Hey Everyone,
My apologies for the lack of posting in my final days in Guatemala. I just finished an email out to my bible study, so I'm going to be uber-unoriginal and repost those words. If you have any other questions or curiosities, don't hesitate to email or call or heck, even come visit! I'll be chillen in Wilmington for most of the remainder of the summer and anyone is welcome. Mom just has 2 rules: that you will help yourself to anything and that you will pick up after yourself :-)
Ok, here's the update for ya:
They released me from UNC Neurosciences Hospital on Wednesday afternoon with a turtle-shell type brace, also known as a TLSO brace, which as of know I am to wear 24 hours a day for 12 weeks. The neurosurgery team was not sure whether to do surgery or not--but after a 2 consecutive days worth of x-rays while wearing the brace and the fact that I did not have any neurological injury d/t the fracture (it's what is known as a "burst fracture" at T12--think of a coke can being crushed down vertically---well the fracture protrudes into the spinal column but, divinely, stopped before hitting my spinal cord), they decided to pursue conservative treatment. Praise God. That news came Tuesday night and was the best news I could have imagined. Tuesday night I had some tingling in my right leg which delayed my discharge on Wed., but they think it was more due to where my brace puts pressure when I sit at too small an angle, which I was doing for a decent amount of time on Tuesday with visitors, and also d/t anxiety--which I am fully able to admit I was having. But my neuro exams all looked good so they sent me home--and the following day and a half my mom and step-dad cleaned my house, did laundry, and packed me up so I could come back to Wilmington with them for a while. So Friday afternoon we headed down to Wilmington, and since then we've just been resting and recuperating. It's really good to see my mom finally be able to take a deep breath and get some rest--I don't think I'll ever know what she went through until I myself am a mother--but from my perspective I've never seen her so scared, exhausted, and anxious. Sarah (Sperry) came down on Saturday to spend the night and visit and my dad is going to come down from DC to visit next week and "babysit" me as mom likes to say. I really am pretty mobile--I mean I can stand, walk, and lay down--sitting is really the only thing I am not supposed to do, interestingly enough, as it puts the most stress on one's back (and also makes my leg go numb, ha). But I'm learning my limitations and realizing that some things are indeed tough--and that, at least for a while, I need to set my pride aside and be ok with receiving help, i.e. the fact that yes, my mom has to help me bathe and dress. But none of that holds a flame to how thankful I am every time I look down and realize that I can wiggle my toes, feel my legs, and walk. I truly had no idea how close my injury was to causing neurological damage, and I am just so unbelievably thankful for God's protection and His answered prayers. It's funny my mom and I were talking about the fact that when prayers are answered, we often don't know how bad things could have been. So over the next few months I will get plain films every 2-3 weeks, meet with the neurosurgery team to make sure everything is progressing as we would hope, and with God's continued care and everyone's prayers, hopefully be out of this thing for good at the end of September. I'm not out of consideration for surgery until, well, they say I'm completely out of consideration for surgery, so I would so much appreciate your continued prayers for healing. Also since I am not allowed to sit, the first 6 weeks of school will be a challenge, especially since our first couple blocks are pretty lecture-intensive. So please pray for a solution to be made apparent for that, as well.
Well, before I get uber sappy on all of you...this experience has not gone without its funny moments. Yes I have now been catheterized, used many-a-bedpan, and while hospitalized in Guatemala, the nurses did in fact put me in a diaper. Honestly I think that may have been the first time I cried through the entire experience, haha (not really, I'm sure I cried before that :-)). But all of those things gave me a good dose of humility, were a lesson in what it's like to be a patient and go without the independence that, at least I know, I take for granted, and for heaven's sake, will make me NEVER question someone who suffers from back pain. And lastly...with diapers the experience wouldn't be complete without maternity clothes, right?! Right. Those just happen to be the only clothes that fit over and half-way hide the brace. So, ladies, I have in my possession a very nice maternity wardrobe from Target that I sure as heck will never fit into when I am actually pregnant....up for grabs in a little less than 3 mos ;-) Should we begin placing wagers on the first taker?!
