As I write my first post on the last day of 2011, I reflect on this past year and how it changed my life.  It's been a wild ride of a journey!  Before I go into writing about 2011, you should first know a little about my childhood.  I was born with two small relatively minor birth defects, a hemangioma (a benign blood tumor) in the bottom of my right foot and a peri-auricular sinus near my ear.  When I was 10 years old, my right peri-auricular sinus became infected, so it had to be repaired at Emanuel Children's Hospital.  It was a quick fix, and thankfully, I haven't had any problems [...]