On Saturday morning, Marcus got off work after not having slept much the night before. I was not feeling good. As you might remember from past entries, this is not necessarily a good combination. Fortunately, my stomach pain subsided relatively early in the day, and I was able to function well. We headed out for our fun weekend ahead. It began in Fife with a softball tournament for Marcus. It was single-elimination, and they lost in the first game. Normally, this would be very disappointing. But, it was okay this time because it meant that we got to go out to our next adventure on the ferry earlier than we'd thought!
Marcus and I got to have more fun adventures this weekend on Whidbey Island. We took the ferry over, and shared a house with some friends. There were lots of amazing conversations, really good farkel (the dice game) playing, and sunshine to enjoy. We sat by the campfire and made s'mores, talked about how to make the world a better place, contemplated the importance of Christian community, discussed how everyone else's life always looks way better than our own on facebook, and decided that we should go to Greece in the summer of 2011.
And that was just on Saturday!!
On Sunday, we slept in and then giggled after eating a delicious breakfast. We had an adventuresome romp on the beach, it was originally going to be a romantic walk on the beach, but we ended up doing nothing romantic, so we renamed it. We ended up finding sand dollars and spent time checking out mini crabs crawling under the water. We squished the sand between our toes in the surprisingly warm water, and looked at clams and fishies. Then we came back to the house and played corn hole. Although I did not win at corn hole, I still enjoyed myself immensely. After corn hole, we went to rent tandem bikes, thinking that riding a bicycle built for two would be the perfect way to end the weekend--but the bike shop was closed. So we went wine tasting instead. That was delicious and fun, and we found a giant chess board outside that Marcus and Tad played each other on.
All in all, it was a super fun weekend. I was puking the whole time, but it was so much fun that I didn't mind.
Monday, August 23, 2010
Friday, August 20, 2010
date day!! (rated R for language. sorry, its the true life version)
Date day was laughingly re-named "D-day" at Happy Hour this evening while I regailed my friend, Michelle, with my stories from yesterday. Please read the following post with a beer in your hand, or at least some kind of unhealthy snack in your lap--and feel free to laugh out loud. I did, right after I cleaned up. :)
Yesterday, I got up and went to YOGA because i was feeling so good! It's the first time since the fainting episodes that I've allowed myself to participate in any physical activities. My ankle and knee are doing better, and I thought I'd give class a shot, since it was Thursday, and the instructor is pretty chill for the Thursday class.
When I got home, it had just started raining (boo!), so Marcus asked me if I wanted to go see a movie. I excitedly said, "YES! Let's make it DATE DAY today!" So, I ran and changed my clothes, did my hair, primping properly for the festive day ahead. Marcus cleaned up the kitchen while I was getting ready, and then we left for the movie.
We went to see the movie, "The Other Guys." It was hilarious. It has Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg, which is funny to me in and of itself. Anyway, the movie was laugh out loud funny. I had a coupon for free popcorn (which was awesome) so we ate popcorn at the movie-- and then I threw up in the middle of some important part, but Marcus caught me up. Don't worry, that's not the funny part of the story. :)
So, then we went to Coho Cafe for some lunch/dinner because we had a gift certificate that we needed to use. Marcus ate calamari. I ordered a BBQ Chicken Quesadilla, ate half, and gave the rest to Marcus. He had a Tokyo Tea, and became a little intoxicated...which was really funny. Then we walked over to Fred Meyer, picked up some groceries so that we could bake some bread--and then headed home.
We made cinnamon chip bread from scratch when we got home, while we munched on fresh-picked blueberries that we picked on Wednesday and we watched Alias season 4 on DVD. This is when date day started to go downhill. First, the loaf of bread burned. (bummer)
The biggest problem, though, is that in the middle of Alias, I had to run to the bathroom to pee. I was literally in the middle of peeing when I began to projectile vomit across the green bathroom. At that same moment, in my mind the best remedy to the situation was to put my hand in front of the stream of vomit to "catch it". However, this merely redirected the puke immediately into my right eye. So now imagine, bright purple puke all over the green wall, the white floor, the clue bath mat, my clothes, dripping down my legs and arms, in my hair, on both my hands, and now in my eye. And I'm still peeing.
