My Life Story Thus Far Act 2: Mount Carmel Days [1991 - 1997]

So in Act 1, you learned about me in the beginnings of my life up until 1990 when things began to change for me and my life. Before I continue with Act 2, I need to add a few tidbits here from Act 1. First, after my first stepdad killed himself his mother pretty much kicked us out of the house that we lived in and blamed us for his death when that was not the case. Secondly, I was a fearless child back then since I was very approachable. Nowadays, I tend to keep up a guard since I have been burned a ton of times. Anyways let's continue with Act II...

So during the summer of 1990, my brother and I began to help my mom in sending stuff off to the apartment where my dad lived at, which was the house that his grandmother (my new great-grandmother) was the landlady. Anyways, I got to meet her one time while moving some clothes into the place and she was a lovely lady. At the time I knew a bit about her. All I knew was that she was my grandmother's mother and that she came from Italy. So she was a nice lady and as such we got to be a bit close. Towards the end of August, my brother, mom, and I had all the stuff out of my grandma's place and we began the trip to going to Melrose Park in the hopes of starting off in a brand new private school.

It was also during that summer that my mom found a new job out there and began to work at Good Samaritan Hospital in Downers Grove in the billing department. Anyways, let's talk about my first day of starting off in Our Lady of Mount Carmel. When my brother and I walked to school, my brother (who was still known as Danny), my mom and I decided to go to my classroom first to check it out and see how things go. I recall meeting my teacher at the time, Mrs. Cwick. She was a pretty cool teacher who I liked a lot. She was the first one to call me "Tony Baloney". Anyways, after getting used to my classroom, I waved goodbye to my brother and mom who went down to his classroom. Now this is what I heard from my mom about him so I could be a bit wrong. Anyways, when he got to his classroom for 1st grade, he broke into tears since he saw his desk with the name Leonardo Jimenez instead of Daniel or Danny. He broke into tears until his teacher (whose name I can't recall here) reminded him of Leonardo, the leader of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. After hearing that, he calmed down and that's how he got stuck being called Leo. Anyways, while being in the 3rd grade, I made some good friends and had some fun with my classmates but at the same time I felt a bit of a social outcast since I didn't exactly fit in with most of them. While that was true, I did manage to make a few friends in grade school who I got close to enough that I knew them very well. The first two that I recall are Mario Paliferro and Jennifer Gattis. Those 2 were the starts of my friends who I enjoyed hanging out with. Mario was cool since he was Italian and that his dad was a Stallone look-alike which was pretty awesome. As for Jenny, she was cool too since she lived near school and we got along great. After my brother and I got done with school, we would go home in which Ernesto Perez (one of the kids in my class who in 7th grade made fun of me) and his sister (who was done with school) would take us home and we would get in. I recall one time that we lost the key and we could not get into the apartment in October. We ended up waiting until our dad came home from helping new drivers to unlock the door. After that day, we kept an extra spare outside if in case that did happen again.

Back at home, I recall my family was bonding a bit more as time flew on by. We would do Sunday night dinners in front of the television in which we would sit in front of the TV watching WCW since that was the coolest show we saw. I recall during 1991-1993 going to the UIC Pavilion when they did live shows and pay-per-view events there. My brother always had the passion for Sting, Flying Brian, and Lex Luger whereas I loved the Steiner Brothers. It's funny to think of all of them since we still have the figures upstairs in the attic. I even recall how he got a dog for the family. Her name was Buffy Lady Blossom Fabiani. We didn't know about it then but soon we saw that she was trouble. I recall my brother rough-housing with her and she would snap at him or how she loved to chew in which she destroyed a few NES controllers, a TV remote, and countless shoes that my mom had. That next year, we ended moving yet again since my family got a new home further west from the apartment. It was there that we got into the house that we currently live in now. I recall that my brother and I got to share a room since we were still little and having our own separate rooms was not fair yet. So the spare bedroom ended up being a storage place and also a workout room with a treadmill and a bike machine. After a year passed between 4th and 5th grade, we added 2 more animals into the household: Toby (my brother's cat) and Busty (another dog).

