Slightly off-color

So, several days have passed since that single moment that has affected me so greatly since then. I am finally starting to get used to crutches. They still make my muscles ache, but now I can go farther before I have to stop for a rest. Since that first day, several interesting things have happened.
I noticed, as I walked to work on Saturday morning, that people only stop to help when there is NOTHING that they can do. If there is actually something that they could do, they don't stop. I muttered about this bitterly as I watched car after car pass me by as I slowly made my way to campus. I would have thought that just one person could have understood my plight and been kind enough to stop, but no, I made the whole trip on crutches. It was quite the contrast from the day before when I was walking around campus and practically everyone who saw me asked if they could do anything to help, but then, of course, there was nothing that could be done.
Still, I managed to get around at work, for a training class, and then get home without too much trouble. Sunday, was pretty much the same. I made it to campus without too much trouble. This time, there was something that could be done when people asked if they could help. Mainly it involved carrying my crutches so I could hop up the stairs. I had to explain my stupidity over and over again at church. It was quite disconcerting. (Left - here you can see the bruising on the side of my foot. It looks worse in real life).
Finally, there was a stake relief society presidency member at church and she told me about the scooters that some people use. I told her that I don't know where to get one and she said that she knew a girl who had had one and that she would see if the girl still had it and call me. Well, that got my hopes up, but I haven't heard from her, so either she forgot about me, or the girl didn't have it. Oh well, at least I'm getting used to the crutches.
On my way home from church, I was almost to the bottom of the stairs south of campus when a bunch of people from my ward came up behind me. One guy said that he could carry me down the rest of the way if I wanted. I guess I hesitated too long because he just picked me up and carried me down the rest of the way. It was quite an interesting experience, to be swept off my feet (literally) by someone I don't even know. To be honest, it didn't make too much of a difference, but at least he was paying attention in sacrament meeting (we had had a talk on doing little acts of charity). It would have been better if he had carried me UP the three flights of stairs I have to go up every day to get to my apartment, but I still made it home.
Today I was looking at my foot wondering at how it wasn't very bruised. I couldn't understand it because when I broke my toe, it got almost black! But, I thought, maybe that is because the toe bone is closer to the surface. Then, a little later, I noticed a spot on the right side of my foot. I carefully leaned my foot towards me so I could see and realized that my foot is a lot more bruised than it appears at first glance. You can't even really see it from the top! I've also begun to notice that my foot is getting slowly more swollen. Sometimes it is so bad that I can't even bend my toes! They are too fat!

Things keep getting bigger and bigger

Well, a day has passed since the fateful moment when I heard the words, "I owe you an apology. You have an avulsion fracture in your foot." Since that moment, my life has changed. I can't walk, I can't carry anything unless I crawl on the floor or hop on one foot, and I am supposed to fit a lot of things into my schedule that I've never had to do before, like icing my foot, extra travel time to get anywhere, and things of that nature. You never really appreciate what it means to be able to get around until you really can't.
Lizzy came over early this morning to help me get to work. She carried my stuff and walked with me as I crawled (not literally this time) to work. It was killer! What was even worse is that working in the morning requires me to open all the other labs so I had a lot of extra walking to do. By the time I was done, it was hard for me to use the crutches because my hands/arms hurt so bad. But there was nothing else that could be done, so I continued on.
Elizabeth met me for lunch and then she helped me to my class. We made arrangements for her to come back after my class to help me get home. My class actually ended up getting out early. Luckily, Saundra, a friend from my mission who is in my class, was there and offered to help. She took my stuff and drove her car to meet me so that I didn't have to walk very far. Then, after seeing how slow it was for me to get up my stairs, she literally carried me up. I wish I had been able to get a picture. I'm sure it was quite the sight.
(Left - I think this picture shows very well how swollen my foot has become. It still hurts, but the Ibuprofen helps. Also, I can still move my toes, but sometimes I move my foot, as in my ankle, and that really hurts. My foot is still sore, but that could be from being immobilized for so long and from the swelling as well. I have only slight discoloration on my foot, though that isn't really visible at all in this picture). I had actually wanted to do something this evening, but had to cancel because I didn't want to try getting around. It is just too difficult, and too painful. But, at least I was able to remove my splint for a little while so I could shower. I also soaked my foot in cold water like I was instructed. I was told to do that every 4-6 hours (I couldn't prior to this because I was supposed to leave the splint on for 24 hours for it to form to my foot) but I really don't see how that is even possible. I'll do the best that I can.
Other than that, I work again tomorrow. I'm not sure what is going to happen to me because it is very difficult for me to go anywhere. It makes me not want to go anywhere, but I have to. I may end up putting up my shifts for this coming week if I'm not able to handle the crutches better.
That is a day in the life of the near-crippled Rachel.

