Another Visit

Another week another Dr. visit. The visits are getting shorter now since we both are doing so good. He hasn't added anything and probably won't for a while since we are going to do another blood test again in a few weeks. This past week when he added cheese I figured out that tomatoes was making my hands hurt. Kind of like arthritis. I was eating nachos w/salsa and it started hurting that day. I then cut out the tomatoes and I started to feel better. So no tomatoes for me :(. So, so far I have to be careful with what meats I eat. So all natural meat. Also, I have to make sure my veggies are washed really well to make sure the pesticides are off or buy organic and then no tomatoes. Both Nakoa and I are still having some problems with our memory(foggy brain), but that will come eventually where we will work on that part of our body. I know body won't be the same as it was before, but I still feel really good. I am sad about the foods I can't eat, but it is worth feeling better. I know how badly my dad felt and how others with diabetes suffer. I am so greatful that I have found something that is helping. These coming weeks we are kind of reverting back to the original diet so that our test come back good. The carbs is what is probably making my blood sugar go up so, Dr. Redd is wanting me to eat that sparingly. I said to myself that I was going to have some chocolate no matter what for Christmas, but that isn't happening. It is going to be sooo hard. I know that my weight is probably contributing to a high blood sugar level so I am starting to work out more so that I can drop it finally. He said that once the Hashimoto gets better that it will lower as well.

Thanksgiving

Haven't blogged for a while. The last couple of weeks have been good. The doctor added rice, butter, potatoes, and cheese. I haven't had any side effects from them yet. There different cheese's that I might react different to, but I haven't tried all of them. During these weeks I had celery. I don't think I washed it off good enough because I started getting an allergic reaction. The next time I had it I soaked it in water to make sure all the pesticides and stuff were off of it. I was fine. So I guess I have to be careful with the pesticides that are on certain things.
I have been sick as well and that can make the Hashimoto flare up as well. I stopped losing weight for a week while I was sick. I wasn't able to weight myself this last visit though.
Thanksgiving was great! He gave us permission to cheat. He just didn't want me to eat gluten. I wanted and still want a roll so bad! I had some turkey, yams that had brown sugar, corn, carrots, and then for dessert I had pumpkin pie!! It was sooooo good! It was hard to go back to the diet...
I feel so good! I can't believe how much I have changed in the way I feel. I have forgotten how it feels not to be tired all day long. I think I have 1 more week of the supplements that I am on and then I will do another blood test to see how the last 3 months have been.

O Happy Day!

Today is the happiest day of my life! Ok, ok... maybe one of the happiest days of my life. Went to the doctor again today. I was on a mission to convince him to add more food! It didn't take much and I scored..big!! At first he was going to add rice and I was really happy about that because then I could have sushi! Then he said corn and I was like YES CORN!! So there it is, I can now have POPCORN!! We are not totally in the clear yet though. I have to see if the corn reacts to the disease and see if I get any side effects from eating it. Then I can try the butter on the popcorn! This totally makes my day.. actually month!


With the beef I had an idea to try it all natural where it is grass fed, hormone free, and antibiotic free. Kyle and I tried it, it was a little gamey at first, but I got use to it and I had no side effects from it! Anyone know why they even put all that stuff in the meat? I find it kind of crazy! Anyone watch Food Inc. or King Corn on Netflix? If you haven't you should! I know that they feed the cows other things like corn to fatten them up faster and cheaper. Not sure about the hormones and such.


Anywho! It is crazy how good I feel! Everyone comments on how different I am. A lot of them say that I have a sparkle in my eye.. haha! I am think I am just so ecstaticed about losing 12 1/2 pounds! I am definitely starting feel myself that way as well! I do hate that I can feel tired depending on what I eat. When I ate that beef that made me tired I was kind of wierded out about that something just like that can make me feel that different. Another thing that I noticed striggers something is how much sleep I get. It seems that when I stay up late and don't get enough sleep that in the next few days I will start to have a lot of anxiety. I woke up this morning with a clenched jaw and headache. Bleck!


I am still taking the same supplements for now. I think next week he will change it up. We will see.

