Hi! My name is Shannon and I'm 13 and in the 8th grade. I'm going to high school next year, but I'm really not looking forward to it since I'll have to make new friends. The good news is that my BFF "Bean" [Jennifer] is going with me.
What else? Oh, I like Webkinz, karate, which I take with my friend Jimmy, American Girl dolls, and on the weekends I like to meet up with Jennifer and play Wii games.
I guess the other thing to know about me is that I have a condition called pulmonary hypertension or "PH" since I was six. I don't know how I got PH; no one really knows for sure. PH affects my heart and lungs and basically having it means I can't run, skip, jump, or go to gym class. Sometimes I get dizzy, feel really tired or have trouble breathing. At school, I have to take the elevator and not the stairs.
Other than that, having PH hasn't stopped me from doing a lot of things -- I'm an orange belt in karate and I have a big role in a Brothers Grimm play at school.
I want to do this blog to help other kids (like you) who have a disease and be like a counselor; give kids advice to get through it. I want you to feel there is someone to talk to. For me, I know I can talk to Jen when I am down. I have a lot of confidence, I think.I just want to give that confidence to other kids and say, "Hey, look at the pictures! Look at the videos, I do karate!" And if you get permission from your doctor you can do ANYTHING!
So now you know a little about me, tell me about you? Are you a kid like me? What do you like to do? Are you like me and have pulmonary hypertension (PH) or another medical condition? Do you want to know more about what's it like to be me? Let me know!
