I really didn't plan much for Monday. I had some housekeeping tasks that I've putting off for way too long that needed to be shored up. I needed to finally make use of some of these apartment amenities and hit the gym. I needed to make various reservations at various places for upcoming events this week and later this summer. I needed to do laundry, etc. It wasn't looking up to be a real fun day. I also needed to get some gear for that Washington Nationals game we'd be going to the next day. Once I had finished all of the odds and ends for the day, I decided to bust out the ol' metro card and see if I could successfully navigate myself to the Nats stadium. I knew I had to switch "lines" at some point so I wanted to make sure I knew what I was doing. So, off I went to Ballston Metro, successfully boarded the Orange train to New Carollton and off I went. I was pretty anxious and tried to listen intently to the woman announcing the next stops. The problem being that the woman had a very heavy accent and I couldn't really understand a thing she said. Instead, I decided to just look out the windows intently as we were pulling into the next station to be sure I was getting off the train at the correct stop. I had to switch at L'Enfant plaza and after hearing this woman's heavy accent I knew I didn't stand a chance at understanding her pronunciation of that one! I tried to keep count of the stops but I get so distracted with watching people, and wondering what other people are thinking, that that quickly became an unviable option. Truthfully, I managed to switch trains with very little effort. I got momentarily turned around and almost panicked but I eventually figured it out. Once I got to the Navy Yard metro - where the stadium is, I quickly found my way out of the metro station and navigated myself to the Clubhouse store. There were so many options I quickly became overwhelmed! I basically grabbed the first tank top I saw and bought it. Then, I hopped on the train to head back to Ballston. The metro ride is about thirty minutes long which doesn't seem like much but it can get rather dull. I can see why so many people fall asleep on the metro, but how do they know when to wake up? This has been perplexing to me. I'm way too anxious to fall asleep on that thing, although it does have a nice lull to it. To me, it seems like a good time to get caught up on texts and Words with Friends but since my battery only lasts about five minutes before needing to be recharged I try to keep that to a minimum. I have a deep fear that I will get stuck in this city without any GPS or text capabilities. Can you imagine? I'd have to...like...ask some stranger for directions or something? NO THANK YOU! :o)
There's not a whole lot of noteworthy stuff that happened. The fitness center was crawling with dudes which quickly reminded me why I love my gym so much back home. Gender separate workout spaces, baby! And, other than that, there's not much. Oh, stay to the right on the escalators, the left is for people to walk by you. You might need to know that someday.
Looking forward to the Nationals game tomorrow!
Wednesday, July 9, 2014
Day 5: Adventures in Decorating
Sunday arrived and it was the day I had long been waiting for! Today was the day that we were going to devote our entire day to finding decor items for the apartment. Tom did a great job in getting the basics down before I arrived, but now this place needed a little woman's touch. I had decided I wanted orange things in the kitchen, and teal and white in the bathroom. I couldn't even think about the bedroom just yet, but I wanted to keep my eyes open in case something grabbed me. So, off we went to HomeGoods, one of my favorite decorating places. Tom grabbed a cart as we arrived, and I quickly reached for a beautiful white ceramic vase, thinking surely I could find some use for this in the bathroom. I hold the piece up to Tom as if to ask him what he thinks. He responds, "So, what is the use for that?" Oh my.....this was going to be a long day.
I perused the store for much longer than I probably needed to without really finding anything that I loved, at least for the right price. I had easily forgotten how expensive it is to set up a room! After HomeGoods we went next door to World Market. There weren't many good sales in there, either, so we decided we should probably head to Wal-Mart and Target and start there. Tom was uber-patient and assured me that we could always come back. We had better luck at Wal Mart and Target. We were able to secure simple night stands, towels, etc at these places. Still, I could not find any dishes that I liked. As we were leaving Wal Mart, we passed a display of plastic cups. Wouldn't you know it? Orange cups! Tom thought we had just hit the jackpot. "See? Orange! These will be perfect!" Oy......
Somehow we decided to start looking for lamps at Target. There is no light in the bedroom so a lamp would be very beneficial. Tom did a lovely job on picking out the lamp for the bedroom. I loved it, he loved it, so we bought it. Win-win! However, before we left, Tom thought he'd be funny by bringing out a Captain America lamp and asking if that would work for the bedroom. I just stared at him. "Are you serious?" I asked. He chuckled, and said, "Well, if I don't ask then the answer is an automatic no. It was worth a shot. May as well try....why not??" "Well, because you're not five," I plainly responded. He laughed and put it back in the aisle. But, first....a picture.
Then, we went back to HomeGoods. Yes, this day seemed to be going on and on forever. It takes forever to get anywhere here in a car, it seems. It's not as simple as it is in Oregon. Obviously, there is much more traffic and things are spread out way more. By the time we returned to HomeGoods they no longer had the piece I had wanted previously, and this started the royal meltdown of July 2014. At this point, those of you who have been shopping with me will just laugh. For those of you who haven't been shopping with me, be thankful. It doesn't seem to matter what kind of shopping I'm doing, by the end of it, I will be in tears. I have traumatized many with my methods, and many no longer will shop with me because of it. This may have been Tom's first exposure to such a disastrous fit. I'll be the first to admit it is not a pleasant state. He handled it like a champ, as always. He tried to fix it the best he could. But, the thing is, when I get in that state of mind there is no fixing it. Nothing can be done. The game is over. In his attempt to appease me, he hustled me over to Bed Bath and Beyond, only to realize it had just closed. This sent me into a rapid downward spiral. My worries became overwhelming. We weren't going to be able to get the apartment completed, we hadn't gotten enough accomplished during the day, we were never going to be able to get everything done, and on and on and on. Tom listened patiently, then put me in the car, and whisked us away to get something to eat. Of course, I insisted I didn't want anything to eat. And, I didn't really. I just wanted to go to bed and not deal with any of this anymore. However, I knew he would probably get me something and expect me to eat it later. He stopped at our favorite Middle Eastern place and got a couple of sandwiches and brought me home. We hauled everything upstairs and then I laid down on the bed. Tom came in to talk to me because I was worrying him so. I expressed my strong dislike of being back here, and that after today, I knew I could never live here and that I had hoped I'd come out here and see that it wasn't so bad and that I could live out here, but today made me think that I couldn't. In only the way Tom can do, he reassured me he didn't want me to move out here because he knows I would hate it, and he explained that finding the perfect things for this apartment wasn't a priority because this wasn't our forever home. He commiserated with me until I felt better. Then, I was ready to eat. We sat and had our sandwiches and then got to work on putting the house together. It felt so much better to actually be doing it. This allowed me to see what more needs to be done and what had been accomplished. In the end, I think things came together pretty nicely.
Bathroom Before:
Bedroom Before:
Bedroom After...
The kitchen and living area spaces are still being beautified and constructed. Stay tuned!
I perused the store for much longer than I probably needed to without really finding anything that I loved, at least for the right price. I had easily forgotten how expensive it is to set up a room! After HomeGoods we went next door to World Market. There weren't many good sales in there, either, so we decided we should probably head to Wal-Mart and Target and start there. Tom was uber-patient and assured me that we could always come back. We had better luck at Wal Mart and Target. We were able to secure simple night stands, towels, etc at these places. Still, I could not find any dishes that I liked. As we were leaving Wal Mart, we passed a display of plastic cups. Wouldn't you know it? Orange cups! Tom thought we had just hit the jackpot. "See? Orange! These will be perfect!" Oy......