Past 2 weeks

Met with the doctor again this today. Last week week when we met we went over my the tests results that we took when we first started. The tests mainly said that I am on my way to adrenal fatigue. I am in the 4th stage of 7 stages of adrenaline fatigue. There were other concerns, but this is the one that they will address for now. They gave me supplements to help with my brain fog, adrenaline fatigue, low blood sugar, stress, and to help my immune system.
Overall i am still doing really good. With the new foods, i tried them all at once and went to the dentist all in one day. The next couple of days I was feeling really tired and because i took everything at once I didn't know which food or drug (dentist) was making me feel tired. To make a long story short I tried beef again and when I eat a bigger amount of it it makes me quite tired the next day. So it sounds like there won't be very much beef for me in the future. Today I went back to the dentist to have them fix a tooth. They gave me the anesthesia, but not as much this time and all day I was feeling quite tired. So I guess it was the combination of the beef and drugs. I haven't really been the biggest fan of beef, but my body seems to crave it every once in a while so i don't think staying away for the most part will be that bad.
This past couple of weekends Kyle and I have been going hiking. My endurance compared to before has been really good. I completed a mile hike when before on the same hike I couldn't even get a quarter of the way through. I have lost altogether 9 pounds since I started this program. i have noticed though when I ate the beef or when I flared up the illness that I slowed down with losing the weight. The doctor said that sometimes i might even gain weight, that when the illness flares up that my body keep hold of the fat and then when the inflammation goes down that it is then able to release the fat. Pretty interesting.
Other than that I think I got a hold on the medication thing. I lowered my meds again thinking that it would help with my anxiety. It helped, but then I started getting really tired and emotional. I decided to higher it again because I would rather feel anxiety than tired and emotional. I think the supplements are helping with the anxiety now, but I think with the meds I have the right dosage, but I have just have to decide how long to wait to take the extra pill. If that makes sense.
Anyway, that is what has been going on. Cross you fingers that I get more food for Thanksgiving!

More Food!

I got more food added to the diet! Eggs, Tomatoes, and Beef! Hallelujah! We are having rib eye steaks for dinner! I am just happy to eat something other than turkey and fish.. bleck! I find myself being kind of afraid to eat anything other than what I have been eating. I don't want to get sick again.
This last week I have cut down on the supplements I am taking. I am feeling really good! My energy is coming back, but I find that when exercising I can't go as long. Although I am waking up at night a couple of time some nights, I am able to sleep a lot better. I wake up feeling a lot more refreshed. There is a big difference! I am not feeling sick at all anymore. I don't think I have felt this good since elementary/Junior high.. no joke! I think the only thing that is really bothersome is my anxiety. Some days I have a really good day and others my anxiety is awful. I get headaches from it as well.
This next week I will still be on the supplements to keep on detoxing. Next Wednesday he will discuss my tests further with me and make more changes to what I am doing.
Nakoa is doing really great as well. She is totally off her diabetes medication, which is amazing!
We both have lost some weight. During these last 3 weeks I have lost 5 lbs altogether. Before all of this at one time I was exercising 2 hours a day about 3-4 times a week during one semester. I was exhausted, but I really wanted to lose some weight. During that semester I only lost 5 lbs. I am so glad I found something that I am seeing results in! Until next week

