?name=News&file=article&sid=65>.

Healthier Changes

Okay, so the other day I blogged about my heart. This post was originally going to be that one, but I didn't want it to be too long, so I kind of split them into 2. Anyway, so this one is kind of a continuation of that one. A month or so ago, I had another cardiology appointment, the first one in like 2ish years. It went well, but I was told that there were still a lot of things I could be doing to keep my heart in better shape. Everything I do, I think about whether or not it is good for my heart, as cheesy as that sounds. I don't even know if cheesy is the word I'm looking for but oh well. Anyway, (I think I say that a lot, I guess that means I should stop straying from my topics) So lately my sisters and I have been going to the gym. Several months ago, my older sister started going to the gym, and since then she has lost a lot of weight, and gained a lot of self confidence. I'm so proud of her, and she is my inspiration to do the same things. So, recently I've been going to the gym and overall I'm hoping to get myself and my heart in better shape. I feel like I was given a second chance, because my life was saved, so I need to cherish it and take care of my body the best I can.
So as I said above, my whole inspiration is my sister, who has already done so much for herself. I feel like I'm starting a new journey, and as well as getting in better shape and losing weight, in the next month or so, I'll get my drivers permit. I'm really excited for the changes to come. My sister always says that you choose whether or not to be happy, and it's completely true. I hope that as I get older, I can be even somewhat like my sisters, they inspire me so much everyday, and I look up to them. Everyday, I look around, and I'm so appreciative of the life I have. I have a the best family who support me in everything I do, and try to steer me to the right way when I'm lost. I'm gonna be really sad when my sisters start moving out. I don't know what I"m gonna do without them, but they'll still be around, just not as much.
I am so excited to start this new "journey", as strange as that sounds. I think that it's going to help me become a healthier, happier, more confident person. I never used to like gym class, and so I never thought I would like going to the gym and working out, but it's completely different when it isn't forced, you do it at your time, speed, and place. Anyway, I'm excited for this new "chapter" in my life, and I think it's going to help me a lot in being even happier.

I'm Not Sure What To Call This...

Okay, I hope I get all the facts straight, but I'm not exactly positve about some of them, so sorry. When I was born, I had a heart defect called Pulmonary Stenosis. (As I was told about this) Pulmonary Stenosis, or in my case at least, is when you have a hole in your heart. Now, everyone has a hole in their heart when they're born, but as you grow up it closes. Mine didn't. Already my sister and I had broken medical records, before we were even born. Neither of us were supposed to live. My heart was failing from pumping all the blood, and she was suffering from malnutrition (or something like that). My mom was told by the doctors that only one of us could live, and that she should abort one of us. She refused. Instead, she researched for a while, trying to figure out ways to save us. Finally, she heard of an experimental laser surgery. I'm not exactly sure what the laser surgery did, but it worked. So right there is one way we had already broken a record. When I was born, I was taken to PCMC (Primary Childrens Medical Center). I had several problems going on, but the main one was my heart. One of my valves was too narrow, and I was in serious trouble. So, they had to preform a valvuloplasty. Basically, what that is, is they take a really little balloon thing, and they put it in your veins and they get it into the narrow valve in your heart, and they fill up the balloon so it will stretch the valve and make it bigger. I'm not exactly how young I was, but my mom would always tell me I was the youngest baby to have the procedure done. After all the complications, I got to go home. (I think it was like a month later, not sure though).
I grew up with a normal childhood, playing with barbies, fighting over them with my sisters, playing imaginary games. All the things little kids do now, except watch shows like Adventure Time.... That show is freaky... *Shudder*.  Anyway, so I grew up normal, except for the regular cardiology exams. Every year or so I would go in and they would run tests to make sure that my heart was doing ok. For a while it was. Around 2005ish I suddenly got really tired all the time, and really sick. I would get these horrible migranes, and I would never go outside to play with my sisters cause I would never feel up to it. My mom was getting really worried, so we scheduled an appointment with my cardiologist. All I really remember from that? A lot of tests.
Anyway, so basically they told me I would need to have surgery. Now, being a 8 year old kid and being told you need surgery. It kinda freaks you out. I never got too worried because my mom was always there teliing me that things would be fine, but still. It was kind of scary. So on February 2nd, 2006, I had my heart surgery. It was nothing too major it wasn't open heart surgery, but every surgery has it's risks. Anyway, so in the surgery, they took a device call an amplatzer, and brought it up to my heart through a vein in my leg. The device, once opened up, is kind of like a double ended umbrella, only much, much smaller (obviously). The surgery was sucessful, and after about 6 hours recovery time in the hospital I went home. After a week or two at home (during which, one day my teacher stopped by my house to bring me balloons and cards from the class, it was so sweet!), I got to go back to school, and life pretty much returned to normal, except that I was no longer constantly tired, I wasn't sick, and I didn't get migranes. Now, 5 years later and I'm still doing good. This blog post was originally supposed to be about changes I've been making in my life, but I think that would make it quite a bit long, so we'll save that for another day. I'm so grateful for everything I've been given in my life, and to all the people at PCMC for helping me, and other children.