Bathroom Before:
Bathroom After....
Bedroom After...
Day 4: Tom's Day of Birth
On Saturday, we had official plans with Tom's friends in Maryland. First, we would stop by and see his friend Caleb, his wife Vassi, and their three littles. Our day ended up getting a much later start than either of us had hoped. It turned out I barely slept a wink on Friday night, after the fireworks, and Tom let me sleep in REALLY late on Saturday. We finally got on the road around 1. Of course, by this time, I was a disaster because I was so hungry from sleeping late and not getting anything to eat when I awoke. Tom saved the day, once again! I tell ya....the man knows what to do for me. He could tell by my ridiculously awful mood that we needed to eat prior to getting to Caleb and Vassi's. My concern was that I knew there would be food at Caleb and Vassi's and shortly after going to their house we were to go to dinner with his other friends Joanne and Boyd. I was not particularly pleased with eating all of my meals in a 4 hour time period, even though my father has spent a great portion of his life trying to get me to eat this way! One would think I'd be programmed to eat that much in such a short period. So, Tom quickly pulled into a Chic Fil A (sp?) and introduced me to the beauty of this fast food chain. Now, I don't want to get into any weird political conversation about what Chic Fil A believes and what they don't believe. From what I understand, they don't support gay marriage. Here's the catch though...none of their sandwiches, and I mean, NONE, come with mayonnaise. Have you any idea how happy this makes me? This was a big deal, and I took advantage of it!
And, as much as my father dislikes chicken, I think he could even tolerate this place...
And, as much as my father dislikes chicken, I think he could even tolerate this place...
Now, with full bellies we were ready to head to Caleb's house. Caleb and Vassi live in this beautiful home that's somehow nestled up in these beautiful trees. The view from their back deck is pretty awesome. It's quiet and peaceful, save for the three little they have running around. The eldest Airis, who is maybe a first grader, is quite the comedian. He was very friendly towards me and introduced himself right away. This wasn't too surprising seeing as how his parents are quite possibly the kindest, warmest, most inviting people you'll ever meet. From the minute we arrived, they were offering up drinks, food, and conversation like it was nobody's business. I capitalized on the interesting version of an Old Fashioned that Caleb fixed up for me. It was quite tasty! But, it was also very strong for that time of day! We munched on some snacks with them, and soon the younger two were up from their afternoon naps. The middle child, Teddy, is pretty much cute as a button. She loves her some Tom! Then, there is Xander who just wanted to snuggle up with his daddy after he woke up. At some point, in the afternoon, the conversation turned to various foods, and being in Maryland we began discussing crab. Vassi, who is from Maryland, from what I understand, was talking about her love for crab, as well as Caleb's. Vassi comes from a very large Greek family and apparently they all love crab, as well. Airis, however, was quite clear that he is NOT a fan of crab. Tom teasingly reminded him, though, that he is from a long line of crab-lovers, not to mention being from Maryland! Without missing a beat, Airis says back to Tom, "Well....I was born in Hawaii, don't get too crazy!" I was dying. Thus, "don't get too crazy," has since become a bit of an inside joke with me and Tom.
After we were done eating, and drinking, Caleb and Vassi out of their home, we ventured up the hill about a quarter mile to his friend Joanne's house. Joanne and Tom have a very close relationship and I knew it would be important to Tom for Joanne to approve of me. Though, I'm not quite sure what he would do if she did not approve! :o) Joanne, and her husband Boyd, have one son, Zach. He is quite the cutie and he loves his Thomas. That's what he gets to call Tom. And, Tom is HIS Thomas! Naturally, when I arrived with Tom, I wasn't super popular with Zach. But, by the end of the day, I'd say he was pretty fond of me. I tend to have that effect on children. We played for a while in the basement, which is essentially a place for all of Zach's toys. Thomas was quite entertaining. I could easily see why the kid would love him!
After we played, and worked up an appetite...just kidding, I was still SO full from lunch...we left for dinner. Boyd, who is apparently from the south, had found this BBQ place that they really wanted us to try. Who doesn't love BBQ? I was excited for this dinner! The place is called Mission BBQ and it was awesome. First of all, it's decorated with a bunch of military and service personnel memorabilia. The restaurant is devoted to reminding us of America's heroes. They opened ten years after 9/11 and continually put on charity events for the Wounded Warrior Project, etc. I was certainly impressed with this idea, and the food was darn good, too!
One of the sayings I particularly liked...
After dinner, we joined Joanne, Boyd and Zach for an evening swim at the pool club they belong to. It was cooling down, but the water wasn't too cold. We played mostly in the kiddie pool with Zachie, but Tom did manage to get into the deep end when Zach demanded, "Thomas go on diving board!"
After the swimming session, Joanne and Boyd invited us along for ice cream at a place called Friendly's. I should have taken a picture of Friendly's because I don't really know how to explain it. I can tell you it was the biggest ice cream treat I have ever seen. I was so incredibly full by this time of the night, I was sure a food coma was coming on. I could not believe how much we had eaten in the past few hours. It was basically ridiculous.
All in all, I think Sir Thomas had a very good birthday, with good friends, good good, and good times! Another year older, wiser, and better looking, I say!
Tuesday, July 8, 2014
Day 3: Knives Are Not Allowed, Neither is Sauce
Finally, Independence Day! When planning my trip, this was one of the things I was most looking forward to. I love the fourth and I was greatly looking forward to seeing how our nation's capital celebrates the big day. Tom was humoring me in this endeavor. He was concerned about the heat and the crowds, etc. I was so thankful, though, that he was willing to entertain this one idea of mine. I had done some researched, and contacted friends, who live in the area asking for tips and tricks to making a successful day. Water seemed to be the number one priority, so we packed a ton of water, a blanket, and a couple of sandwiches from the deli downstairs. It was time to go. This was also my first time on the metro. Tom navigated us down to the Federal Triangle metro station. Here, we got off and began walking...and walking...and walking...
After visiting the White House, we stopped on some lawns for a picnic lunch. Tom ate his sandwich and I snacked. I had watched the very nice man downstairs make my lunch and he committed a very big crime. Sauce. I am just not into sauces. So, when I was ordering I looked through the pictures and saw a chicken wrap. The ingredients listed were: lettuce, tomato, onion and mayo. Okay, I'll have this sandwich with no mayo. Next thing, I know, he is putting thousand island and American cheese on my wrap. Whoa, whoa, whoa, cowboy. That is not what I ordered. So anyway, I basically knew I would not be able to eat my wrap. Tom did a good job at salvaging some of it. It wasn't a big deal, it just meant that I had to spend more money on buying food that day then I would have otherwise. Oh well.