Day 14

One more week! I sooo want a Reese's peanut butter cup! This past week has definitely been harder to stay with the diet. Although I have not cheated. This week food wise has been easier. I am not as hungry as I was the first week. It is getting kind of boring eating the same things over and over. I weighed in this past week and I have lost 1 pound! yay! I know that is not much, but it takes a lot to lose just that. The doctor said once we get working with the hormones I will start to lose a lot more.
I have felt a lot better this past week. I think I felt sick only once or twice this past week. Which is amazing! I have felt extremely tired this second week than the first. It made me realize that the first week I was feeling better than I realized... being sleepy. The doc said that this is normal because of the supplements I am taking. The supplements are just helping detox. This next week I will be slowly getting off of them. I have been really burpy. Burping almost constantly. I always refer them to like a hiccup burp. I think there is just a lot indigestion going on as well. They talk about this in the book they doctor gave me as well.
Two weeks ago I saw my other endocrinologist doctor. I was feeling really anxious again and thought it would be best if I lowered my meds. I am really sensitive to changes in the medication. I have been having headaches which is normal for me. I think I'll just have to deal with that until I find the right dosage for me.
I have been reading more of the book the doctor gave me. This disease involves a lot more than just my thyroid. It really effects everything! And I feel like my insides are 10x more messed up than I thought. If any of you know someone that has Hypothyroidism or Hashimotto they definitely need to read the book highlighted in my last post. In the book it sounds like I most likely will need to be on a gluten free diet. I seems that most people that go on this kind of a diet feels better and have less side effects. The book goes into more detail of why. But there are other things that I might have to take out instead like dairy. It all just depends on the person and how the tests that they do come out. I think the test that we are waiting for during this period should come back this week. I guess we will see how it goes.

Day 7

Today is day 7 of the diet. I forgot to mention in the last post that this diet will last 3 weeks and then the doctor will start adding foods once my tests come in. The first day of the diet was definitely harder than the following days. I was constantly hungry and I felt like I was snacking all day.
Almond milk has saved me this week. When I felt really hungry it helped me feel better for a longer period of time. The food hasn't been bad at all. I have been concentrating more on what meat I will have for the day since that is what fills me up for the most part. I thought the fish was what might kill me because I am not a big fish lover. I found some fish that hasn't been that fishy like tilapia, halibut, and tuna, and mahi mahi. I added garlic and onion powder which made it taste really good. I was surprised, but then when you are hungry anything tastes good. :) I have had to be really careful with certain things as well because tuna in the can has soy and there is a lot of stuff like turkey bacon or turkey burger that has sugar in it. I checked pretty much all of the cans on the store shelf to see if there was any cans of tuna w/o soy or something I can't have. Overall my I feel like my body is adjusting and doesn't need as much to eat.

I have still been sick here and there, but it does seem that I'm not sick as often as I use to be. The doctor said that my estrogen level is really high and suggested I stop taking my birth control. I think that was what was making me so severely sick more often. I know before I stopped taking it my body would have episodes where it just went crazy like it was trying to get rid of something. He also indicated that birth control pill is what can sometimes start or even cause the hashimoto. The heart palpitations returned for a couple of days at the start of the diet, but then disappeared later in the week. Even though I have drastically changed my diet I haven't lost one pound. So discouraging, but I hope this changes. I am a bit more tired, but I think I am only handling this because I can sleep in a little bit because of school. Thank goodness!

Surprisingly, cutting out the sugar hasn't been as hard as I thought it would. It is definitely easier cutting out the sugar completely rather than eating just a little bit here and there. I am definitely hoping I don't have to cut out the chocolate or popcorn.. some of my favorites!
I am hoping for more changes this next week. I know not all of them will go away for good, but I definitely hoping it improves.

The doctor gave me book and it already is really so interesting. It is called "Why Do I Still Have Thyroid Symptoms?" I know that seeing my other regular doctor he just gave medication to treat the loss of my thyroid or the symptoms of the loss of it. They weren't treating the autoimmune part of it or what my immune system was doing to my thyroid. In the book they talk about the program, what they do and why they do it. I haven't read it all, but it is very interesting. Sometimes I carry my recipe book around and some people have asked me about it. They themselves have the disease or someone they know has it. It is kind of crazy!

6 Month Treatment

As some of you may know I have been dealing with some health problems this past year. My mom saw a doctor on KSL and said that he specialized in Hashimoto, the disease that I have. When she told me my heart just jumped. Nobody has really been able to really help me other than give me medication and some supplements. She couldn't remember his name, but then got back to me and told me. I made an appointment right away. My mom and sister, Nakoa, went with me in hopes he could also help Nakoa. She has type 2 Diabetes and PCOS. Making a long story short we decided to do his program together! I want to be thorough for those that are curious about the program and the disease I have.

