Emergency Room

I decided to blog about my weird experience on Saturday, but I am warning you, it's a long description, only for those interested... and you might think I'm crazy afterwards.

We were hanging out with some friends on Saturday, playing Rockband, when my head started to hurt and I got a little disoriented. My sister (who I've been having a fantastic time visiting with!) and I were talking about some people we both knew and I was having a hard time remembering people's names. Typical, right? I was trying to recall a certain person's name and all that could come to me was their last name. Then I repeated the last name like 5 times, because everytime I said it it didn't sound the same as it did in my head. I was having a hard time recognizing the names my sister was saying and it was like she was talking too fast for me to understand. So I sat back and watched the rest of the song on tv. After the song, everyone was getting ready to go. I was glad because I was feeling really weird and everytime I tried to talk it seemed like I couldn't formulate what I wanted to say or it wouldn't come out. I thought I was just tired or something. Then we stood around for 5-10 more minutes talking. I couldn't follow the conversation and was feeling nervous and sick. All I could manage to say was "Thanks, it was fun" and "bye" which I had to think about for like 2 minutes to make sure I could say it right. When I listened to everyone else talking it was like I understood the words they were saying but I couldn't put it all together to follow the conversation. By this time I was starting to get freaked out. When we walked out I was able to tell Steve and my sister that I was feeling sick. They let me lean on them to the car and then decided I should just lay down in the back. I kept trying to talk to them, but I was repeating words and could only get a few words to come out at a time. I knew in my head what I wanted to say, but I couldn't get my muscles to cooperate. We ended up going back inside, calling our doctor, and leaving for the emergency room. I was starting to feel a little better (thanks Steve and Jeff!), but I was also really freaked out so I was shivering and my feet, hands, and face were a little numb.

5 hours later I had worn my first IV, had my first MRI, and made my first visit to the emergency room. 5 hours later Steve and my sister had been sitting in hard hospital chairs for 5 hours and not complained a word! Steve did take a picture of me on his phone, but since a crazy man stole it from him on the metro on Monday I am pictureless for this post!

So, what happened? Who knows!!! I felt really stupid sitting in an ER bed once I was feeling all the way better, except for a lingering headache. The doctor and nurse were really nice and didn't treat me like I was crazy, even though I felt like it. I figured they would at least pull Steve aside and tell him if they thought I was having mental health issues, but they didn't so that's comforting I suppose. The MRI came back without any signs of a stroke and my bloodwork was fine. The doctor thought that maybe I had a migraine and that I was disoriented due to changes in the blood vessels in my brain. He gave me a referral to a neurologist who I need to follow up with. I'm not really expecting to figure anything out. I'm just hoping it doesn't happen again!

Thanks Steve and Marissa for sticking with me and helping me out!

Family Visit #1

I figured I'd better post some pictures before we have our second round of family visits. My parents and two youngest sisters came here for their spring break, which also happened to be my spring break! After 4 spring-break-less years at BYU I have to say that it was fantastic!

The family photographers! I need to get some of their pictures to post on here.

The annual Kite Festival is a gem of an event. We' were able to watch a trick show and were glad we went even if the weather was in the 40s, brrrr!

This is a lame attempt to capture how many kites there were.

What are the chances! My best friend's family was also spending their spring break in DC/Virginia! We ran into them at the Museum of American History.

Steve and I so glad we got to spend some time together!

Here are the gals (minus me) in the National Arboretum. It has all sorts of tropical flowers and is really beautiful. And it's free, just like everything else in DC.

We got to take a tour of the capitol. It was long, but one of the best tours of the trip.

Here are some of the beautiful blossoms!

My favorite museum was the Holocaust Museum. Some people told us it was too depressing to go to. It was VERY sad, but we felt like it was an irreplacable experience.

We went to the top of the Post Office building to get a view of the city since we couldn't get tickets to the Washington Monument. Great view, short wait :)

This was taken in a gorgeous garden behind the Smithsonian Castle. I like how the magnolia (I think?) tree frames the Monument.

My sisters buying hoodies from the souvenir carts that are outside all the Smithsonian museums.

Another museum I liked was the Portrait Gallery/American Art museum. My favorite: a portrait of Joseph Smith!

I definitely wasn't able to document all the fun we had. It was great to play games, celebrate my sister's birthday, eat yummy food, watch family videos, visit numerous museums and historic sites, and just be together. Can't wait until summer to see them all again!

Lots of fun stuff

Great, it's been over a month since I made a blog post. Of course that makes it more difficult to post now because I have to remember cool things that happened during the last month. Luckily our families are so cool that lots of neat things happen to them.

 

• Our nephew, Caleb, came home from the NICU and turned 4 months old! He's still on his feeding tube to supplement his bottle feedings, but he's getting bigger all the time and his mom and dad LOVE having him at home. We still haven't seen him in person, but are planning a visit.

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  My sister, Marissa, who is currently in Jerusalem, got accepted to BYU's graduate program for communication disorders! I'm glad the admissions committee was able to look past my less than perfect graduate work and realize that everything Marissa does is ABOVE and BEYOND!

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  Both of our siblings, Krista and Ben, got accepted to BYU! Weren't they such cute kids?! They still are, actually :)

 

• I made my first strawberry pie from my Lion House desserts cookbook and it was DELICIOUS! I can't wait for summer when they're actually in season.Speaking of summer...this summer I'll be camping with the young women from my church for 5 days at their annual Young Women Camp. Wards and stakes around the world hold these camps every year and I really believe they can have a important impact on the lives of young women in helping them to develop good friendships and define their own beliefs. So now I just have to brave the wilderness of Pennsylvania for 5 days...  

• Stephen helped orchestrate a big move for the DCPS central offices this month. It was a lot of work and stress but we're pleased he was able to help out with a big project. Plus, the view from his new office is awesome. He said it looks better in person, but you can at least see the Washington Monument in the background!