Next up, was trying to get into the chained off portion of the lawns for where they would be shooting off the fireworks. As we waited in line, we noticed a sign that listed off all prohibited items. Knives were on the list, and, of course, Tom had his knife. We deliberated what to do, and Tom decided to go up to one line, and simply state to the bag-check officer that he had a knife, show it to him, and see what he said. The guy said, "No. No knives. You can watch over there." So, essentially it was okay to have a knife on one lawn but not on the other. Tom asked me if it would be a big deal to watch the fireworks from the other lawn, and I agreed that it would not, but that I had really hoped we would be a lot closer. Tom, being the amazing man that he is, was like okay, plan B, now that I know how their searches work, I will just put it deep down in my bag, and they'll never find it. They're not even checking bags that thoroughly. Of course, as Tom is going through, they start questioning him about why his bag is so heavy and he points out that we've got about a gallon of water in there, and then they start rummaging. And, I mean, seriously rummaging. They tore that bag apart, and yes, they found the knife. Just prior to finding the knife, the officer asked Tom is he was military. Tom said, "Former." So, when they found the knife they had to deliberate back and forth about whether or not he could come in. Finally, they said, "Are you going to stab anyone?" Tom said, "Of course not." They said, "Good, or we'll have to shoot you." And, that was that. We were in!
In addition to the White House, we saw the Vietnam and Korean memorials, the WWII memorial, the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial and finally set up camp at the reflecting pool. I had seen several of the monuments before. But, I had not seen them before with Tom. He loves him some American history. So, it was a very fun experience to get to be with him on this day.
Once we had visited all the sites we wanted to see, we setup camp near the reflecting pool, as we knew the fireworks would be launched over the pool. Now, we got to wait for five hours until the show began. During this time, Tom was able to read the entire Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and it's amendments. I spent a vast majority of time in line for my dinner. Tom still had sandwiches from the picnic in the morning, so I went to find some sort of food. By the time I returned, ate some dinner with Tom, and found a bathroom, it was time for the show to start. The bathroom trip took slightly longer than expected because it turns out I ended up having to keep track of a small Indian child. I got in line behind a man and his young son. The man did not speak English very well, but I could see he was confused because several men kept passing our line and coming out before our line had even moved. He finally asked me if I could watch his son so he could see if there was a line for the men's room inside the building. I said that was fine. Of course, the minute the man was out of sight, the boy looked up at me, and was apparently terrified and tried to book it out of line! AGH! So, there I was snapping my fingers, and calling for this boy to come back. I didn't want to lose my place in line, but I couldn't lose this man's kid, either! Luckily, a few people behind me a woman had seen what was going on, and grabbed the little boy and said, "No. You go. Stand with the lady. You no run away. Your dad will be right back." So, he returned to his place in line. Later, as the line progressed, this same man came rushing out of the men's room and heads straight for me, "Have you see my son? I cannot find him." Uhhhh...no, I returned him to you. I did see them later after I had used the restroom, and he was telling his son, "You cannot go running. That scare me!" Very interesting indeed.
By the time, I was able to make my way through the crowds and get back to our camp, the fireworks were ready to begin. It was just as spectacular as I had imagined. Sure, they only lasted 17 minutes, but it was 17 minutes of finale! One after the other, explosions in the sky! We were so close that I could feel the big "boom!" sound of the firework reverberate in my chest. It was awesome. We were right under the fireworks. I don't think I will ever see a better show than that!
Lastly, I have to steal something from Tom's Facebook page. I just thought it was too good not to share. But, these were some of his thoughts, reflecting on Independence Day, and more!
"On Friday, I joined Lady Jaye and a few thousand of my best friends to celebrate our nation's Independence Day. I'm a Republican with nothing nice to say about Barack Obama, and I'm sure there were plenty of folks there who voted twice for Barack Obama and have nothing nice to say about George W. Bush. Statistically speaking, about twenty people in the massive crowd of which we were a part have anything nice to say about Congress. It impressed me that, at least for a few hours, we all put our differences, fatigue, and frustrations aside to join together for such a fun event.
Today, I was listening to a podcast of the Michael Medved show from last Thursday, which I'd missed because I hadn't been in a position to listen on Friday or over the weekend as I normally would have. Medved did an hour on patriotic songs, to include taking calls about memorable Star Spangled Banner performances. Someone called in to recount an event I'd never heard about in my home state of Oregon, during a game between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Portland TrailBlazers. The story and the audio of this event nearly brought tears to my eyes while I was sitting at my desk. When a teenage girl faltered on the lyrics, Oklahoma City assistant coach Maurice Cheeks came to her aid, and by the end of the song the entire arena had joined in to sing together. I encourage you to Google "mo cheeks national anthem" and read the story for yourselves.
We as a country have a lot of problems, as we always have and always will. We disagree on the best way to solve those problems, and we must unfortunately send our imperfect peers to fifty state capitals and one national capital to try to solve those problems. Things often go awry. I think it's important, during this time of year, to remember that what goes on in those capitals isn't America. Events like the one in this video are America; the workings of the wheels and cogs in those fifty-one capitals are merely those machinations, those necessary evils, which must take place in order for the real America to take place every day. It's what some of us make great sacrifices for. Though we may get frustrated with one another, and disagree on substantive issues for substantive reasons, I hope you'll all take a moment to watch this video and remember with me that we're all in this together, and that we should strive to act like it."Mo Cheeks - Leadership In Action
P.S. The answer to yesterday's trivia question: BLONDE (You thought I forgot didn't you!)
After visiting the White House, we stopped on some lawns for a picnic lunch. Tom ate his sandwich and I snacked. I had watched the very nice man downstairs make my lunch and he committed a very big crime. Sauce. I am just not into sauces. So, when I was ordering I looked through the pictures and saw a chicken wrap. The ingredients listed were: lettuce, tomato, onion and mayo. Okay, I'll have this sandwich with no mayo. Next thing, I know, he is putting thousand island and American cheese on my wrap. Whoa, whoa, whoa, cowboy. That is not what I ordered. So anyway, I basically knew I would not be able to eat my wrap. Tom did a good job at salvaging some of it. It wasn't a big deal, it just meant that I had to spend more money on buying food that day then I would have otherwise. Oh well.
Next up, was trying to get into the chained off portion of the lawns for where they would be shooting off the fireworks. As we waited in line, we noticed a sign that listed off all prohibited items. Knives were on the list, and, of course, Tom had his knife. We deliberated what to do, and Tom decided to go up to one line, and simply state to the bag-check officer that he had a knife, show it to him, and see what he said. The guy said, "No. No knives. You can watch over there." So, essentially it was okay to have a knife on one lawn but not on the other. Tom asked me if it would be a big deal to watch the fireworks from the other lawn, and I agreed that it would not, but that I had really hoped we would be a lot closer. Tom, being the amazing man that he is, was like okay, plan B, now that I know how their searches work, I will just put it deep down in my bag, and they'll never find it. They're not even checking bags that thoroughly. Of course, as Tom is going through, they start questioning him about why his bag is so heavy and he points out that we've got about a gallon of water in there, and then they start rummaging. And, I mean, seriously rummaging. They tore that bag apart, and yes, they found the knife. Just prior to finding the knife, the officer asked Tom is he was military. Tom said, "Former." So, when they found the knife they had to deliberate back and forth about whether or not he could come in. Finally, they said, "Are you going to stab anyone?" Tom said, "Of course not." They said, "Good, or we'll have to shoot you." And, that was that. We were in!
In addition to the White House, we saw the Vietnam and Korean memorials, the WWII memorial, the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial and finally set up camp at the reflecting pool. I had seen several of the monuments before. But, I had not seen them before with Tom. He loves him some American history. So, it was a very fun experience to get to be with him on this day.