Love to you all...If anyone would like to chat or come visit, I would love that! Give me a shout on either my cell, 919-358-1137 or at home, 910-794-1469.
xoxo
Kristen
Monday, July 7, 2008
Wednesday, July 2, 2008
"No Puedes Caber!"....That's what she said.
So this is my last blog entry for a weekend adventure that I've had in Guatemala. It's been pretty crazy down here for the past 4 weeks and of course it just gets crazier right? This past weekend we lost a lot of good friends as they split their separate ways to go back to the United States. I already talked about Kristen's situation but we also lost Kina, Megan, Shannon and Nick. The rest of us decided to spend one last adventure in Tikal and the Mayan Ruins and so away we went!
Friday, June 27:
Christina, Chris, Pai, Lisa, Liam and myself got up pretty early to head out to Antigua so that we could go and pay the travel agency that we were using to head up to Tikal. Just a fair warning to those of you who want to travel in Guatemala...everything must be done up front and in CASH. None of this messin around with credit cards stuff. Cash gets stuff done. So yea, we had lunch at Pollo Campero (aka KFC) and then hung out in Antigua most of the day just walking around until we hopped on our shuttle out to Guatemala City. We got to Guatemala City and immediately we thought it was a dump. We were pretty depressed by it haha. There was blood all over the men's bathroom and it was a little scary. But anyway, we were supposed to leave at 915pm but our travel agent booked us on a 1015 bus instead up to Tikal and so we had to wait an extra hour. We were not happy campers...But we finally got on the bus and when we did it was pretty much the most excruciatingly painful experience I think I've ever had on a bus. Very uncomfortable, very hot and I got about 0 hours of sleep in the 9 hours we had to travel from Guatemala City to Tikal. Way to start off the trip?
Saturday, June 28:
We arrived in Flores at approximately 7am which is the small little tourist town next to Tikal where you can shuttle over to the Mayan Ruins. This is where the entire trip went downhill for me. As I was getting off the bus, I went to reach into my bookbag to find my wallet only to find that it wasn't there. I looked everywhere for it and it was gone. Someone stole it. I think that someone grabbed it while I was attempting to sleep on the bus and without me looking just got the wallet and when we landed in Flores, took off. They got all my remaining cash and my credit card, drivers license, insurance card and UNC ID. So I was pretty pissed. To add to that, our shuttle to take us to our hotel in Tikal hadn't arrived so we were freaking out about that. So while I was cancelling credit cards and talking back home with my parents we finally got a shuttle and miraculously ended up at our hotel in Tikal. The hotel itself was pretty nice and it was good to relax for a bit before we started up our tour. Our tour guide's name was Nixon and he had the craziest hair I think I've seen in Guatemala. But anyway, he took us on this great tour of the temples and told us about some of the hieroglyphics that are on the structures and what they mean. We got to climb Temple IV which was where they shot the Star Wars scene for the Ewoks and then we went through Mundo Perdido which shows the equinox and solstice that the Mayans marked and then we climbed Temple V to get a great view of the rest of the complex which was INSANE. We pretty much climbed a wooden ladder on the side of the temple to a height of about 200 ft. Then we checked out the rest of the Grand Plaza which is where most of those pictures you guys see in postcard comes from. Overall it was amazing and the pictures we have are really good...they'll be posted soon I promise. After the tour, we had a really good lunch at the park and by the time everything was done we were EXHAUSTED. After a quick dip in the pool we all passed out and woke up in time for dinner. After dinner we just hung out some more in the rooms and went to bed to wake up again the next morning...