First off, Hashimoto is an autoimmune disease where my system is attaching my thyroid and slowly eating away at it. The side effects I have had are: severe anxiety, depression, headaches, soreness in my hands, sick to my stomach almost everyday, very tired most of the day, cramps, foggy brain (forgetting words), diarrhea, cold all the time, weight gain, muscle soreness, loss of hair, heart palipatations. These are just the ones I can think of. Some of these have gone away since I started medication, and some come and go. I haven't really had a good day where I haven't felt tired or sick for a while. With all of these side effects you can see why I am so excited to do this program.

The program is 6 months long. I started off with a blood test. When I went back they gave some other tests.. :) One of them was a saliva test and the other was a stool sample. LOL I know I know. This was not my favorite, but you gotta do what you gotta do. The next step starting today is an Anti-Inflammatory Diet. I think the doc said that I have inflammation around my heart and liver. This diet is to reduce the inflammation. There are foods that I could be eating that are inflamming the Hashimoto and making things worse. Here is what the diet consists of.

Things to Avoid:

*Any food that you are allergic to

*Dairy (milk, cheese, Yogurt, butter) eggs, margarine, & shortening
*Food prepared with gluten. Example: wheat, oats, rye, barley; those ingredients are normally found in breads, pasta, cereals, etc.
*Tomatoes and tomato sauces, corn, white potatoes, red potatoes, rice
*Alcohol, caffeine (coffee, black tea), sodas, Fruit juices
*Sugar and artifical sweeteners
*Soy or products made from soy, such as soy milk or tofu
*peanuts, peanut butter, peanut oil (anything with peanuts)
*Beef, pork, cold cuts, bacon, hot dogs, canned meat, sausage, shell fish
*Dehydrated fruit

Foods to eat:

*Drink plenty of fresh water (8-10 glasses), herbal teas, and decaffeinated green tea

*Quinoa and buckwheat (NOT with whole grains added)
*Fresh fruits and vegetables
*beans(navy, white, kidney, garbanzo, black, etc)
*peas (split, fresh, snap)
*mainly fish, except shellfish, and moderate amounts of chicken, turkey, and lamb (select fish which is less prone to heavy metal contimination)
*Use mainly olive oil, coconut oil, and flaxseed oil (in moderation)
*Unsweetened almond milk
*These nuts in raw form: cashews, almonds, macadamia nuts, sunflower seeds, pecans, walnuts.

In addition they gave us some anti-inflammatory supplements along with a drink supplement. They luckily gave us some recipes that help a lot as well. This is my first day and I feel like I am doing ok. I definitely need to bring more snacks to munch on during the day at work though. I get empty fast.

School and More Crocheting

I haven't blogged for a while now. Not a lot has happened since then. Since Kyle graduated I thought I better start back up again and go back to school. I was pretty excited to start something new. I went and saw a counselor at the U. It looks like I need just 4 more classes and bunch of volunteer hours to apply for the program I want to do. I decided to sign up for 2 classes since that was all that was offered for that semester. I signed up for Sociology and Political Science. Both of which I was not excited about. I haven't really gotten into politics at all and I don't totally understand the structure of the government. Sad I know. About 2 weeks into it I was really enjoying the classes especially my Political Science. My teacher is quite interesting.

With having Hashimoto I get really tired and sick quite a lot. It is hard for me to concentrate. I knew I couldn't keep it up. So I talked to Kyle and decided to drop a class. My morning class of course, so that I could sleep in. I was so disappointed! I have been so motivated to start school because I want to have more options with work. I am not totally loving my job right now :)

Lately I haven't been feeling the best, but I can still function pretty well for the most part. I have spent a lot of time watching tv with Kyle and looking for new projects to crochet. I have finished one project that I started for myself a couple of years ago. Not sure what I am going to do with it yet. I was thinking of just selling it. I kind of want to make a bunch of afghans and sell them next summer at the farmers market or some event like that. Here is the throw that I finished.

Nakoa, my sister, found a picture of a baby football. I wanted to try making this too. I think the problem I have with this is making them the right size for the right age. Here is what came out of that one.

I already have 1 order for this one. I love making these for the little ones! They are so cute on them! I hope to find more cute stuff to make!

