When it Rains, it Pours

The weekend in Seattle was great, well as great as it could be. I noticed right away as soon as I was with family that things were getting better. I was so excited to see my family that it kind of cancelled out how overwhelmed I was with my Grandma's death. So pretty much all of Saturday and Sunday really wasn't that bad. I did not watch Conference like I wanted to though. There were a lot of distractions. So I definitely need to go back and rewatch basically every session to get out of it what I really need to.

The funeral was harder than I thought it would be. I thought after having a couple days of feeling pretty well that it wouldn't be that bad. The funeral was really a great one. Everyone had so many nice things to say about my Grandma, and it was such a great way to remember how incredible she was, and how close to Christ she was. But it was also just enough of a reminder that I have to live the rest of my life on earth without her, and it's going to be hard. I know I can live her example through me, but I so wish she was still here to keep sharing it. I'm going to miss her so much.

After Seattle I got home super early Tuesday morning. I skipped my first class and only went to my internship. I was able to do pretty well at catching up on sleep, and it was nice to only have the obligation to my internship for three hours out of the day. Then I was able to take a day to just kind of rest and recover.

At about 4:30 Wednesday morning, I woke up with the most horrible pain I've ever experienced. My right side was throbbing, and it would not go away. I tried going outside to get fresh air, I tried throwing up, I tried going to back to sleep to sleep it off, I tried walking around a little, but nothing was helping it at all. I've never been to the hospital before, so I kept going back and forth about if I really needed to go or not. I couldn't figure out if it was actually an emergency.

After about five hours of nonstop pain, I finally decided I need to go to the hospital. Except I didn't know how to get there! I called my Mom, who called my institute building, and my institute director picked up the phone. He called his wife, and then called me and told me his wife was in the shower, so he called my bishop's wife, Sister Cole, and she was on her way to come get me. I am so grateful sometimes for the church, and it's service, and the ability people have to perform service.

I had also called Rachel before I even called my Mom and asked if Josh could maybe take me to the hospital. She couldn't get a hold of Josh, but she decided to leave campus and come home to basically take care of me while I was dying. As soon as Sister Cole got there, she also decided to come with me to the hospital. I got there around 9:30, and got all checked in, and got my own room and everything. I even had one of those annoying gowns on. I felt like I was in a movie. Except I DID NOT look like a movie star. Sister Cole and Rachel stayed with me. I was so thankful they were both there. Sister Cole was my step in mom, and Rachel was like family too. The nurses and my doctor were all really nice too. I answered a lot of questions about what kind of pain it was. I got some morphine which was absolutely amazing! They ran all kinds of tests-urine test, blood test, etc. And later on they took me to do a cat scan.

Around 12, Sister Cole had to go to work. So she called the institute director's wife, Sister Richardson, to come take her place.

After all tests results came back, it was determined that I had a kidney stone. They took another urinary sample, this time through a catheter, because my urine sample from before had bacteria in it, so they wanted to make sure I didn't have a bladder infection. After that test came back clean, I was good to go home, about 3 hours later. I have four prescriptions-one for nausea, 2 pain killers, and one to help me pass the stone. Sister Richardson took me to Rite Aide to get those filled. While we waited for those to get done, she took Rachel and I to Winco where she bought me cranberry juice. She is the nicest person ever!

We went back and picked up my prescription, and then Sister Richardson took us back to our apartment. It was so nice to be out of the hospital, even though I really missed the morphine. But I got some other pretty awesome pain killers. So it worked out for the most part.

I was able to call my Mom, text everyone in my family to let them know what's going on, and text a few close friends who I knew would want to know. Then I tried to take a nap, but I kept thinking I was going to wake up with that pain again, and it really scared me. So I didn't sleep that well.

The pain is pretty much gone now. Mostly I'm just still feeling kind of nauseous. I haven't really eaten anything because nothing sounds good and I'm scared I'll throw it up again. But I have been drinking a lot of water and cranberry juice, so hopefully that helps.

Julie, James, and Erika also came over to see me. Which was really nice because I haven't seen them in a while, and it's always great to know I have some of the bestest friends close to me. Since my family couldn't be here, they were the next best thing. They brought me cookies, more cranberry juice, and some really pretty flowers. It made me feel like a princess. :)

Soo...needless to say, it's been a weird week. Very emotionally, spiritually, mentally, and physically draining. I never knew so much could happen to one person in such a short period of time. I'm starting to feel like Job! But, all in all, I'm so incredibly grateful for the Gospel in my life. I'm so glad I'm Mormon, and that I know the things I know. And that belonging to the church means I automatically get the service I need when I need it. :)

The last week has been the hardest of my life. But I still feel like I have a pretty good attitude about things. I'm not completely crushed. And I know I'm that way because of the Gospel in my life, and because of the people I surround myself with in my life.