Have I ever told you how I feel about my foot?

So, this is for everyone who wanted me to update my blog. I blame you! As anything adventurous in my life (or so it seems), the ending is never a good one. Also, don't read the captions until you read the story or it will give things away.
Today began as a normal day. I woke up, dragged myself out of bed, dressed, got ready, ate breakfast and left for work. I worked for 4 hours before coming home. (Left - waiting in the emergency room check in). Elizabeth came over, we ate lunch, I did homework and took a nap. When I finally let myself get out of bed, I realized that it was time for dinner. It was my turn to make dinner, so I went into the kitchen. Unfortunately, I realized that the dishwasher had NOT actually cleaned the dishes. So, I had to run it through again. We needed a lot of dishes from there, so I decided we would take my desktop computer to Lizzy's apartment and set it up, since my laptop is now working. We packed up the desktop, the monitor separate and a box with my tower, my APC battery backup device, and all cables/peripherals. In short, the box was fairly heavy and rather big. But, I carried that down the three flight of stairs to the street and started to cross the street. I stepped down off the curb. I don't know if I just didn't realize how wide the gutter was, or if I didn't think the ground would be so slanted, or what. Whatever the case may be, I suddenly found myself hurtling toward the ground. I managed to catch myself with my arm, saving my computer from smashing into the pavement, but then I noticed an excruciating pain in my foot. (Right - not very visible, but on the right is the bulge on my foot). Elizabeth came down not too long after. I just sat there in the street clutching my leg and wincing in pain. I had Elizabeth carry the stuff the rest of the way to the car.
I finally made myself get up; I limped over to the car. By the time I got to the car, the pain was so bad that it made me feel dizzy. I thought I was going to fall over. I sat down in the street, again. I could not keep my balance. Sometime during this time, I noticed that a large bump had developed on the right side of my right (injured) foot. After a little while, my head cleared and I drove over to Lizzy's apartment. She carried in the first stuff and she brought out a wrap bandage. I wrapped my foot and then I kind of helped her carry the box into the apartment. I sat down and elevated my foot while I explained to Elizabeth how to set up my computer. Heather called on the phone, so I explained what had happened to her. While I was talking to Heather, one of Lizzy's roommates came and wanted to look at my foot. She said it looked exactly like what happened when she hurt her foot. She had an avulsion fracture. (Left - Waiting in the emergency room). That is where a piece of the bone breaks off. She recommended that I go in to the doctor.
I hadn't been planning on going in because I absolutely HATE going to the doctor, but after that I felt like I should. We finished setting up the computer and then I tried to figure out where to go. The couple of places that I called were already closed. I found out about an instacare place, but they didn't know if they could accept my insurance. I have Blue Cross, but they said if it is a PPO then they don't accept it. I didn't know for sure and I had no way of finding out, but I think my insurance is a PPO, so I couldn't go there.
We left and I suddenly discovered that I could no longer walk at all. The pain was too much. Elizabeth helped me hobble out to the car. I told her that this is one of those times when it is very annoying that she doesn't drive. She agreed.
I drove back to my apartment, made Lizzy go up the three flights of stairs alone, get my insurance card, check online to see where I needed to go, and grab a couple of other things. Then I drove up to the Timpanogos Hospital. That was the only after hours help I could get. I ended up going to the emergency room, with Elizabeth wheeling me in in a wheelchair. It was very weird and I felt like an idiot. I felt even more like an idiot when 5 different people kept asking me how I had injured my foot and I had to explain over and over that I had fallen. (Right - climbing the stairs to my apartment. You can also see my airbrace).
They did x-rays. It took about 3 hours from the time I arrived at the hospital to the time that I left the emergency room with 2 1/2 of those hours waiting in a hospital bed. They were very busy, I guess. The doctor came as the last person to see me. He told me it was just a sprain, although a very bad one. I felt even more like an idiot for going to the emergency room for a sprain. He gave me a prescription, some crutches, and an airbrace. Then I headed out. I had to drive with my left foot all the way home, stopping at Walgreens to get my prescription (large Ibuprofen pills) filled. That was ridiculous.
After getting home, it was a chore to get up the stairs. My foot still hurt too much to put any weight on it so I had to jump up each step while Lizzy carried everything. (Left - still climbing!) We hadn't eaten dinner, so we decided to just eat cereal. While I was on my first bowl, I got a phone call. Can you guess who it was? It was the emergency room. The doctor had looked at my x-rays again and noticed something, so they wanted me to come back in and get a splint. I finished my "dinner" and asked my roommate or one of the two guys at our house looking through our movies, if I could get a ride back to the hospital. I didn't want to try the whole driving with my left foot again. My roommate drove me up to the hospital and we had a short wait before the doctor came to apologize. He then explained that when he had looked at my x-ray again he had seen a fracture, a tiny little fracture, more specifically an avulsion fracture. Well, Lizzy's roommate had been right! So he explained what had happened at that the tip of the bone had been ripped off with the ligament (?) when I had twisted my foot. (Above - my new splint after returning to the hospital). Then a nurse came and put a splint on my leg, saying that he hoped I had showered already because I couldn't get the splint wet and couldn't remove it for at least 24 hours. Oh well, I guess I'm going to work stinky tomorrow.
So, by the time I got back to my apartment, it was 10:30 pm, 5 1/2 hrs from the time that I had injured my foot, 3 1/2-4 hrs since I had first arrived at the emergency room.
Well, I hope you all are happy with yourselves. You, who wanted me to update my blog cursed me into something like this happening! Now I'm going to be in either a splint or a boot for the next 6 weeks!