Graduation

Kyle finally graduated from the University of Utah with an English degree. I am so proud of him and envious of what he has accomplished! The day was nice. We met up with his family and my mom later that day to attend the ceremony and eat dinner.

Not sure what our plans are now, but Kyle is looking for a new job. His job now will end at the end of summer. They are not sure if the program he is working for will continue. It all depends on if they get another grant or not. In the mean time he is looking for another job. It sounds like he might be interested in being an advisor. We will see. As for me I have signed up for classes in the fall and will try to work towards my degree. I have finished my general education and have a certificate of completion. I am so glad I got that done at least, so it is easy for those credits to transfer 5 years later :) I am looking for some volunteer work that I might enjoy as well. I have been feeling a need to do so for a while and haven't really found what I might like to do yet.

I have been trying to work on my diet and my health altogether. I haven't really had any energy to do anything other than go to work and maybe exercise once or twice a week. The supplements I am on have helped quite a bit, but I feel I am still at a low functioning level. I have been having pain on my left side still and from talking to my doctor I think it is from my liver. He said that it feels like it needs to be cleaned out. He wants my diet to be 50% raw foods. I have been keeping track of what I am eating and that has helped me a lot with what I put in my mouth. :) From my last visit he said that it is feeling better.

Follow ups

So I have been back to the doctor this past month. I was and still am having a little discomfort on the side where the kidney stones were and still had blood in my urine. I went in and they did another CT scan and another test where they went into my bladder to check things out. Both tests came out good and my doctor said I was probably just still healing. I will have to go back and see him in a year. The endo. doctor has changed my medication so I am taking a little more. There was a little miscommunication on that. He told me to take a half a pill more and he meant a half a pill more a week not every day. :) haha! I was a little relieved when i found that out. I was feeling so sick almost everyday. Although I am taking the medication most of my side effects are still there from the disease. I am taking vitamin D and Selenium, which helps with my energy a lot! Although I am still so tired a lot of the time. I joined a softball team so that I have some motivation to work out. When I do I have to work so hard just to loose 5 pounds, which is another awesome thing (not!) that I get to deal with. I have been having joint pain in my hands kind of like arthritis, but that is the only thing that has gone away a little bit that I can tell. There are so many side effects it is crazy to me that one thing can cause so much. The other night I woke up in the middle of the night. Kyle was in the other room doing homework. I was yelling in pain because my legs were having cramps in my muscles and joints. He came in the room thinking that I had another kidney stone. Anywhere I moved it just made them worse. The next day I had to ask him if it was real or not. I think we both have nightmares of what happened in Uruguay :) I hope to see a naturalist that has helped my sister with her thyroid problems as well. He told me he can help me, so I am anxious to see him soon. I am just waiting for him to look at all my blood work and go from there. Wish me luck!

