I'm FREEEEEE!!!!

Yes, I got released today! What a relief! I will be home by 9:30 tonight. I have a rough road ahead for the next couple weeks, but at least its not in a hospital bed. Thanks to everyone for all the love and prayers! I love you all!!!

Cruisin

These are the pretty things I got from friends. I love them!

You are going home today.....psych!

The internal medicine doc came in and said that the urologist has approved for my discharge for today. YAY! We all got so excited and we started working on our flights and medical records and other stuff, then she came back in and said that she spoke too soon. The pulmonary doctor has not approved the discharge. They have a test that they will do in the morning and if it goes alright then I will probably be discharged on Friday! Keep your fingers crossed!

Real fooooood!

Today for lunch I was finally able to eat solid food so guess what I got, pizza! I completely over ate but it was so worth it. yum!

VISITORS!!!!!!

I HAVE BEEN SO FREAKIN HAPPY THAT ASHLEE AND KAE'LA CAME OUT TO VISIT!! They took the red eye flight from Phoenix and arrived this morning at 7am. Then they stayed up all day to visit without getting any sleep. They are troopers for being such good company even with no sleep! I have had a huge improvement today in mobility and I am sure that by them being here has helped me out with that. They completely have lifted my spirits and have been laughing all day long with them. I am so thankful to have them as best friends. Thank you so much girls, I love you tons!!!!!

So I don't walk so straight...

Make sure to walk a straight line when the nurses are watching or else you get this...

Buh Bye ICU!!!!!!!

Best news ever! ICU was not doing it for me so I decided to kick it! I am now in a regular room at the hospital. They also unhooked a whole bunch of cords from me. I am going on day 7 in the hospital, hopefully I get out soon!

Mom

I am so glad that my mom was able to come stay with me. I don't know what I would do without her! Thanks mom!!

I'm "juicing"

Here is an idea of the stuff I am getting. They are hoping that one of these things will kill the infection. Many have asked how I got it to begin with. I got a UTI a few weeks before Costa Rica and went on antibiotics but apparantly it didn't kill it all the way. Normally it probably wouldnt matter, but we were doing activities out of the norm and in a different climate with weird food. A lot of reasons combined. This is what the docs are thinking but no one knows for sure.

I am not sure if I mentioned this below, but I owe a BIG thank you to Ernie for getting me back in the states. They kept saying no but he persisted. He is in the Insurance biz so I think that really helped out too. I didn't do one thing to prepare the move, in fact the doctors are the ones that told me because he was busy talking to BCBS and the hospital to complete the paperwork. Thanks Ernie!

Pics in the hospital

This has been my meal for 3 days, for every meal....broth, popsicle, jello, apple juice, iced tea..I have only an appetite for a

Shower time! This cap had shampoo and conditioner in it, completely waterless.

Medical plane ride...just getting on.

They are lifting me in the plane here.

Me on the stretcher...hmmm mad woman or injured...they are still trying to figure that one out

Made it to Ft Lauderdale after a 3 hour plane ride

Took a turn for the worse

Since we were way south, it was a long ways from anything. I started feeling a side ache on Monday but just thought it was something I ate. So I stayed behind while everyone went scuba diving (which I got certified for this trip). I was SO bummed I couldnt go! So the next day was another scuba trip and I was determined to go so I acted like I had no pain so the dive master would let me go. The boat trip out was about an hour and bumpy. I went down on my first dive and loved it! I saw a white tip shark and a sting ray and a pucker fish and many other fish. After the dive I felt horrible so I sat out on the next one.

We left the resort that day to start heading north and after 4+ hours of bumpy dirt roads I was really in pain. We got to the next hotel really late so we decided to go to the hospital in the morning. It was the longest night of my life. The pain grew to be unbearable. When we got to the hospital on Wed morning they did some tests and found out that I had an extremely bad kidney infection and they admitted me immediately. After being there for 2 days in pain my condition had only gotten worse. They did a cat scan and my liver was 2 times bigger than it should be and my kidney infection was worse, plus my other organs were getting bad like my spleen and gall bladder. That is when they moved me to the ICU. That is also the time that we realized that I am not getting the proper care at the costa rica hospital. So Ernie spent 9+ hours on the phone with Blue Cross Blue Shield to convince them to bring a medical life flight to pick me up. They said no for a while but he finally got it approved. The plane showed up at 2:30am that night! I was scared to move but once I got here I was so happy to be here. I was immediately put in the ICU and I have around 10-15 doctors working on me. They have me hooked to 2 IV's and pumping them to the max with 6 of the strongest kinds of antibiotics, pain meds, and fluids. After being here for 3 days my pain is under control, my breathing is under control. Unfortunately since they are filling me so fast, I have blimped up 2 times the size that I usually am. I have cankles and no wrists and looks like I am carrying triplets.

Today was the first day that I received positive news and that is a couple of my vitals are normal. Plus I am now able to breathe without oxygen. I was pretty down the last few days but today is the first day that I have some hope. I am on a liquid diet which sucks! I am really craving a good burger and pizza.

I will update this daily so that everyone can look on here instead of calling or texting.

Thank you for all the love and support from everyone!! I truly have the best people in my life!!!!

The fun days in Costa Rica

Monkey below. Above is this popular dish called paia. It took Juan hours to make this.

Pretty waterfall

Good thing this is a rental! We beat it up pretty good. Check out this river we had to cross in it!

Lots of frogs that make the funniest noises at night, It sounds like thousands of broken clinking bottles.

Chillin in the hammock.

Crocs were below this bridge. Glad it was a good sturdy bridge!

The first 3 days of the trip were great. We stayed at the Osa Penninsula on the south tip of Costa Rica. We did hiking, swimming, a tour, layed around in the hammocks. The resort was very exclusive and private. Waterfalls everywhere. The beach was miles and miles of perfect beach and I never once saw another person. Here is a bunch of pics from the fun days.