Toe Story

One day has passed since that fateful night. That day has been filled with crutches, story telling, and limping around. At the end of the day, I realized that someone had painted my toe. A dab of black, a little blue, and a smattering of purple now adds character to my toe, nicely complimenting the large and swollen look. Whoever made this toe must be an artist.

As a side note, walking around campus on crutches has taught me one very interesting thing, guys who know you are very helpful, but if they don't, they won't even pause to hold the door after walking out ahead of you. On the other hand, so many random girls stopped to help me. It was very interesting. One girl even gave me a number in case I need a ride. Cool huh?

Enough adventure for one night

Today was a very adventurous day, and it was a good one, despite an interesting end to the evening. I had classes like always on Mondays until 5. After my last class, I decided to go take the Russian Challenge Exam so I could get 16 credits of earlier Russian classes. It only took about 20 minutes and I got a 99%! That made me very excited.
I came home and told my roommate about our nighttime visitors from last night who invited us to their ward's activity. It was to be a Thanksgiving Feast at a place called Spring Haven. We decided to go (free food!) and called to get a ride. We were a little late leaving, and as we were driving up, we weren't really sure where we were going. We turned off at this building that had a bunch of cars and we thought we were in the right place. We walked up to the door and saw a sign about another ward's FHE, and so we thought we were in the right place. We walked right in . . . We were all astonished. The place was gorgeous! They had high ceilings and incredible style. They even had an electronic light switch that looked more like a computer screen then a light switch. We started walking around trying to find the people we were supposed to be meeting. It was then that we noticed the shoes and coats, and realized that we were in somebody's house. That's right! We walked right in to someone else's house! It was hilarious. We left, hoping no one had noticed our error.
Then we continued on our way. We finally came to Spring Haven. As we were walking up to the place, we were told that they ran out of food. That was very disappointing, but we went anyway. That place was incredible, too. There is an indoor tree house and an indoor basketball court. We explored a little, found some left over salad and chowed down. Then we went to the tree house to go down the slide. (See pictures above. The top picture is me coming out of the infamous slide. The second picture is me with ice on my toe. The third is a small shot of the tree house. It is actually a lot bigger. The next picture is me eating pizza) It was a lot of fun . . . the first time. Then something stupid happened. As I was preparing to go down the second time, I tried to get myself to go really fast. Unfortunately, I wasn't quite prepared for the size of the hole I was jumping in to and I stubbed my right second toe. It hurt so bad! I came out the other end and had to limp to a seat. A guy brought me some ice, but thinking that I had hurt my ankle, he brought a huge bag of ice. I iced my toe, but it kept swelling up. (These last two pictures should illustrate a little what happened. I hope you can see the difference with my swollen toe. The last picture is me typing this blog with my foot elevated. That is quite a feet [a pun, hee hee!]) Still, we managed to have a lot of fun, and we finally got pizza.
Luckily, I have an awesome home teacher who found me a pair of crutches within 20 minutes of me calling for his help. It was great because the crutches came from my awesome visiting teacher. Now I have a way to get around campus tomorrow. So, if you see me walking with crutches, that is my story. On the bright side, it gave others the opportunity to do service.