Down With The Sickness

So for the past couple of months I have been dealing with some health issues. The Monday after I got back from our trip I had already had a dr appointment set up for my yearly check up. My dr was feeling around at my thyroid and said that it felt a little swollen and wanted to get it tested again. They tested it the year before for the same reason and the tests came back normal. That Thursday as I was going in to get an ultrasound on it, they called me and said that I have Hashimoto. This disease is an autoimmune disease where my immune system is attacking my thyroid. They said i may have to be on medication for the rest of my life. I am finding out more and more about it, but it explains a lot about how I have been feeling for the past couple of years. Since I got kidney stones, I think that it kind of set the thyroid disease off worse. So now I think the side effects from the thyroid disease is more intense. Now I am just waiting for my body to get use to the medication and start working. After this they will check my blood levels again and see where I am at and decide from there what to do with my medication.
On the other hand I was still dealing with the kidney stones. For some reason it was taking a really long time for it to pass through. I was still having severe pain throughout some days. About a week & half after we got home I was feeling really severe pain & had taken 2 pills, which is the maximum I can take. Later that night or early morning I was having more pain and took 2 more. The pain wasn't getting any better and sometimes worse. It was close to morning by then and I decided to call my doctor. He told me to come in and get another medication, because they couldn't call that strong of a medication over the phone. I went in with Kyle and got the medication. I was feeling a little bit better, but then I got home and Kyle went to school and it got really bad even after I took the new medication. It turned out they gave me the same drug, just minus the tylenol. I couldn't take it anymore so we went back in to the ER where they did a bunch more tests and stronger drugs. They looked at the pictures they took and wasn't totally sure that it was kidney stones. They were concerned about how long I have had the stone also. They wanted to do more tests to rule out other things. They checked me in and had me stay the night. The next morning I was able to keep something down and I wasn't having anymore pain, so they decided I would be ok to go home. They said if I had pain between then and Monday that I would have to have surgery to get it taken out. I didn't have much pain, but it took me another week to passed the stone. I was so relieve to not have to pee in a strainer anymore. The stone was so little, about the size of a little flake, but I am not kidding you, it had a hook on it! I still had to go back to the doctor for a check up after I passed it. I was still feeling uncomfortable on that side and feeling little spurts of pain. They told me sometimes what happens is that a part of the stone breaks off and stays in there for longer. He told me to come back in a month if I am feeling the same way. He said it is important because sometimes it can cause damage and effect my kidney. It now has been about a month. I have a dr appointment next week. They should just take more pictures of it and decide what to do from there on what they find, if anything.
I feel like I have been through so much and traumatized just a little bit and again I feel so lucky to live where I live.And even though it costs like 10 times more here, I am thankful that I am able to go to such a great hospital where I feel like I am good hands and where they can do so much for me. I am so lucky to have a companion that loves and cares for me so much to help me through it all! AND a mother that I can call whenever I need to take me to the hospital and take care of me when I need her! Looking back I feel so lucky!

URUGUAY

So I thought I would finally write about our trip to Uruguay. I have been so excited for this trip for the longest time. I definitely didn't think I would learn what I did. My perception of what I thought it would be like was totally different than what it really was like. There is so much to write about I think I will start at the beginning.

Our first flight was Sunday 12/26 around 4pm to Houston. Our next flight wasn't until the next morning so we got a room at the airport hotel there. We had to get up pretty early the next morning to get through the lines and such. Our plane left at about 9 that morning. We flew to Panama from there where we had a lay over for about 4 hours. It wouldn't have been that bad if the airport wasn't so ghetto, but it was alright. We at least had the internet. From there we left at about 7:00pm and didn't arrive til the next morning at about 5am. Although we thought we would sleep on the plane, we didn't. So by then it was Tuesday morning and we were exhausted. We didn't reserve a hotel for the previous night because we thought we would want to go walk around and see things. So from the airport we took a cab to our hotel in hopes that we could get a room that morning.
We got into the cab and there wasn't very many people on the roads that early in the morning, but the guy's driving was giving me an anxiety attack. At this point it was still dark as we drove up to the hotel. My first thought was that we are staying in the ghetto..eek! I think Kyle read my expression on my face because later he said that it would be ok as long as we didn't go out when it was dark. Yikes!! Once we got in the hotel they told us they didn't have any rooms and the rooms wouldn't be ready until later in the afternoon. We just camped out on their couch. I actually fell asleep a few times. I thought I was going to die, but eventually we got up and got some lunch. If you know me, I don't do so well with no sleep.

In the lobby, particularly in the bathroom, was where I had my first Uruguay or foreign experience. As the day went on and I used it a couple of times it got considerably stinkier and stinkier. I told Kyle and he said that they throw away their tissues after using them in the garbage, not in the toilet. I was a little appauled, and couldn't bring myself to do it myself.
Once we got into our room, which was around 12 pm, we just slept until the next day around 11am. We only got up to get some dinner and then went back to sleep. Our hotel room wasn't the greatest. The bed was so hard and the airconditioner wasn't working, but they did get that working for us at least. Wednesday, the next day, we decided to go down to the beach, which was just a couple of blocks away from our hotel. The beach that we went to was a little rundown so we decided to walk over to the next beach. I hadn't worn flip flops for a while, with it being winter here, so I got some blisters on my feet. But once we got there it was awesome! The buildings were so beautiful. As we got closer you can tell that the buildings weren't kept up that great, but from far away it was awesome! Kyle explained that during the depression it was just hard for everyone to keep them nice and hasn't been easy ever since. Here is a picture of the building close to the beach.