My eye is burning. I think that I'm yelling for Marcus to come in and help me.
Instead, I am just yelling, "SH*T! SH*T!" over and over again.
Eventually, Marcus comes running into the bathroom, sees the disaster and asks what he should do. Meanwhile, the stench of purple puke is rumenating and Marcus plugs his nose and backs out of the bathroom. "Do you want a towel?" he says from the hallway.
"Yah, I just want to get the puke out of my eye." Next, I accusatorially ask what took him so long to get into the bathroom.
He says, "You didn't ever call me, you just kept saying,'SH*T, SH*T'. I wasn't sure if you needed me."
This story is much funnier now that everything is all cleaned up. Here is a shameless plug for a cleaning product too: Grandma's Stain Remover. It's amazing. It's for your laundry and can get out BBQ quesadilla and blueberry stains from the same shirt all without bleaching your clothes. Amazing.
I hope the next date day ends a little more calmly. :) At least this one made for a good story, I guess. And I'm sure that bathroom wall needed a thorough cleaning anyway, right?
Yesterday, I got up and went to YOGA because i was feeling so good! It's the first time since the fainting episodes that I've allowed myself to participate in any physical activities. My ankle and knee are doing better, and I thought I'd give class a shot, since it was Thursday, and the instructor is pretty chill for the Thursday class.
When I got home, it had just started raining (boo!), so Marcus asked me if I wanted to go see a movie. I excitedly said, "YES! Let's make it DATE DAY today!" So, I ran and changed my clothes, did my hair, primping properly for the festive day ahead. Marcus cleaned up the kitchen while I was getting ready, and then we left for the movie.
We went to see the movie, "The Other Guys." It was hilarious. It has Will Ferrell and Mark Wahlberg, which is funny to me in and of itself. Anyway, the movie was laugh out loud funny. I had a coupon for free popcorn (which was awesome) so we ate popcorn at the movie-- and then I threw up in the middle of some important part, but Marcus caught me up. Don't worry, that's not the funny part of the story. :)
So, then we went to Coho Cafe for some lunch/dinner because we had a gift certificate that we needed to use. Marcus ate calamari. I ordered a BBQ Chicken Quesadilla, ate half, and gave the rest to Marcus. He had a Tokyo Tea, and became a little intoxicated...which was really funny. Then we walked over to Fred Meyer, picked up some groceries so that we could bake some bread--and then headed home.
We made cinnamon chip bread from scratch when we got home, while we munched on fresh-picked blueberries that we picked on Wednesday and we watched Alias season 4 on DVD. This is when date day started to go downhill. First, the loaf of bread burned. (bummer)
The biggest problem, though, is that in the middle of Alias, I had to run to the bathroom to pee. I was literally in the middle of peeing when I began to projectile vomit across the green bathroom. At that same moment, in my mind the best remedy to the situation was to put my hand in front of the stream of vomit to "catch it". However, this merely redirected the puke immediately into my right eye. So now imagine, bright purple puke all over the green wall, the white floor, the clue bath mat, my clothes, dripping down my legs and arms, in my hair, on both my hands, and now in my eye. And I'm still peeing.
My eye is burning. I think that I'm yelling for Marcus to come in and help me.
Instead, I am just yelling, "SH*T! SH*T!" over and over again.
Eventually, Marcus comes running into the bathroom, sees the disaster and asks what he should do. Meanwhile, the stench of purple puke is rumenating and Marcus plugs his nose and backs out of the bathroom. "Do you want a towel?" he says from the hallway.
"Yah, I just want to get the puke out of my eye." Next, I accusatorially ask what took him so long to get into the bathroom.