School, work, and visiting the doctor

Hello, I'm not exactly sure how to start this entry to my blog. I guess I can start by summing up everything new that is going on in my life. Well, I've already shared the bad news (my mom having cancer) so everything else is good or just normal.
School started last week and so far its going well. I like my professors and have classes where I enjoy the material. I am grateful for that because it makes it easier to go to class. I guess that is what is supposed to happen when you are only taking classes for your major, right? That is a good sign anyway.
I also went to the doctor last week. I don't know if anyone is familiar with Doctors of Osteopathy. I don't particularly understand the difference between DOs and MDs (except letter differences). I read about it online, but it didn't make too much sense. Anyway, you can look it up if you want, but when I saw DOs on my insurance's list of providers, I decided that since a regular MD couldn't figure out what was wrong, maybe a DO could. I am so glad I made that decision. Not only did this doctor have an answer for me the very meeting, she has several treatments options. This doctor has dealt with several other people with similar symptoms and it was caused by stress. That may sound like a poor diagnosis, but when you think about it, it makes sense. What does stress do to you physically? What happens when too much stressed is placed on a person and his or her body can't handle the stress?
Well, as far as we know, that is what happened to me. She drew blood and ran some tests, and gave me an andrinocortex test to take (I had to bring it home to take it, spit analysis basically). She also started me on a treatment to treat the symptoms that I have so I can start feeling better sooner. I have been put on a yeast control diet. Basically, that means I can't eat any of the things that I love to eat: bread, sugar, fruit or fruit juice, and cheese are the main ones, but I can't use margarine (only real butter), or vegetable oil, white flour, rice, etc. I CAN eat brown rice, whole wheat tortillas (but only if there is no yeast in it), oatmeal (without any flavoring), vegetables, meat, milk, and eggs.
At the same time, she put me on this medication that is supposed to kill everything in my stomach and intestines. Then, because there is bacteria that is supposed to live in your intestines, I have to take a complex that replaces that bacteria.
She also wants me to come in for a glucose resistance test just to see how I am doing in regards to diabetes. There are other treatments that she wants to pursue, but they are unconventional treatments and my insurance wouldn't cover them. But, she told me that I can still get better without them, it will just take longer. The three treatments are: intravenous vitamin injections to give my system a jump start (total cost would be $600), Goji juice which is a high-vitamin content nutrition drink ($600), and acupuncture to treat infection and I forget what else ($200). So, there you have it. I could do one, or all, but the problem is, I don't have money for any. I normally would talk to my parents and see if they could help so I could do at least one . . . but with my mom's cancer and her still being in the hospital, I don't think that is really an option. I guess I will have to suffer it out and hope that I don't get worse with the added stress of my mother's illness.
This is turning in to a really long entry and I don't want to bore anyone, but I got the results back from the blood work my doctor did. I have too low: cholesterol, vitamin B, white blood count, and thyroid hormone and too high (barely) sugar. I am going in for another visit today. Hopefully I will start to feel better soon.
Other than that, work is going really well. It makes me tired going to class and working, but I'm glad I have some kind of income. I don't know what I would do without it, and plus, I love my job.