We stayed at the beach for a while and then decided to wander up to the mall. By then I was dying and Kyle had no pity on me. He just said, now you know how it feels to be on a mission.
The mall was just like any other! I think I loved it more than ours that we have here. When I shop here everyone has the same style of purses and shoes etc. In Uruguay there is a big variety of CUTE purses and sandals! Nothing was really the same in that way. We didn't buy anything there, but we did at the artisan market where everything was hand made. Everytime we go somewhere we try to do this to support the local people there. Anyway, after we were done there we took a cab back to our hotel. We stayed in for the rest of the night.
Thursday we planned to go on the Colonia city tour. It took about 2 hours to get there by bus. On the way there it gave me and idea of how the people live there. There were homes that were big and nice to homes that were literally shacks or huts. There were so many more of the huts though. I can't believe there are so many people that live like that. It was so sad to me. Because there is so much land that isn't being used that they would be able to use it to grow food so at least they had that. Colonia was beautiful! All of the buildings there were old and some of the roads were cobble stone. The town is right by the ocean as well. From there you could see Buenos Aires just barely from the shore. Here are some pictures that were close by or there in Colonia.

They built this bull fighting arena and shortly after it was outlawed.

We were exhausted by the end of the trip that day so we decided to stay in town by our hotel the next day, which was New Years Eve!
We slept in til about lunch time and we decided to wander around and get some lunch in Montevideo. Everyone was drinking and dancing around. It was really fun to see. From the buildings up on top people were throwing water down on the people below. Some people were just soked! People started to throw beer and water at each other so we just got lunch and got out of there. As we were eating lunch there was a little drum band playing and dancing around us! It was really cool to see!! We also went to this square that is there to honor one of their past leaders that helped them achieve independence. There was this big statue of this guy on a horse and then down below underground there was a big huge Urn with his ashes in it. There was 2 soldiers there guarding his remains. So cool! Here are some pictures of that.

That night for New Years we were going to go down to the beach where they had fireworks. We were watching the news and how crowded and crazy it was there so we decided to stay at the hotel and see if we could see the fireworks from there. In the stairwells there were windows and we could see the fireworks. They were everywhere! It was so awesome! I think this was my favorite part of the whole trip! People were lighting them everywhere even in trees! It was pretty humid there so nothing caught on fire. :) The next morning, we knew everything might open late, but nothing was open accept a few restaurants. So we decided to go walk around some more and see if we could find some stores that were open. Every time we went out the smells just get to you. The sidewalks smell like urine and around the garbage cans the garbage is everywhere because there are so many people going through them. I remember one morning I was just in tears. We saw a couple of guys probably in their 20s or 30s going through the garbage for food. Keep in mind that people throw their waste in there too, so there has to be a lot of disease from it. I realized that there was no kind of homeless shelters anywhere. I really didn't realize how people live there. I think I thought that most people lived like us in the US.
Sunday they have a big market where people come out and set up their handmade items and just other items they find to sell. Alot of our pictures is in video. I didn't really want to post video, but this was one part that we caught on video. It went on for blocks and blocks! It was so much bigger than what our farmers markets are like. That morning it was raining, but we went out anyway. The rain there was like mist, it got a little heavier too. It was so weird. Later as the day go better we went back to the beach to get more sun and relax.
That night things changed for the worst. I got up to use the bathroom and I started to have pain on the left side of my torso. It started getting really bad and I couldn't take it anymore. We finally decided to go to the hospital, but the hotel manager said that someone would be sent to our room. So we went back up to our room and waited for the ambulance. In Uruguay the actual doctor comes with like their assistant or nurse. They gave me a shot for the pain and said that it was probably food poisoning because I was throwing up too. The pain went away, but I was still feeling quite nauseated. We planned to go on a city tour to Punta Del Este the next morning, but because we were up all night, that wasn't going to happen. We still had a few more days there so we weren't that sad about it, but they charged us anyway for not canceling it that night. We planned to go on Tuesday again. On Monday night the pain came back again, but after the ambulance came back the second time the pain didn't go away and so around 10am Tuesday we decided to go to the hospital. They gave me pain medication through an iv and liquids, but it wasn't working and I was just throwing everything back up and just trying to manage the pain. After a couple of tests they said that I have 2 kidney stones. And at about dinner time and not being able to eat anything all day, they finally gave me a room and something to eat and check me into the hospital. The room was free for the night! They gave me morphine for the pain. The first dose wasn't working so they had to give me another shot and then I started having allergies to the morphine. My veins were popping out and I was itching around the veins. Kyle tried to take a picture of them, but it didn't turn out so well.