Sunday, June 29:
So at approximately 430am, all of us but Chris got up to do the sunrise tour off the top of Temple IV since it had the best view of the park. We didn't want to pay an entrance fee to get into Tikal so we attempted to take a shortcut through the back of our hotel and straight into the jungle and hopefully the path that lead to Temple IV. It took a little bit of time but we made it through safely without paying! (Yay for being poor med students). But Christina swears that she heard a jaguar while we were walking through so that was a little creepy. But we got up to the Temple where we saw...not such a great view haha. It was a little foggy but we did get to see a little bit of sun. The great part about it all though was the sounds you could hear from the jungle. You could see and hear howler monkeys, definitely see lots of birds and then hear jaguars in the distance. It was pretty amazing. After the sunrise tour, I came back to pass out because I was still pretty tired while Pai, Chris and Liam went exploring the park some more. They went to Temple VI and then back to the Grand Plaza to see a Triathalon that was taking place. After all of this, we came back to the hotel, had lunch and watched Spain whoop that ASS on Germany (Sorry for you Alemania fans). Then we headed back to Flores so that we could catch our bus back to Guatemala City. In Flores, we ended up at this tiny bar full of mosquitoes where we unhappily drank gross beer (Dont drink Brahva) and played cards. But then we decided to go to a good dinner place where they served authentic Mayan foods and it was DELICIOUS. We also met up with Kina and Megan who were passing through on their way to Tikal so that was nice to see them. After all of that we ended back up at the bus station ready to board our bus back home.
Sunday/Monday June 30:
The bus back home was a complete polar opposite of the way up. It was FREEZING in the bus with the air conditioning on full blast. Also, since we didnt fall asleep on the way up, Lisa Chris and Christina thought it'd be good to take some Lunesta and pass out. Which they did haha. I was too paranoid about my wallet so I stayed up and protected my passport with my LIFE. So I didn't get much sleep. However the joke of the trip did happen during this ride back to the Capital. Lisa took 3 Lunesta pills, 3 mg a piece. Basically she was completely woozy and out of it. But she was still apparently coherent enough to talk to the driver and attempt to tell him to turn off the air conditioning by saying, "Es possible...caliente?" And then she got off the bus during a quick break and just pointed at the luggage storage on the bottom of the bus and said "Es possible...*point*". I got out to help her ask for her pants but the driver took it as us wanting to actually physically go underneath the bus and stay there. Hence, "No puedes caber!". It was hilarious haha. But anyway, we got back to Guatemala City safe and sound, we hopped on a shuttle back to Antigua and then said our goodbyes to Pai and she left us to go back home to the States. The rest of us then came back to Santa Cruz where we PASSED out but still welcomed 3 new students:
-Jordi, junior at Davidson
-Tori, MS2 at Baylor
-Caitlin, MS2 at Baylor
I haven't decided if I should haze them or not yet. Probably won't haha. But that's basically the update for the weekend! A little bit more of bad news and because of my wallet loss I am now coming home on July 6th since I have no money. Christina is my sugar mama and being my personal ATM. She says she'll break my legs if I don't pay her back...and I believe it. But anyway - I will leave you all with a little bit of information I learned at Trivia Night:
Hope everyone's doing well and having a good summer!
Nos vemos pronto,
Neil
Friday, June 27:
Christina, Chris, Pai, Lisa, Liam and myself got up pretty early to head out to Antigua so that we could go and pay the travel agency that we were using to head up to Tikal. Just a fair warning to those of you who want to travel in Guatemala...everything must be done up front and in CASH. None of this messin around with credit cards stuff. Cash gets stuff done. So yea, we had lunch at Pollo Campero (aka KFC) and then hung out in Antigua most of the day just walking around until we hopped on our shuttle out to Guatemala City. We got to Guatemala City and immediately we thought it was a dump. We were pretty depressed by it haha. There was blood all over the men's bathroom and it was a little scary. But anyway, we were supposed to leave at 915pm but our travel agent booked us on a 1015 bus instead up to Tikal and so we had to wait an extra hour. We were not happy campers...But we finally got on the bus and when we did it was pretty much the most excruciatingly painful experience I think I've ever had on a bus. Very uncomfortable, very hot and I got about 0 hours of sleep in the 9 hours we had to travel from Guatemala City to Tikal. Way to start off the trip?