Currently Reading:
The Postmaster
by Aleksandr Pushkin
The Overcoat
by Gogol
Poor Folk
by Fyodor Dostoevsky
Diary of a Madman
by Gogol
The Nose
by Gogol

Back in Provo

Well, I am once again back in Provo. I moved into my new place on Wednesday, and have been here by myself since then, until yesterday. Now one of my two roommates is here, and we have already had some interesting experiences. I can tell that we are going to have a fun year.
Anyway, I'll start by sharing the reason I am writing so early on a Sunday morning. Last night we had a few windows open because it is so hot here in Provo (my roomie is from California and she thinks its hot, too, so that's not just because I'm from North Dakota). Several of our windows didn't have screens on, so we called the landlady, found out where they would be, and put them on. We thought everything was fine and went to bed.
At about 4:30 this morning, my roommate woke up in pain after being bitten or stung by some kind of insect. This eventually woke me up, and we started trying to figure out what it was. After some time, we saw some kind of wasp (we think) on the wall. So we killed it. We figured out that it must have flown in between the time we opened the windows and were able to put the screens on. So, now I am awake.
Anyway, I've still been having the same problem with exhaustion, I don't want to say too much about that because there isn't anything new. The only thing is, I'm starting to think I might have a sleep disorder, since all other tests have come back normal. So, I am in the process of finding a good doctor here in Provo. Wish me luck!

Currently Reading:
Russian Culture

News

Hello, once again. Its been a while since I posted last, but as usual, there isn't much going on. Though, I have been finally called as a visiting teacher. But, it seems kind of silly to do that after 6 months of being here when I have only 2 and a half months left. Oh well.
Anyway, I'm still having problems with exhaustion. I've been taking my medication for 5 weeks now, but the last few weeks, I've started to feel worse. I went in to the doctor yesterday, and talked about how I've been feeling. She decided to take me off the medication temporarily. Then, I have to go back for some more tests. She said that they should be able to get it all taken care of and fixed before I go back to school. That's a relief because I don't think I would be able to handle school feeling like I am.
I guess that's about it for me!

Side effects

So, I've been taking the medication (Levothyroxine) that my doctor prescribed for nearly a week, but I don't feel any better. Unfortunately, the info I was given on it says it may take several weeks to start working as my body gets used to it. Even worse, there are several side effects that make me feel worse still. I get headaches and stomach aches, I am almost always burning up (not with fever, just I feel like I'm under the sun in 90 degree weather), and it even makes me irritable. Sometimes I find myself irrationally feeling angry or upset. There is no reason for me feeling that way, but it makes me want to snap at someone (look out!) And to top it all off, sometimes I feel like my heart is going to beat out of my chest. Add all that together with the symptoms I was already experiencing and you can bet I am pretty miserable.
Well, enough of that complaining, I am mostly fine, I just wish some things were different. I am going to be working for a few days next week. I was working at the cafeteria in the state capitol building before I found out about my thyroid problem and they need some help. That will be interesting to see if I can make it through, even with 4 hours a day.
It is a strange feeling to be unable to work. I've never experienced this before. I've never been unable to work. I mean, I probably could work (I always push and push), but everyday I worked was hard for me to get through because of the exhaustion. Even now, I have a hard enough time doing more than walk up the stairs. As it is, I get winded doing that. Sheesh! That makes me sound like an out-of-shape weakling! Oh well, that's really how it is for me. Sometimes I even wake up and have a hard time moving my muscles to get out of bed.
That means that right now I spend a lot of time reading, and watching TV, and occasionally (when I save up enough energy) writing emails and posting here. The only thing is, that all gets boring. Unfortunately, going out somewhere (even just to my friends') wipes me out for a couple of days.
Let me tell you something, if anyone out there is feeling even a small portion of this and it has gone on for several weeks, go in to the doctor. If you don't, it will just get worse!
Well, I guess this isn't a very interesting post, but at least its informative!

Currently Reading:
The Voyage of the Dawn Treader
by C. S. Lewis
Prince Caspian
by C. S. Lewis
The Horse and His Boy
by C. S. Lewis