It's funny about that since we got them both on the same day. Here's what happened. During the summer after my second cousin Aramis was born, there was a stray cat in the alley that gave birth to a litter. My brother fell in love with the runt of the litter and as such he asked my mom and dad if we could get her (we thought that Toby was a girl and as such we called him Tinkerbell). She caved and we headed to a pet store in Franklin Park in which we saw a cute Cocker Spaniel puppy there that we thought was cute since he (we thought that Busty was a boy since that's what the tag said) would help in getting Buffy pregnant and as such we can have a litter of puppies. My mom saw him and we got Buster Brown Fabiani into our household. Well, the next few weeks, we sent them both to the vet and that's where we learned that the genders were completely wrong. Tinkerbell was a boy in which my brother renamed him Toby and then Buster was really a girl so as such we renamed her Busty. Anyways, in the house it was a bit of a zoo. I recall with the cat that I was always the one who fed the cat and cleaned the litter whereas my brother would just play with him. It was about 2 years until we got the second cat in our house in which that cat became more mine. The story behind Socks was that her old owner was driving around trying to find a home for this kitten. So she saw my brother and I outside playing and asked us if we could take the cat since the cat was abused by the woman's husband. If she didn't find a home for the cat, then the cat was going to be kicked out of the house and be a stray. When my brother and I saw her, she looked yucky and a bit tarnished. Well, we got my dad outside to see the cat and he caved. From there, Socks became a part of our family.

There was a joke in our family that our house was known as David's Arc since he had 2 dogs, 2 cats, 2 birds, and an aquarium of fish. It was funny but yet we felt cool since we had a lot of animals in our house. There were times I recall that Toby would sleep on my brother's bed with Socks yet Socks after some time would move to my bed and curl up with me so that by morning, she would be there to wake me up.

Back to grade school, I did become an altar server in 4th grade which was fun since I got to go and help out in the church. I recall that I did the 8:30 am mass a lot since my mom thought it would be good to do that so we can have the afternoon to go and spend time with each other or go by my grandparents' place for dinner. After such time, I even got the chance to go do funerals during the day and as such I would get out of class to go do the service with the priests. They liked me and one other person a lot. We were honored to help them out in anyway possible.

It was during 1994-1995 in which my aunt and uncle who lived with my grandma decided to move to FL. They ended up moving down there and as such left my grandma in the apartment by herself. It was from then that we asked her to move in with us so that she can be with us. Grandma refused since she had her friends down in Chicago that she didn't want to leave behind. So as such during the summers until 8th grade was when my brother and I stayed with her and did whatever was needed. I recall one time that I helped out at St. Micheal's by being an altar server for the mass there one time.

While the years went on, I became a bit of a geek and as such I did get made fun of from them. While I don't recall a lot of the things between grades 3-5, but 6th and 7th grades were some of the brutal ones for me. Let's see what I can say from them. There were a few times in 6th grade that I had an accident (which I am embarrassed to say but it's the truth) and as such made some puddles which the kids mocked me for that. I was tortured for the most part and felt like I didn't belong at all. The worst was when I was considered by a lot of people to be uncool. I would break into tears and tattle which only made things worse for me. I recall how there were a few times in which my own brother would make fun of me. The worst was in 7th grade in which my brother did a practical joke on me. He used a red Crayola marker and marked my face. When I woke up, I was freaking out since I didn't know how it happened. My brother was giggling and kept dropping hints of me to wash my face but my mom and I ignored it. We decided to say that Socks (who had claws since Toby was declawed and neutered a few weeks after we got him) scratched my face. The worst was when Erick Cavada and Ernesto Perez decided to steal a few post-it notes from my teacher (Mrs. Levand), write "My cat whooped my ass", and place it on my back. I was laughed for the day in which I broke into tears. They apologized and I went on with the day in complete sadness. It was that night that my brother told me what he did. I wanted to kill him since he placed me through such hell. While I am reflecting on the bad times, I can say there were some good times too.