Saturday, June 28:
We arrived in Flores at approximately 7am which is the small little tourist town next to Tikal where you can shuttle over to the Mayan Ruins. This is where the entire trip went downhill for me. As I was getting off the bus, I went to reach into my bookbag to find my wallet only to find that it wasn't there. I looked everywhere for it and it was gone. Someone stole it. I think that someone grabbed it while I was attempting to sleep on the bus and without me looking just got the wallet and when we landed in Flores, took off. They got all my remaining cash and my credit card, drivers license, insurance card and UNC ID. So I was pretty pissed. To add to that, our shuttle to take us to our hotel in Tikal hadn't arrived so we were freaking out about that. So while I was cancelling credit cards and talking back home with my parents we finally got a shuttle and miraculously ended up at our hotel in Tikal. The hotel itself was pretty nice and it was good to relax for a bit before we started up our tour. Our tour guide's name was Nixon and he had the craziest hair I think I've seen in Guatemala. But anyway, he took us on this great tour of the temples and told us about some of the hieroglyphics that are on the structures and what they mean. We got to climb Temple IV which was where they shot the Star Wars scene for the Ewoks and then we went through Mundo Perdido which shows the equinox and solstice that the Mayans marked and then we climbed Temple V to get a great view of the rest of the complex which was INSANE. We pretty much climbed a wooden ladder on the side of the temple to a height of about 200 ft. Then we checked out the rest of the Grand Plaza which is where most of those pictures you guys see in postcard comes from. Overall it was amazing and the pictures we have are really good...they'll be posted soon I promise. After the tour, we had a really good lunch at the park and by the time everything was done we were EXHAUSTED. After a quick dip in the pool we all passed out and woke up in time for dinner. After dinner we just hung out some more in the rooms and went to bed to wake up again the next morning...
Sunday, June 29:
So at approximately 430am, all of us but Chris got up to do the sunrise tour off the top of Temple IV since it had the best view of the park. We didn't want to pay an entrance fee to get into Tikal so we attempted to take a shortcut through the back of our hotel and straight into the jungle and hopefully the path that lead to Temple IV. It took a little bit of time but we made it through safely without paying! (Yay for being poor med students). But Christina swears that she heard a jaguar while we were walking through so that was a little creepy. But we got up to the Temple where we saw...not such a great view haha. It was a little foggy but we did get to see a little bit of sun. The great part about it all though was the sounds you could hear from the jungle. You could see and hear howler monkeys, definitely see lots of birds and then hear jaguars in the distance. It was pretty amazing. After the sunrise tour, I came back to pass out because I was still pretty tired while Pai, Chris and Liam went exploring the park some more. They went to Temple VI and then back to the Grand Plaza to see a Triathalon that was taking place. After all of this, we came back to the hotel, had lunch and watched Spain whoop that ASS on Germany (Sorry for you Alemania fans). Then we headed back to Flores so that we could catch our bus back to Guatemala City. In Flores, we ended up at this tiny bar full of mosquitoes where we unhappily drank gross beer (Dont drink Brahva) and played cards. But then we decided to go to a good dinner place where they served authentic Mayan foods and it was DELICIOUS. We also met up with Kina and Megan who were passing through on their way to Tikal so that was nice to see them. After all of that we ended back up at the bus station ready to board our bus back home.
Sunday/Monday June 30:
The bus back home was a complete polar opposite of the way up. It was FREEZING in the bus with the air conditioning on full blast. Also, since we didnt fall asleep on the way up, Lisa Chris and Christina thought it'd be good to take some Lunesta and pass out. Which they did haha. I was too paranoid about my wallet so I stayed up and protected my passport with my LIFE. So I didn't get much sleep. However the joke of the trip did happen during this ride back to the Capital. Lisa took 3 Lunesta pills, 3 mg a piece. Basically she was completely woozy and out of it. But she was still apparently coherent enough to talk to the driver and attempt to tell him to turn off the air conditioning by saying, "Es possible...caliente?" And then she got off the bus during a quick break and just pointed at the luggage storage on the bottom of the bus and said "Es possible...*point*". I got out to help her ask for her pants but the driver took it as us wanting to actually physically go underneath the bus and stay there. Hence, "No puedes caber!". It was hilarious haha. But anyway, we got back to Guatemala City safe and sound, we hopped on a shuttle back to Antigua and then said our goodbyes to Pai and she left us to go back home to the States. The rest of us then came back to Santa Cruz where we PASSED out but still welcomed 3 new students:
-Jordi, junior at Davidson
-Tori, MS2 at Baylor
-Caitlin, MS2 at Baylor
I haven't decided if I should haze them or not yet. Probably won't haha. But that's basically the update for the weekend! A little bit more of bad news and because of my wallet loss I am now coming home on July 6th since I have no money. Christina is my sugar mama and being my personal ATM. She says she'll break my legs if I don't pay her back...and I believe it. But anyway - I will leave you all with a little bit of information I learned at Trivia Night:
A male penguin has 1 orgasm a year.
