updates from canada now

so i am back home now. since the last post i ended up getting a little sick again so they had to do a bunch more tests and studies and i changed my flight from the 16th to yesterday (the 22nd). but a cool thing... the one day they were doing all these tests and it looked like i had kidney stones all of a sudden and i was in a lot of pain, and they said that my kidneys kept inflaming which is why it was interfering with my breathing as it was pushing on my diaphragm too. so the next day i went back to do some more intense tests, but i had woke up that day feeling AMAZING and i walked into the clinic and all of the staff stopped me to say how great i was looking and wondering what changed. but as i talked to the doctor afterwards he said "we arent sure quite what happened. i sure can't explain it but all your results from today aren't showing anything. you are healthy!!" so i said "amen", he said "hallelujah" and that was it with my sickness - a miracle.
so i spent the last week catching up on things i had missed out for the month i was working with hero holiday, and the 2 weeks i was sick in bed. i was finally allowed to leave the house so i went up to nazaret quite a bit to hang out with antera and nano and bascally the rest of the village and i had my sad last day in the clinic up there. i also got to help with another hero holiday medical team that was down and it was really cool because they did a medical clinic in the hotel they stay in and that i have been visitng for the last 5 years. so staff and family were able to come and get checkups for free which was a huge deal because they're wages arent very good and they barely get an afternoon off each week so to just walk down the hall for a quick consult worked out amazingly. they were so appreciative also because missionary groups and medical groups always stay in their hotel but as far as i have heard this was the first time anyone did something for them.
i also got to get nano his very first mochila (backpack) because he is starting school in nazaret this september, and his mom was telling me how he wont let anyone touch it or look at it without his permission. he is just so excited. and on my last day i took him to the beach and on a whole day adventure - he fell asleep on the way home and as soon as we got there and he woke up, he started crying again (which he does everytime i leave the house) but this time he knew i wouldnt be back until next year... so sad!!!
i also luckily got some more chances to hang out with rana and friends and right now if you want to be praying they are in haiti but should returning shortly to the dominican for their remaining 2 weeks.
so i got home yesterday finally after both of my flights being at least 2 hours delayed, but two friends genevieve and elise came to pick me up in buffalo - sadly one of my suitcases is lost still but will hopefully get in today - and i just unpacked and fell asleep pretty early.
i have had such an amazing summer - crazy busy just how i like it, so i might be sleeping for awhile though. but i have to go get ready for church - i hope they dont think im gonna go up and talk today.
thanks for following everthing and for all your support and prayers. love you all!
and if i get a chance i will try to write a little more once i get more settled.
if anyone feels like praying i wont go through too much of a hard transition back into canadian life i would appreciate that.
i also had to say some really hard goodbyes this week to amy, who had been down since may like me, and obviously all my other friends that live down there, so i am really glad i stayed the extra week or else i would have left without getting to see anyone.

patient versus nurse

quite a bit has been going down since i moved in with gabi this month. i'm not quite sure where to begin but as you all know i will just begin rambling and hope to stop sometime before lunch...\
we had jsut been going through a marathon of everyone leaving - hero holiday, josh and kirstin, kara, kyle etc when finally, sunday august 2 rolled around which means RANA. so i woke up nice and early to make sure i didnt miss her flight but i could barely walk, my whole body ached, my skin hurt to be touched, my head was pounding, my stomach hurt etc etc... so i just assumed i was a little tired so i went with mama D and jimmyjames to the airport to get rana (doubled over, laying on the ground when possible, shivering everytime the wind blew...) but soo excited to see ranita and meet her friends that were coming down. so we got them all sorted out and i just went home and layed in bed for the rest of the day with the beginnings of a fiebre (fever) and everytime i would stand up i would practically fall back down. that night i slept (off and on) with a blanket off and on because i just couldnt decide - and my friends took shifts checking on me.
the next morning was nazaret clinic day so donna decided to take me for some blood work and then up to the clinic, where they immediately threw me on the bed and hooked up 'un suero' (an IV) and i wasnt allowed to move all day. then int he afternoon they got my test results back and were sure i had dengue fever so i was sent to a hospital in puerto plata (everyone gets mad when i call it a hospital because here that means a place you basically go to die, so i was sent to a private clinic). i ended up going through 9 IV's i believe from 7 that first night to 4 the next day, had a fever of 102+ (even though the nurse said "no fever"). they did some tests to show that i didnt have dengue but instead had a bad kidney infection (un infeccion de los rinones) - we ended up having some issues with this hospital overcharging me for things i never had and it was a very expensive overnight experience but i hopefully have the right paperwork for insurance to help me out...
then on wednesday i had a bunch of house guests (people came all the way down from nazaret to check on me - probably spent their weeks worth of wages to do so) and every friend that i have practically ever met came to see how i was. its a really big thing in their culture that i am just learning about (and loving, since i hate to be alone), and if people couldnt make it in to see me they called or sent someone else.
so i had just been taking it easy for a couple days (nobody would let me do anything - rather annoying if you know me) and on friday i was feeling good so i went to find my friends that work in the emergency room in puerto plata. unfortunately they werent working that day and by the time i got home i was back in bed, with another wicked fiebre, this time struggling to breath, my whole body started tingling and i could only cry - which again if you know me, you know is something that i dont do. even when i broke my pelvis i only cried because i didnt want to ride in the ambulance hah..
this time they checked me into a brand new clinic here in sosua (5 minute walk from my house) and they did a whole bunch of other gross tests and found out i had an ovarian cyst that ruptured as well and if i hadnt gotten in when i did, then i would have needed emergency surgery. so they made me stay in for two days to keep an eye on me and to continue doing tests and such. luckily, yesterday morning they came in and said i was doing well enough to leave. so i just have a check-up on wednesday and until then i am pracitcally on house arrest which is VERY annoying just incase anyone wanted to know (im sitting out by the pool write now to write this but shh dont tell, gabi is still sleeping).
so i am feeling a lot better. thank you all for praying. and if someone is reading this and had no idea i was sick it is because i didnt tell anyone. my friend called the parents while i was in the hospital.
basically i just think this experience was another thing to add to the list of things i can understand for when i am a nurse. i will know how it feels, the singns and symptoms, where not to push or touch etc. i probably wont even need anymore formal school training., at the rate im going, i could have these sicknesess down in a couple years... (just kidding - no more hospitals or clinics for me - unless im the one working in it)