One of the good times that I recall here was in 6th grade. We ended up taking a field trip to go see "Julius Caesar" by Shakespeare after reading a few scenes in class. We were with other schools from the city and burbs from junior high and high school students enjoying the play. I recall that at the end of the play, there was a Q & A session in which a lot of the people were asking questions that were easy to answer. I recall that each question asked, the audience was laughing since the questions were a bit lame. After some time, I was called up to ask my question. I recall this so well since my classmates were amazed by me at that time. I asked "Why did Brutus have such a passion for killing Marc Anthony?". After I asked that question, no one laughed. They were impressed with my knowledge and as such the actors who played Brutus and Marc Anthony gave their interpretations as to why this was the case and why Shakespeare wrote in this style. I recall another time in which I had a fun time and impressed the people.

It was in 8th grade in which we had a show with the different classes and performed different songs. It was something that was optional to do. So I signed up along with a bunch of different people. For the song, we did "Greased Lightning" from Grease. My brother, who was supposed to take some good shots ended up taking the shots in which there were some problems. One of the pics that he took was that we had a random car made up and that fell apart somewhat. While that was not what I am referring to, it leads up to the part which I am talking about. If you have seen the movie, there is a part in which Danny and 2 guys on the side go forward and then jog backwards. Well, we had combs on the floor set so that with one part we could all slick up our hairs and be all cool. Well, I didn't expect the comb to be right in my path and I ended up slipping and landing on my right hand badly in which I sprained my wrist a bit (which my brother took a pic of that too). Anyways, I played it off ok and went on with the rest of the number and even with the final song of "We Go Together" as a final number for us, the graduating class of 1997. After the show, I began to complain a bit about the pain and they got me some ice for my wrist. My family and a lot of my classmates n their families asked if I was ok which I said yeah. It wasn't until I got into the car that I began to cry from the pain. While I didn't break anything, I was glad about that.

So I gave a bit about school, but you might be wondering why there is a tag of lactose intolerance. I plan to explain that here since it is a big part as to the end of grade school period. Anyways, here's what ended up happening. My family from Fall of 1995 up to recently kept noticing me take naps after eating, which is something not normal for me to do since they know I am a bundle of energy. We never really figured it out until I had to go the ER. It was in November of 1996 on a Monday night. I recall this so well since my family was watching Monday Night Nitro on TBS. My mom ordered pizza from the pizza place near our house. Well, I ate a ton of pizza and we began to watch the show. After about an hour, I felt bad in which my stomach was about to burst (didn't know but soon realized that it was gas that was building up in my stomach). I began to moan in pain and as such my family took me to the ER at Good Samaritan Hospital. It was there that they kept an eye on me for a bit. I was complaining about my stomach for awhile until midnight when I felt a bit better. I say a bit since they had to take blood from both arms after the first blood tests were bad because of the fact they missed the vein.

Anyways, we went home and saw the doctor to see what was wrong with me. I did the barium test and also a CAT scan. My mom and I saw an adult GI (gastrointestinal) doctor and he said that it was all in my head and I did it for attention. My mom didn't believe him since she knew that I hate needles. So after some time, she took me to a GI doctor that specialized with children after she heard from a co-worker that used him for her child. My mom thought what's the worst that can happen. We went in and he saw the test results and said that there had to be something else. So what he did was a test for a whole day. I first blew into a balloon to have a starting point. After that, he had me drink a cup of sugar in which the sugar was lactose. He then had me blow in another balloon and kept me doing that every half hour for 4 hours. Towards the end of the exam, my stomach was hurting in which I thought that it was hunger (partially true since I was hungry but also because of the lactose). I ended up going back to school to take my two tests that I missed that day and did well.