By the time, I was able to make my way through the crowds and get back to our camp, the fireworks were ready to begin. It was just as spectacular as I had imagined. Sure, they only lasted 17 minutes, but it was 17 minutes of finale! One after the other, explosions in the sky! We were so close that I could feel the big "boom!" sound of the firework reverberate in my chest. It was awesome. We were right under the fireworks. I don't think I will ever see a better show than that!
Lastly, I have to steal something from Tom's Facebook page. I just thought it was too good not to share. But, these were some of his thoughts, reflecting on Independence Day, and more!
"On Friday, I joined Lady Jaye and a few thousand of my best friends to celebrate our nation's Independence Day. I'm a Republican with nothing nice to say about Barack Obama, and I'm sure there were plenty of folks there who voted twice for Barack Obama and have nothing nice to say about George W. Bush. Statistically speaking, about twenty people in the massive crowd of which we were a part have anything nice to say about Congress. It impressed me that, at least for a few hours, we all put our differences, fatigue, and frustrations aside to join together for such a fun event.
Today, I was listening to a podcast of the Michael Medved show from last Thursday, which I'd missed because I hadn't been in a position to listen on Friday or over the weekend as I normally would have. Medved did an hour on patriotic songs, to include taking calls about memorable Star Spangled Banner performances. Someone called in to recount an event I'd never heard about in my home state of Oregon, during a game between the Oklahoma City Thunder and the Portland TrailBlazers. The story and the audio of this event nearly brought tears to my eyes while I was sitting at my desk. When a teenage girl faltered on the lyrics, Oklahoma City assistant coach Maurice Cheeks came to her aid, and by the end of the song the entire arena had joined in to sing together. I encourage you to Google "mo cheeks national anthem" and read the story for yourselves.
We as a country have a lot of problems, as we always have and always will. We disagree on the best way to solve those problems, and we must unfortunately send our imperfect peers to fifty state capitals and one national capital to try to solve those problems. Things often go awry. I think it's important, during this time of year, to remember that what goes on in those capitals isn't America. Events like the one in this video are America; the workings of the wheels and cogs in those fifty-one capitals are merely those machinations, those necessary evils, which must take place in order for the real America to take place every day. It's what some of us make great sacrifices for. Though we may get frustrated with one another, and disagree on substantive issues for substantive reasons, I hope you'll all take a moment to watch this video and remember with me that we're all in this together, and that we should strive to act like it."Mo Cheeks - Leadership In Action
P.S. The answer to yesterday's trivia question: BLONDE (You thought I forgot didn't you!)
Day 2: Wherein Judy Learns About Traffic
Thursday came and it was my first full day in the city. Two blocks from Tom's apartment is the Ballston Mall, so I figured I could navigate myself that far, at least. I had a few things I felt like I needed to look for so I headed out to check out the mall. Let's just say the mall may not be there for too much longer. I went into Bath and Body Works to pick up some soaps for the house, and literally everything was on sale. I have never went into a bath and body shop where every single things was on sale. All soaps, lotions, etc, were $3. It was a very strange experience. Had my friend Erin been there she probably would have bought out the store. I showed some restraint and picked out the three things that I had come for and left to seek out Nationals gear. I knew Tom and I would be going to a Nationals game in coming days so I figured that I should get us some gear for the game. The mall has two sporting goods stores and neither of them carried any Nationals gear. So, I finally asked this guy that was working at a phone kiosk..."Hey, I know you're not guest services or anything, but I'm from out of town and looking to buy some Nationals gear. Where do they sell that stuff?" He looked at me like I had ten heads. "Nationals? You mean hockey?" Now, this was really confusing me. "No....like the baseball team? The Washington Nationals?" Still, he's got nothing. Finally, he says, "I don't know about that. Maybe Dick's sporting goods but it's way down on Columbia Pike. You have to take a taxi." This did not seem like a viable option. I hate taxis. So, I found a bench to sit on and tried to do some research on Nationals gear. I came up a empty-handed and remembered that Tom needed to get me a copy of keys made. I had his set of keys, so I figured the best use of my time would be to find a locksmith and see if they could duplicate the keys. The nearest place I found was a twenty minute walk away. That's no big deal so off I went. Now, because I had/have no clue where I'm going, I constantly have my GPS going. I had plugged in the address into my Google maps and covertly kept checking my screen. I didn't want it to be obvious I didn't know what I was doing, so I like to try to make it seem like I'm checking my texts. This proved to be a fair strategy until I got to the corner and had to wait to cross the road. Here I am standing in a gaggle of people, all clearly versed in knowing where they are going. I know they know where they are going because they walk exceptionally close to you. If I'm not walking the desired speed of someone behind me, they will literally be up on my heels until I go faster, or move to get out of their way. Days later, I heard people talking about this in line behind me. The phenomenon of being too close to people "creates a sense of urgency." Ideally, making people move faster. I'm not sure that's the case. Generally, it just makes me angry and I attribute these factors to east coast people. So there. Anyway, as I am standing in this mass of people, my GPS sounds, "Go straight, then turn right on Fairfax Avenue." For the shame! It's not like my GPS was turned down. Nope, that baby was cranked all the way up. So, now I have these people rolling their eyes at me. I almost ditched the effort entirely and headed back home. But, no, I told myself, I had to accomplish at least this one thing! I continued on and finally got to the key shop. It took them about two minutes to make the keys and then I was ready to begin the twenty minute commute back via my Lamborfeeties.
I was to meet Tom at the metro station as he got home from work so that we could walk home together and I could figure out where the metro station was. I called my mom on my way back to the metro station and noticed the winds had picked up quite a bit...and the clouds. The clouds were dark and ominous. Just as I got to the metro station, I saw the stands at the Farmer's Market begin to blow away. I thought, this is not going to be good. But, there is a cafe at the metro so I ducked in there. Just as soon as I got in, it began to pour. I mean, POUR rain. We see a lot of rain in Oregon, but this was a down pour. People were drenched outside. By the time, Tom got there it had lightened up a bit so the walk home was not too wet. We had to rush to get re-ready so we could get on the road. Afterall, tonight we had promised some of Tom's friends that we'd meet them for trivia in Maryland. The drive is about 45 minutes, or maybe an hour. We wager it's close to the drive between Eugene and Albany. However, the night before the fourth, and apparently everyone was escaping the city. On top of that the huge rains had brought standing water to two lanes of traffic on the road which we needed to travel. It took us about an hour to go five miles. In total, I think it was about three hours to Maryland. We missed most of trivia, but still managed to win! It was also my first time meeting his friends, Joanne, Boyd and their son Zach and his friend Caleb. All in all, it was a good night and very nice to finally meet everyone he's been talking about!
Game winning trivia question: "Which color of hair has the most hair follicles, generally speaking?"
You'll have to read the next blog post for the answer!