He says, "You didn't ever call me, you just kept saying,'SH*T, SH*T'. I wasn't sure if you needed me."
This story is much funnier now that everything is all cleaned up. Here is a shameless plug for a cleaning product too: Grandma's Stain Remover. It's amazing. It's for your laundry and can get out BBQ quesadilla and blueberry stains from the same shirt all without bleaching your clothes. Amazing.
I hope the next date day ends a little more calmly. :) At least this one made for a good story, I guess. And I'm sure that bathroom wall needed a thorough cleaning anyway, right?
Monday, August 16, 2010
wave after wave
When things are tough in Pukeville, it's easy to get discouraged. When I find myself rinsing my metal puke bowl out more times than I care to in a day, it's easy to get frustrated. Sometimes I can't even sit still long enough to make it through church. Yesterday was one of those days.
We made it up until the passing of the peace, and by then I had thrown up three times already. I didn't want to sit still anymore, and I certainly didn't want to talk to anyone. So Marcus and I slipped out the back. We did get to hear the sermon before we left, and it was good. It was a helpful reminder that "faith is what happens when ______." It's not necessarily when things are hunky dory, it's about how we respond when things are tough.
The sermon also stressed the important role that the church plays in supporting one another when we're too puny to walk on our own. Pr. John reminded us that we say the creed, (our statement of faith), together, aloud--and sometimes "for" eachother. I'm thankful for the times when I was able to say it for others, and I'm thankful for the times that people are supporting me with their faithfulness now.
When in the land of Pukeville, it seems like endless waves of destruction, fear, and they never seem to end. Marcus and I went to Los Cabos with some friends before I got super sick in 2007. While we were there, I was stuck in the surf, close to shore, but unable to get out; getting pelted with wave after wave. I couldn't get out of the water with my own strength. I was beaten, tossed about, thrown underwater, lost my bearings, and couldn't tell which way was up. I feel like that sometimes after I've been puking all day too. I lay there on the bathroom floor wondering if I've done something wrong, or I have not been trusting God enough with ____. I feel disoriented, discouraged, and not really knowing which way to turn.
Then, God always gives a little hope. Enough joy. A whisper of cheer. A gentle reminder to keep going...to keep trusting...that healing will come.
He calls to me, as He calls to you. Walk with me, this way, He says.
We made it up until the passing of the peace, and by then I had thrown up three times already. I didn't want to sit still anymore, and I certainly didn't want to talk to anyone. So Marcus and I slipped out the back. We did get to hear the sermon before we left, and it was good. It was a helpful reminder that "faith is what happens when ______." It's not necessarily when things are hunky dory, it's about how we respond when things are tough.
The sermon also stressed the important role that the church plays in supporting one another when we're too puny to walk on our own. Pr. John reminded us that we say the creed, (our statement of faith), together, aloud--and sometimes "for" eachother. I'm thankful for the times when I was able to say it for others, and I'm thankful for the times that people are supporting me with their faithfulness now.
When in the land of Pukeville, it seems like endless waves of destruction, fear, and they never seem to end. Marcus and I went to Los Cabos with some friends before I got super sick in 2007. While we were there, I was stuck in the surf, close to shore, but unable to get out; getting pelted with wave after wave. I couldn't get out of the water with my own strength. I was beaten, tossed about, thrown underwater, lost my bearings, and couldn't tell which way was up. I feel like that sometimes after I've been puking all day too. I lay there on the bathroom floor wondering if I've done something wrong, or I have not been trusting God enough with ____. I feel disoriented, discouraged, and not really knowing which way to turn.
Then, God always gives a little hope. Enough joy. A whisper of cheer. A gentle reminder to keep going...to keep trusting...that healing will come.
He calls to me, as He calls to you. Walk with me, this way, He says.
Saturday, August 14, 2010
freedom!