A few weeks later, the doctor told us that I was lactose intolerant. He said that I was one of the worst case scenarios since he had a chart. At the time I didn't understand the test but now I do and will have what was the test done at the bottom of this blog. Anyways, he said that a normal person with lactose intolerance would go off the scale in about 1.5 hours and back on after 3 hours. With me, I went of this scale in 1 hour. It gets better, trust me. Within 30 minutes, I was off the page in 1.5 hours. It wasn't until 3 hours after the test that I was finally back on the scale. I recall that it was a shocker since the med students that he had in the office at the time saw that chart and one of them said "Oh shit". I recall that so well. So after that, we had to plan lunches accordingly. So each day I would bring iced tea or fruit punch with me and give my milk to my brother. If there was a lunch that had cheese at all, I would give him that lunch and I would eat a sandwich. Of course, I was made fun of that since I looked like a weirdo not being able to eat that. Anyways, after that, I got used to it and managed for awhile (More of this to come in Act 3 since there's a bit more in high school times).

While school was one spot that I was mocked at for quite some time, there was another place that I did get made fun of with some of them. It was in Boy Scouts that I got mocked at. I was a Boy Scout here in which I had great times yet a few haunts from there, although it wasn't that bad since that ended early. The one thing that I recall being made fun of there was with one of the camping trips. We were setting up our sleeping bags and they called my spot the uncool spot. I cried and told the scoutmaster who scolded on the guys. They apologized yet gave me an evil look but towards the end of that trip, we got along ok and made peace. I would write more on this but I won't until Act 3.

So while during my 6 years of being in that school were not as bad as they seemed, I still felt a bit scarred from all that transpired. I felt hurt that I was never really able to fit in with the group of people. I tried to change but they still mocked me. So I guess that's why I hate rejection a lot here. It's because of the times that I felt rejected from them. That's why when I was going to start high school with new people again, I would change myself a bit so that I don't get hurt again. While that was the case that I was going to high school close to home, there was a part of me that wanted to go to the Catholic high schools since my friends were going there. While I haven't heard from any of my old friends, I have seen some of the ones who were classmates and a few seem to have changed in which I can now call them friends while some I don't know for sure but only time will tell.

That is all for me on this part here. I can't think of anything else to say for now about my times here. So I have summed up what I wanted to say for now. I shall post on my high school days in Act 3 from starting again in making new friends to becoming the person who became overly involved with school activities left and right.

So here's the information on the test that I took in order to find out how I became lactose intolerant. I got this info from Wikipedia. So hope you enjoy this.

A hydrogen breath test (or HBT) is used as a clinical medical diagnosis for people with irritable bowel syndrome, and common food intolerances. The test is simple, non-invasive, and is performed after a short period of fasting (typically 8-12 hours). Even though the test is normally known as a "Hydrogen Breath Test" some physicians may also test for methane in addition to hydrogen. Many studies have shown that some patients (approximately 35% or more) do not produce hydrogen but actually produce methane. Some patients produce a combination of the two gases. Other patients don't produce any gas, which are known as "Non-Responders"; some physicians believe that these individuals actually produce another gas which has not been determined yet. In addition to Hydrogen and Methane, some facilities also utilize Carbon Dioxide (CO2) in the patients' breath to determine if the breath samples that are being analyzed are not contaminated (either with room air or bronchial dead space air).

Lactose Malabsorption - the patient takes a base reading of hydrogen levels in his/her breath. The patient is then given a small amount of pure lactose (typically 20 to 25 g), and then required to take readings every 15, 30 or 60 minutes for two to three hours. If the level of hydrogen rises above 20 ppm (parts per million) over the lowest preceding value within the test period, the patient is typically diagnosed as a lactose malabsorber. If the patient produces methane then the parts per million for the methane typically rises 12 ppm over the lowest preceding value to be considered positive. If the patient produces both hydrogen and methane then the values are typically added together and the mean of the numbers is used to determine positive results, usually 15 ppm over the lowest preceding value.