I was to meet Tom at the metro station as he got home from work so that we could walk home together and I could figure out where the metro station was. I called my mom on my way back to the metro station and noticed the winds had picked up quite a bit...and the clouds. The clouds were dark and ominous. Just as I got to the metro station, I saw the stands at the Farmer's Market begin to blow away. I thought, this is not going to be good. But, there is a cafe at the metro so I ducked in there. Just as soon as I got in, it began to pour. I mean, POUR rain. We see a lot of rain in Oregon, but this was a down pour. People were drenched outside. By the time, Tom got there it had lightened up a bit so the walk home was not too wet. We had to rush to get re-ready so we could get on the road. Afterall, tonight we had promised some of Tom's friends that we'd meet them for trivia in Maryland. The drive is about 45 minutes, or maybe an hour. We wager it's close to the drive between Eugene and Albany. However, the night before the fourth, and apparently everyone was escaping the city. On top of that the huge rains had brought standing water to two lanes of traffic on the road which we needed to travel. It took us about an hour to go five miles. In total, I think it was about three hours to Maryland. We missed most of trivia, but still managed to win! It was also my first time meeting his friends, Joanne, Boyd and their son Zach and his friend Caleb. All in all, it was a good night and very nice to finally meet everyone he's been talking about!
Game winning trivia question: "Which color of hair has the most hair follicles, generally speaking?"
You'll have to read the next blog post for the answer!
Day 1 and Done!
First of all, it feels so good to write! I don't make time enough to give myself the availability to spend some time writing, and sometimes I just straight up suffer from the annoying thing known as "writer's block." It is real and sometimes it's a real pain to deal with. In that case, I avoid writing at all costs. However, since it's the season of summer, I find myself having slightly more time than I do in the school year. Now, it's just a matter of prioritizing writing over other things, like, say, sleeping. That was my battle this morning.
Second of all, tomorrow will mark the one week mark since I have been in the DC area. Technically, I'm in Arlington staying with my boyfriend. If you haven't been Facebook stalking me, which you should have been, then you might not know that a.) I have a boyfriend and b.) he's taken a job in Arlington for the time being. When he was in Oregon, we knew he wouldn't be there for long. Actually, I got to have him in Oregon for far longer than either of us thought he would be able to stay there. He didn't think he'd be there much more than a month, but we ended up getting to spend time together for five whole months, instead. So, there are some silver linings. Additionally, I have been questioned about the long distance feature of this relationship. Some who know me well will know that long distance has never bothered me per se. The trust issues are what bother me. However, with Tom I do not have the same clingy, trust nonsense like I have in the past. I don't need to. His actions prove to me that there is no need for that kind of fear and distrust in our relationship. Besides, my options were Arlington or Afghanistan. I think I made a smart choice in saying Arlington!
So, here I am. In Arlington. I flew out here last Wednesday way too early in the morning. While I was making my travel arrangements, I thought, oh sure, a 6:05 a.m. flight won't be bad! That gets me to Arlington at 2 pm and that will be a nice little flight. Apparently, I was either high, or sleeping, when I had these thoughts because it was not any sort of fun at 6 a.m. I neglected to factor in that I'd have to get up before the sun in order to make this flight. So, I awoke at 3:30 and got to the hotel shuttle by 4:15. The shuttle was full. And, of course, there were children. Why are children never tired? These kids were ready to rock and roll. I watched their mother with an pitying look, thinking, "How do you do this?" And, I looked at the children enviously, thinking, "Why can't I have that much energy? I hate you." (I didn't, and don't, really hate them, but it was hard for me to really like anything at that hour.) Once I got to the airport, I was greeted with lines out the door at the United counter. Fan-tastic! Here's what I learned in that line. 6 am flights are for tour groups, the elderly, and people that do not speak English. I didn't fit any of these demographics and was entirely frustrated by watching people fumble around trying to figure out how to check in. Now, I'm not the greatest flyer and I really don't even like flying, but I do have some sense of how the electronic check in kiosks work. Perhaps, it wouldn't have been so terrible if United had had more than three people were all 10 kiosks. If you've ever flown with me, you know that my biggest fear before boarding the plane is that my bag cannot fit in the overhead compartments. I loathe checking bags. If I have to check my bag, then my next biggest fear of the airline losing my baggage becomes an all too real reality. Naturally, when I get near enough to the measuring stand of the carry on bags, I find out that my bag will not fit in their oversize compartments....or so I thought. So, I check my bag, and pay my additional $25 dollars. Don't even get me started on that fee. Then, I head through to security. Security seems to be getting more and more efficient. I had no troubles getting through, except again having to watch people fumble around with their things. I just don't understand. Does the thought not cross their mind..."Hey, I'm going to have to go through security today maybe I shouldn't wear my bedazzled tank top because that's going to hold things up..." or "Hey, maybe I should have my liquids packed on the top of my bag so I don't have to empty everything out once I get to the security counter..." It just seems to me that there is little forward thought that goes into the preparations. Although, I'm a freak about packing for planes, so maybe I'm the abnormal one? After that, I had to get breakfast. If anything, food could help my predicament. I chose a scone. Suffice it to say, I was glad I got a bottle of water to wash that baby down! Now, came the time to wait to board. At this point, my hip flexors were in so much pain that I had to find a secluded spot to stretch. I don't know what's wrong with my hip flexors, they just suck. I am constantly stretching them because they hurt so bad. I began getting nervous having to think of being cramped up on a plane for the next five hours. After finding my nice secluded spot, I was soon swarmed by a family. A mom, dad, toddler son, and infant baby. Of course, the baby is screaming at the top of it's lungs. The mom, you can tell, is getting very frustrated that the child will not be quiet, and consequently she starts bickering with the father. In turn, the father is yelling at the son, who was behaving perfectly reasonably as far as I could tell. I watched this whole scene for about five minutes until I absolutely could not tolerate it any longer. People's bickering makes me so uncomfortable! Again, I'm thinking to myself, "What did you think was going to happen when you tried to travel with your very young children at this hour? Is your relationship always this hostile and confrontational?" I could not deal with that, at all. Finally, it was time to board. Now, I haven't quite figured out why that process takes so long. Once I got on the airplane, it didn't seem like people were taking excessively long to get their stuff stowed and in their seats. Then, the most amazing, miraculous thing happened. One seat remained available in my row of seats. So, instead of the woman having to sit right next to me, she slid over to the window seat and I took the aisle. We had much more space to sprawl ourselves, and our belongings. Then, I tried to sleep. I slept soundly until all of the babies woke up and started screaming. I'm sure the pressure hurts their ears and they have no other way to communicate that except through crying. I can't help but feel bad for them. But, I couldn't help but wish I had selected perhaps...a red-eye flight. The sleep happened intermittently for about another hour. At that point, I checked my phone to see we were thirty minutes from 11 o'clock. I had calculated that my plane would land around 11 pacific time. I got hopeful! Too hopeful. Apparently, my phone had already undergone the time change. Realistically, I had two and a half more hours on this flight. I wanted to read but I couldn't keep my eyes open, but I couldn't truly fall asleep either. It was a half-sleep and that might be the worst kind of sleep. Tom had predicted that when he picked me up that all I'd want to do is go home and sleep. This was a slightly easy prediction to make on his part, but I could not wait to get into a bed. He got me home around 3 and I fell quickly to sleep while he went back to work. I think I slept solidly for a few hours. This, of course, presented problems for sleeping later that night, but I think, looking back now, I'm finally being able to sleep a little better at night. Getting a body pillow, a good head pillow, a mattress bad and earplugs have been instrumental in accomplishing optimal sleep.
That was pretty much my whole first day! Welcome to Arlington, me!