Hope everyone's doing well and having a good summer!
Nos vemos pronto,
Neil
Tuesday, July 1, 2008
We just cant seem to catch a break can we?
Hello readers! Sorry that its taken so long to update the blog. We´ve ran into a couple of issues down here in Guatemala and so I think its time to share them. The story begins with Kristen´s last weekend here in Guatemala. Her, Pai and Liam went up to Semuc Champey which is this absolutely gorgeous natural limestone structure that has natural pools formed from this river as well as caves and waterfalls and things of the sort. I can only describe it because I´ve seen pictures but I know that Pai and Kristen could add onto it. But anyway, at the end of their tour for Semuc Champey the three of them had the option of jumping off of this waterfall into a large pool below. Since you´re only in Guatemala once, why not jump off? So Pai and Liam jumped off and didn´t suffer any injuries except some bruises to the butt and thighs. Kristen however did something to her back when she landed in the water. The waterfall itself was a 45 foot high drop and Kristen went straight in like a pencil like you´re supposed to. However, when she was coming back up she did something to her back where it hurt like hell. She was in pain for the rest of the day and she returned to Santa Cruz still in an insane amount of pain. We immediately called the doctors and they came and took a look at her and gave her strong pain medication and told her to be on strict bed rest for the rest of the week. Well as the week went on, Kristen didn´t improve much. She still said she had a lot of pain in her lower back, especially on her right side. She almost described it as flank pain but then as the days went on she said it was more of a deep, localized pain next to her spine.
Come Friday, she still didnt feel that great and so she was advised to go to Guatmeala City for X-rays, MRI and CAT scans. After all the tests, it was confirmed that Kristen has a compression fracture in T12 in the body of the vertebrae. She stayed overnight at the hospital on Saturday night and had a medical evac straight back to RDU on Sunday. Thank god we have such incredible insurance from UNC because it covers the flight and all medical procedures done to Kristen while she was in the capital and it also covers 80% of prescriptions and tests. The students here have tried to get in contact with her but we think that she´s just either in a hospital or at home in Wilmington. Kristen if you are reading this then we are all thinking about you and we really hope that you are feeling better. I know that I personally miss you a ton and I am incredibly worried about you. You´re in all of our thoughts and prayers here in Guatemala sweetie.
So yes, that´s why we can´t seem to catch a break in Guatemala. There´s more to come following this topic, but I wanted to post quickly what happened. If you fellow MS2s and friends can get a hold of Kristen please let me know how she is doing and I will relay that to everyone here in the clinic. I hope everyone is having a good summer and please keep Kristen in your thoughts and prayers.
Hasta luego,
Neil
Come Friday, she still didnt feel that great and so she was advised to go to Guatmeala City for X-rays, MRI and CAT scans. After all the tests, it was confirmed that Kristen has a compression fracture in T12 in the body of the vertebrae. She stayed overnight at the hospital on Saturday night and had a medical evac straight back to RDU on Sunday. Thank god we have such incredible insurance from UNC because it covers the flight and all medical procedures done to Kristen while she was in the capital and it also covers 80% of prescriptions and tests. The students here have tried to get in contact with her but we think that she´s just either in a hospital or at home in Wilmington. Kristen if you are reading this then we are all thinking about you and we really hope that you are feeling better. I know that I personally miss you a ton and I am incredibly worried about you. You´re in all of our thoughts and prayers here in Guatemala sweetie.
So yes, that´s why we can´t seem to catch a break in Guatemala. There´s more to come following this topic, but I wanted to post quickly what happened. If you fellow MS2s and friends can get a hold of Kristen please let me know how she is doing and I will relay that to everyone here in the clinic. I hope everyone is having a good summer and please keep Kristen in your thoughts and prayers.
Hasta luego,
Neil
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