It seems that my medical issues have been worked out for now... the doctor's appointment went well on Monday of last week. All of my lab work looks good, even my pre-albumin which checks my nutritional levels were good. They ran an EKG to check my heart as well, and that was normal. The only thing that was borderline low was my thyroid function, but it wasn't low enough that the doctor wanted to do anything about it.
I had been on a couple of medications to dull nerve pain and make me hungry, one of which they believe to be the culprit of my fainting episodes. The doctor reduced my dose significantly on Monday, and then pulled me completely off the med when I was still a little dizzy on Wednesday. Friday I didn't have much of a problem at all, and today seems to be going well so far.
I'm looking forward to a good week of Seattle sunshine, and lots of time by the pool with fun friends! Hugs to all.
brelin
I had been on a couple of medications to dull nerve pain and make me hungry, one of which they believe to be the culprit of my fainting episodes. The doctor reduced my dose significantly on Monday, and then pulled me completely off the med when I was still a little dizzy on Wednesday. Friday I didn't have much of a problem at all, and today seems to be going well so far.
I'm looking forward to a good week of Seattle sunshine, and lots of time by the pool with fun friends! Hugs to all.
brelin
Saturday, August 7, 2010
beautiful disaster
The last few days, I should have stayed away from all sources of film and media as a general precaution. Here's why:
1. On Wednesday afternoon, I was whitewater rafting on the Deschutes River. We were tackling the Big Eddy Thriller for the 5-zillionth time in a row, this time all of posing for the photos that we knew they were taking--rather than paddling at the appropriate time. This caused my half of the boat to fly into the boat, pushing the other half of the boat almost out--and causing my bikini bottoms to fall somewhere down below their desired location on my hips. See picture below. The man with the hat is our guide. The guy in front of him is Marcus. I am underneath Marcus' legs with my pants down, but my foot still securely in place so as not to fall out of the boat.
Fortunately, when we received our family copy of the photos, the rafting company had edited out the parts where I was pulling up my pants. Note that in the picture below, we have all returned to our proper locations with paddles in hand. This clearly took a while.
2. The second media mishap of the week occurred when I was cheering for my nieces and nephews while they were playing tennis. Jim, my father-in-law, happened to be videotaping the whole thing, and thus caught the incident on camera. This one isn't quite as funny because it was a bit more serious, and the cause is still unknown--but it's still a little humourous that he got it on film. So, I'm the blue and white blob that runs up to the fence on the far right. I fainted for some reason, and sprained my ankle. I hurt my arm too. Marcus took me to the ER to make sure nothing was broken, and they gave me some fluids too. Here's the video:
3. The next day, I did some shopping with the girls in Bend, and I fainted again. This time, I fell into a clothes rack in a hipster little shop. It was really embarrassing (again). I rolled my same ankle, but fortunately didn't hit my head either time. I have an appointment to see my GI doctor on Monday, and suspect that I'll have a million tests to find out what's going on with my body chemistry--because clearly something is amiss.
4. The good news is that I'm really not feeling all that bad. I've been keeping fluids down well, and peeing--so it seems like I'm not really dehydrated. And I've even kept down some food the last couple of days...so I'm not really sure what's going on. I'm a little frustrated, and borderline discouraged because I can't be left alone, and I can't drive...and now I can't even really walk because my ankle is swollen and sore. Ugh. I just keep thinking that one day I'll wake up and this will all be over...
5. The even better news is that I am so loved. I am so blessed by family, and when I start feeling sorry for myself--I think about those who do not get to experience the love that I feel each day. I am shown God's love through my family and friends, through the giggles and play of my nieces and nephews--and through the tender care of my spouse. God has blessed me so abundantly, and has given me the strength to get through this nightmare of puking, fainting, and pain. He has given me the courage to battle through, and is now giving me the wisdom to know when I need to humble myself and ask for help.
I trust that all things are done is His time, and according to His plan--I just hope that His plan might include healing soon. I'd be a fan.
brelin
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)