Second of all, tomorrow will mark the one week mark since I have been in the DC area. Technically, I'm in Arlington staying with my boyfriend. If you haven't been Facebook stalking me, which you should have been, then you might not know that a.) I have a boyfriend and b.) he's taken a job in Arlington for the time being. When he was in Oregon, we knew he wouldn't be there for long. Actually, I got to have him in Oregon for far longer than either of us thought he would be able to stay there. He didn't think he'd be there much more than a month, but we ended up getting to spend time together for five whole months, instead. So, there are some silver linings. Additionally, I have been questioned about the long distance feature of this relationship. Some who know me well will know that long distance has never bothered me per se. The trust issues are what bother me. However, with Tom I do not have the same clingy, trust nonsense like I have in the past. I don't need to. His actions prove to me that there is no need for that kind of fear and distrust in our relationship. Besides, my options were Arlington or Afghanistan. I think I made a smart choice in saying Arlington!
So, here I am. In Arlington. I flew out here last Wednesday way too early in the morning. While I was making my travel arrangements, I thought, oh sure, a 6:05 a.m. flight won't be bad! That gets me to Arlington at 2 pm and that will be a nice little flight. Apparently, I was either high, or sleeping, when I had these thoughts because it was not any sort of fun at 6 a.m. I neglected to factor in that I'd have to get up before the sun in order to make this flight. So, I awoke at 3:30 and got to the hotel shuttle by 4:15. The shuttle was full. And, of course, there were children. Why are children never tired? These kids were ready to rock and roll. I watched their mother with an pitying look, thinking, "How do you do this?" And, I looked at the children enviously, thinking, "Why can't I have that much energy? I hate you." (I didn't, and don't, really hate them, but it was hard for me to really like anything at that hour.) Once I got to the airport, I was greeted with lines out the door at the United counter. Fan-tastic! Here's what I learned in that line. 6 am flights are for tour groups, the elderly, and people that do not speak English. I didn't fit any of these demographics and was entirely frustrated by watching people fumble around trying to figure out how to check in. Now, I'm not the greatest flyer and I really don't even like flying, but I do have some sense of how the electronic check in kiosks work. Perhaps, it wouldn't have been so terrible if United had had more than three people were all 10 kiosks. If you've ever flown with me, you know that my biggest fear before boarding the plane is that my bag cannot fit in the overhead compartments. I loathe checking bags. If I have to check my bag, then my next biggest fear of the airline losing my baggage becomes an all too real reality. Naturally, when I get near enough to the measuring stand of the carry on bags, I find out that my bag will not fit in their oversize compartments....or so I thought. So, I check my bag, and pay my additional $25 dollars. Don't even get me started on that fee. Then, I head through to security. Security seems to be getting more and more efficient. I had no troubles getting through, except again having to watch people fumble around with their things. I just don't understand. Does the thought not cross their mind..."Hey, I'm going to have to go through security today maybe I shouldn't wear my bedazzled tank top because that's going to hold things up..." or "Hey, maybe I should have my liquids packed on the top of my bag so I don't have to empty everything out once I get to the security counter..." It just seems to me that there is little forward thought that goes into the preparations. Although, I'm a freak about packing for planes, so maybe I'm the abnormal one? After that, I had to get breakfast. If anything, food could help my predicament. I chose a scone. Suffice it to say, I was glad I got a bottle of water to wash that baby down! Now, came the time to wait to board. At this point, my hip flexors were in so much pain that I had to find a secluded spot to stretch. I don't know what's wrong with my hip flexors, they just suck. I am constantly stretching them because they hurt so bad. I began getting nervous having to think of being cramped up on a plane for the next five hours. After finding my nice secluded spot, I was soon swarmed by a family. A mom, dad, toddler son, and infant baby. Of course, the baby is screaming at the top of it's lungs. The mom, you can tell, is getting very frustrated that the child will not be quiet, and consequently she starts bickering with the father. In turn, the father is yelling at the son, who was behaving perfectly reasonably as far as I could tell. I watched this whole scene for about five minutes until I absolutely could not tolerate it any longer. People's bickering makes me so uncomfortable! Again, I'm thinking to myself, "What did you think was going to happen when you tried to travel with your very young children at this hour? Is your relationship always this hostile and confrontational?" I could not deal with that, at all. Finally, it was time to board. Now, I haven't quite figured out why that process takes so long. Once I got on the airplane, it didn't seem like people were taking excessively long to get their stuff stowed and in their seats. Then, the most amazing, miraculous thing happened. One seat remained available in my row of seats. So, instead of the woman having to sit right next to me, she slid over to the window seat and I took the aisle. We had much more space to sprawl ourselves, and our belongings. Then, I tried to sleep. I slept soundly until all of the babies woke up and started screaming. I'm sure the pressure hurts their ears and they have no other way to communicate that except through crying. I can't help but feel bad for them. But, I couldn't help but wish I had selected perhaps...a red-eye flight. The sleep happened intermittently for about another hour. At that point, I checked my phone to see we were thirty minutes from 11 o'clock. I had calculated that my plane would land around 11 pacific time. I got hopeful! Too hopeful. Apparently, my phone had already undergone the time change. Realistically, I had two and a half more hours on this flight. I wanted to read but I couldn't keep my eyes open, but I couldn't truly fall asleep either. It was a half-sleep and that might be the worst kind of sleep. Tom had predicted that when he picked me up that all I'd want to do is go home and sleep. This was a slightly easy prediction to make on his part, but I could not wait to get into a bed. He got me home around 3 and I fell quickly to sleep while he went back to work. I think I slept solidly for a few hours. This, of course, presented problems for sleeping later that night, but I think, looking back now, I'm finally being able to sleep a little better at night. Getting a body pillow, a good head pillow, a mattress bad and earplugs have been instrumental in accomplishing optimal sleep.
That was pretty much my whole first day! Welcome to Arlington, me!
Wednesday, February 19, 2014
That Bladder Has Some Real Gall!
So, I'm terrible at puns, pardon the title.
Let me start this story at the very beginning, I hear that's a very good place to start. Two years ago, I was awakened in the middle of the night with excruciating pain radiating down my groin/hip flexor area. I truly could not imagine what would cause that pain in the middle of the night, but I was able to somehow make it through the night. The following day I sought treatment at Urgent Care. Naturally, they handed me a prescription for a pain killer. I have no hope in urgent care triage. It's no wonder prescription pain killers are a problem in this country, they hand them out like it's candy! After that hopeless appointment, I made an appointment with primary care doctor. When I was finally able to get into her, she thought it sounded like a possible kidney stone and sent me for an ultrasound. I came to find out that my kidneys were in tip-top shape but that they did find some gallstones while they were scrolling around. Later that spring, I followed up with my doctor. She didn't seem particularly concerned, and just told me to watch what I ate. This was slightly unsettling because I was preparing for my trip to Costa Rica, at that time. There's a horror story that circulates in our family about my cousin who had a gallstone attack on a 15 hour flight home from his honeymoon, so, of course, that's all I could think about. On the other hand, there was no way I was going to have surgery two weeks prior to my big trip, so I'd just have to risk it. Turns out, I never had a single problem with any abdominal pain what so ever for over a year.