At this point in the picture I have been stuck 4 times for a stupid IV. This was my first IV too. I think I was tramatized just from that, but then I have always been scared of having an IV. I hate needles! The first one the nurse did and I don't think she knew what she was doing and she had to poke me twice to get it. Then they had to take it out because of the reaction and put in another one.

Once I was stabalized and happy Kyle went back to the hotel and got somethings for the night. While he was gone the nurses came in to give me a strainer so that I could catch the stone if I was to pee it out. It was a huge glass bottle that had a net on it. I had no idea how I was suppose to pee in it. The nurses didn't speak english so they had to think of a word that I understood when I looked it up. Luckily Kyle left the dictionary with me. I feel so lucky Kyle was with me when all this happened. He was so great with it all even though we both were scared out of our minds. The next morning, which was Wednesday the pain stopped and they reluctantly let us go. The Urologist gave me some perscriptions to get me through the plane rides.I don't think either one of us slept that night. I thought Kyle might have an anxiety attack. He kept on asking me every other minute if I was ok, which kind of conforted me too. He even asked to take a St. Johns Wart, which is something I use sometimes for my anxiety to calm me down.
I was fine the rest of the night into Thursday morning, which was when we left. That morning I was feeling a little sick and I could feel the second one wanting to come down from my kidney, so I was quite uncomfortable. At this point the first one didn't pass yet. I was told to take the pain medication 2 hrs before our first flight. The first flight was the longest. It was about an 8 hour flight to Panama. Then we got to wait another 4 hours for our next flight to Texas. There I got to call my mom and tell her that she probably needs to take us to the hospital as soon as we get there. By that time my body was shaking, I actually thought it was the airports that were shaking from the airplanes coming in but I was wrong. I was feeling sick off and on from the medications. And everytime I took and nap and woke up it make it worse, so I tried not to sleep so that I wouldn't chuck on someone in the airplane. I had this aweful scenario running through my head that they would land the plane just for me because I was in so much pain. We had another 3-4 hr lay over in Texas and then another 4 hr flight home. I think I was so lucky and had heavenly help to get through all that traveling. As soon as we landed I had to go to the bathroom. I forgot to mention, that when you have kidney stones you feel like you have to pee a lot. So I used the bathroom after we arrived in Salt Lake and I think I must have passed the first stone there, because shortly after the other one started to come down and I was in massive pain. We got out bags and my mom rushed us to the hospital. Once we got there it was starting to go away and they didn't have to give me any pain meds, but they confirmed that it was kidney stones.

So they sent me on my way with a pain med & nausea perscription andto just wait for the last one to pass. It was so aweful! But looking back I am so glad I went. There was so much we didn't get to see, but I think I was humbled by going and I am so much more thankful for what I have and feel that I am lucky! But I don't think I will be going out of the country for a while. :)

Here are a few more pictures from our trip.

Our Hotel

I tried to get some rest while I had a place I could throw up :)

I had to mark my time in the Uruguay hospital. Aweful picture though :(

Weird signs at the airport. I have no idea what it meant.

Cool car we saw on the side of the road in Colonia

A little church in a neighborhood on the way to Colonia

Everything that we ate there was so good!

New Year Eve everyone dancing in the streets!

Here is a video of the people that go around garbage can to garbage can to get out stuff they might be able to use or or sell. They were everywhere. Kind of crazy