This fall, I woke up in the middle of the night with stabbing pain. Though, it was not on my right side, which is what I had remembered the doctor saying I should pay attention to. So, I didn't pay much attention to it. I just breathed into it and after about a half hour I was able to fall back asleep. Then, in January, I was up staying with my sister, when again, I was awakened at night and this time, it was bad. I was super nauseous, and utterly sick to my stomach. The only thing that felt good was a hot shower, but even then the pain had me doubled over. I feared this may be a true gallstone attack, but how could I know for sure? I completely didn't know what to do, and so I texted my sister. Yes, I realized we were in the same house but it was super early in the morning, and I didn't really want to go wait around in a hospital. I just wanted to sleep. After tears and tears, I was finally able to go back to sleep. In the morning, my sister said we should go to urgent care in Forest Grove, so we headed there. Again, I left with a prescription for vicodin and a very strict eating regimen. My favorite things. Great. The rest of the weekend went without pain, save for when I stopped for a falafel sandwich on my way home that Monday. Almost instantly, the pain started up again. I knew I had to take more action this time. I set up an appointment that day with my doctor for the 25th of February. But, then, that attack? I figured I should probably go to urgent care and see if I could at the very least get a referral to a specialist. Sure enough, the doctor referred me on to Summit Surgical Specialists. The following week I had a consultation with a doctor from this office. Dr. Stites seemed pretty convinced it was gallstone pain and drew me several pictures as to what might be happening. We decided to set up an appointment to get rid of this silly organ. I felt relieved but also very stressed about all that I would have to line up before the big day arrived.
I texted four people to tell them of the surgery date and time. My sister, my parents, Tom, and my best friend Erin. All four of them instantly texted back that they could take me, or pick me up. I was completely floored. I have the best immediate support system of all time! When all the dust settled out, we decided that my sister would come down the night before, get up early with me and take me and bring me home from the appointment. Then, Tom would come down to stay with me through the night, as the first 24 hours seem to be the most critical. Erin would stop by whenever I needed her and mom and dad would come up in an emergency situation. They are the life-savers, on-call! I could not have been more pleased, and assured, that I would be in good hands.
The day my sister came down, I had quite an anxiety attack. When I think of anxiety, I think of hardly being able to breathe, somewhat like a panic. My anxiety manifested itself in yelling, crying loudly and gasping for breath. I truly could not imagine what my recovery would be like. See, the thing about the gallbladder is that everyone's experience is SO different. Some people have a terrible time, other people are just fine. Some people have lifelong issues resulting from this surgery, and some people have no problems what so ever. I didn't know what to believe. I certainly didn't believe in myself and thank God that's where everyone else came in. Tom reassured me several times that I would be fine. Jeanine tried telling me that I'd be fine. My mom encouraged me to just get it over with. Even my cousin, Josh, who had the notorious 15 hour attack on the plane, encouraged me to do it, as well. I am lucky I had so many strong people around me, because I was not. Not in that moment, I was completely collapsing. I couldn't fathom my life becoming more difficult, inconvenient, etc, post-surgery. It was pain enough the past month. I didn't want to deal with any more! I had never had a major surgery before and the fear of the unknown really gets to me...
Two disgusting surgical-soap shower laters, it was time to head to the hospital. Check in was at 5:30 a.m. The process was surprisingly efficient and speedy. First, I met with a very nice nurse, Maranda, who got me set up in a bed, with a gown, gripper socks, IV and the like. It was here where she outlined the rest of the process leading up to surgery. She let me know that in the next pre-op area, if I was feeling anxious, I could just tell them and they'd give me some medication for that. I laughed and said, "Well that could have started yesterday!" Lesson learned...the hard way. She thought it was funny that I said that because apparently I didn't seem anxious at all. I think I had done a pretty good job tantrumming it out the day before. Then, Jana (another nurse) came to get me and took me to the next pre-op staging area. Here, I met with more nursing staff, the anesthesiologist, and my doctor. I remember lots of people introducing themselves, and then I remember moving from my bed to the operating table. I remember nothing else. When I awoke, the doctor was next to me, and he informed me that the surgery went great, and that it was "totally boring." This was the best news I could possibly hear. Then, I got shuttled off to the post-op staging area. In post-op I met my very lovely nurse, Krystyna, who had a very thick Eastern European accent. She approached my bed, and said, "You must go to bathroom before you leave." I nodded yes, and then quickly fell back to sleep. I saw my sister come in to sit in the chair at the end of my bed, and then I fell back asleep. I slept for awhile, and intermittently was awakened by the blood pressure cuff tightening around my arm. The treatment at this hospital was de-luxe! I don't know how I could have possibly stayed awake. The gowns have hoses attached to them that blows warm air under your gown. On top of that, there are layers of heated blankets. Plus, to help with circulation, your strapped to these cool little things that wrap around your calves that apply gentle pressure. It was like a massage! Are you kidding? I stood no chance at staying awake. My sister got me laughing at some point, and then there was the picture taking, which was obviously cause for laughter. All I remember my sister saying was, "Are you kidding? This is such a bad idea." I posted it later on Instagram. Unintentionally, I startled several people. Oops. I guess I didn't get the memo to everyone about my surgery! Then, lookout, here comes Krystyna again. She says, "Okay, I let you sleep one hour. Get up." I whined, "But it's so warm under here!" She started taking off layers of my cozy blankets, and ushered me up and out. "Time for bathroom, ok?" Okay....okay....so down the hall we go, and just to be clear, she really drives her point home by saying, "This is short term stay. No long term. Okay?" Sheesh! So, I got to the bathroom, no problems, and when I returned she was ready to get my discharge paperwork and called for the wheelchair to come get me. She gave Jeanine specific instructions on where to park to pick me up and then she was off. The wheelchair gal came to get me and got me downstairs quite quickly. As we rolled through the second floor, there was Tom, waiting to greet me. Such a sweet guy! It was comforting to just see his face. Then, they got me home, and surprisingly I was doing very well. I was texting, got a message to my principal, who got a message out to our staff, and texted family and friends. I was able to eat a little something before the dizziness set in. I spent much of the afternoon laying down and resting, though I had difficulty sleeping. I was able to sleep more in the evening and I slept great through the night.
All in all my recovery has been great. I have pretty extreme soreness and getting up and down is the most painful part. I'm trying not to hunch when I walk, and am enjoying visiting hours during the evenings when my friends get off work. I've gotten to share delicious meals with people from work (honestly, they have totally spoiled me!) and have had friends volunteer to drop off and pick up Redbox rentals for me. Everyone is making life so easy for me, that it's impossible not to have a great recovery.
I'm so thankful everything has gone so smoothly. But, I couldn't have done it alone. It has taken the support of many, in a variety of ways, to help me get through this thing. I continue to be blown away by people's generosity, kindness, and understanding. Honestly. I could not ask for more.
Let me start this story at the very beginning, I hear that's a very good place to start. Two years ago, I was awakened in the middle of the night with excruciating pain radiating down my groin/hip flexor area. I truly could not imagine what would cause that pain in the middle of the night, but I was able to somehow make it through the night. The following day I sought treatment at Urgent Care. Naturally, they handed me a prescription for a pain killer. I have no hope in urgent care triage. It's no wonder prescription pain killers are a problem in this country, they hand them out like it's candy! After that hopeless appointment, I made an appointment with primary care doctor. When I was finally able to get into her, she thought it sounded like a possible kidney stone and sent me for an ultrasound. I came to find out that my kidneys were in tip-top shape but that they did find some gallstones while they were scrolling around. Later that spring, I followed up with my doctor. She didn't seem particularly concerned, and just told me to watch what I ate. This was slightly unsettling because I was preparing for my trip to Costa Rica, at that time. There's a horror story that circulates in our family about my cousin who had a gallstone attack on a 15 hour flight home from his honeymoon, so, of course, that's all I could think about. On the other hand, there was no way I was going to have surgery two weeks prior to my big trip, so I'd just have to risk it. Turns out, I never had a single problem with any abdominal pain what so ever for over a year.
This fall, I woke up in the middle of the night with stabbing pain. Though, it was not on my right side, which is what I had remembered the doctor saying I should pay attention to. So, I didn't pay much attention to it. I just breathed into it and after about a half hour I was able to fall back asleep. Then, in January, I was up staying with my sister, when again, I was awakened at night and this time, it was bad. I was super nauseous, and utterly sick to my stomach. The only thing that felt good was a hot shower, but even then the pain had me doubled over. I feared this may be a true gallstone attack, but how could I know for sure? I completely didn't know what to do, and so I texted my sister. Yes, I realized we were in the same house but it was super early in the morning, and I didn't really want to go wait around in a hospital. I just wanted to sleep. After tears and tears, I was finally able to go back to sleep. In the morning, my sister said we should go to urgent care in Forest Grove, so we headed there. Again, I left with a prescription for vicodin and a very strict eating regimen. My favorite things. Great. The rest of the weekend went without pain, save for when I stopped for a falafel sandwich on my way home that Monday. Almost instantly, the pain started up again. I knew I had to take more action this time. I set up an appointment that day with my doctor for the 25th of February. But, then, that attack? I figured I should probably go to urgent care and see if I could at the very least get a referral to a specialist. Sure enough, the doctor referred me on to Summit Surgical Specialists. The following week I had a consultation with a doctor from this office. Dr. Stites seemed pretty convinced it was gallstone pain and drew me several pictures as to what might be happening. We decided to set up an appointment to get rid of this silly organ. I felt relieved but also very stressed about all that I would have to line up before the big day arrived.
I texted four people to tell them of the surgery date and time. My sister, my parents, Tom, and my best friend Erin. All four of them instantly texted back that they could take me, or pick me up. I was completely floored. I have the best immediate support system of all time! When all the dust settled out, we decided that my sister would come down the night before, get up early with me and take me and bring me home from the appointment. Then, Tom would come down to stay with me through the night, as the first 24 hours seem to be the most critical. Erin would stop by whenever I needed her and mom and dad would come up in an emergency situation. They are the life-savers, on-call! I could not have been more pleased, and assured, that I would be in good hands.
The day my sister came down, I had quite an anxiety attack. When I think of anxiety, I think of hardly being able to breathe, somewhat like a panic. My anxiety manifested itself in yelling, crying loudly and gasping for breath. I truly could not imagine what my recovery would be like. See, the thing about the gallbladder is that everyone's experience is SO different. Some people have a terrible time, other people are just fine. Some people have lifelong issues resulting from this surgery, and some people have no problems what so ever. I didn't know what to believe. I certainly didn't believe in myself and thank God that's where everyone else came in. Tom reassured me several times that I would be fine. Jeanine tried telling me that I'd be fine. My mom encouraged me to just get it over with. Even my cousin, Josh, who had the notorious 15 hour attack on the plane, encouraged me to do it, as well. I am lucky I had so many strong people around me, because I was not. Not in that moment, I was completely collapsing. I couldn't fathom my life becoming more difficult, inconvenient, etc, post-surgery. It was pain enough the past month. I didn't want to deal with any more! I had never had a major surgery before and the fear of the unknown really gets to me...
Two disgusting surgical-soap shower laters, it was time to head to the hospital. Check in was at 5:30 a.m. The process was surprisingly efficient and speedy. First, I met with a very nice nurse, Maranda, who got me set up in a bed, with a gown, gripper socks, IV and the like. It was here where she outlined the rest of the process leading up to surgery. She let me know that in the next pre-op area, if I was feeling anxious, I could just tell them and they'd give me some medication for that. I laughed and said, "Well that could have started yesterday!" Lesson learned...the hard way. She thought it was funny that I said that because apparently I didn't seem anxious at all. I think I had done a pretty good job tantrumming it out the day before. Then, Jana (another nurse) came to get me and took me to the next pre-op staging area. Here, I met with more nursing staff, the anesthesiologist, and my doctor. I remember lots of people introducing themselves, and then I remember moving from my bed to the operating table. I remember nothing else. When I awoke, the doctor was next to me, and he informed me that the surgery went great, and that it was "totally boring." This was the best news I could possibly hear. Then, I got shuttled off to the post-op staging area. In post-op I met my very lovely nurse, Krystyna, who had a very thick Eastern European accent. She approached my bed, and said, "You must go to bathroom before you leave." I nodded yes, and then quickly fell back to sleep. I saw my sister come in to sit in the chair at the end of my bed, and then I fell back asleep. I slept for awhile, and intermittently was awakened by the blood pressure cuff tightening around my arm. The treatment at this hospital was de-luxe! I don't know how I could have possibly stayed awake. The gowns have hoses attached to them that blows warm air under your gown. On top of that, there are layers of heated blankets. Plus, to help with circulation, your strapped to these cool little things that wrap around your calves that apply gentle pressure. It was like a massage! Are you kidding? I stood no chance at staying awake. My sister got me laughing at some point, and then there was the picture taking, which was obviously cause for laughter. All I remember my sister saying was, "Are you kidding? This is such a bad idea." I posted it later on Instagram. Unintentionally, I startled several people. Oops. I guess I didn't get the memo to everyone about my surgery! Then, lookout, here comes Krystyna again. She says, "Okay, I let you sleep one hour. Get up." I whined, "But it's so warm under here!" She started taking off layers of my cozy blankets, and ushered me up and out. "Time for bathroom, ok?" Okay....okay....so down the hall we go, and just to be clear, she really drives her point home by saying, "This is short term stay. No long term. Okay?" Sheesh! So, I got to the bathroom, no problems, and when I returned she was ready to get my discharge paperwork and called for the wheelchair to come get me. She gave Jeanine specific instructions on where to park to pick me up and then she was off. The wheelchair gal came to get me and got me downstairs quite quickly. As we rolled through the second floor, there was Tom, waiting to greet me. Such a sweet guy! It was comforting to just see his face. Then, they got me home, and surprisingly I was doing very well. I was texting, got a message to my principal, who got a message out to our staff, and texted family and friends. I was able to eat a little something before the dizziness set in. I spent much of the afternoon laying down and resting, though I had difficulty sleeping. I was able to sleep more in the evening and I slept great through the night.
All in all my recovery has been great. I have pretty extreme soreness and getting up and down is the most painful part. I'm trying not to hunch when I walk, and am enjoying visiting hours during the evenings when my friends get off work. I've gotten to share delicious meals with people from work (honestly, they have totally spoiled me!) and have had friends volunteer to drop off and pick up Redbox rentals for me. Everyone is making life so easy for me, that it's impossible not to have a great recovery.
I'm so thankful everything has gone so smoothly. But, I couldn't have done it alone. It has taken the support of many, in a variety of ways, to help me get through this thing. I continue to be blown away by people's generosity, kindness, and understanding. Honestly. I could not ask for more.
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