The one about the Hospital...

This post will be dedicated to my hospital stay, since everyone has been asking me about it and wants to know what happened. I met my friend Maureen in Valencia, then we went to Granada, where she is living. I had some sort of stomach bug, but thought that if I ignored it, it would go away, apparently not... I went to get ready for bed one night when I began to feel a lot of pressure in my chest and didn't have much feeling in my left arm. Again, I tried to ignore it, but it was too uncomfortable, and we decided I should go to the ER. When I got there I had to convince the woman in admissions that I did have insurance, even though I have still not received my insurance card and didn't have any other information about my insurance company. She finally just told me to fax her the information the next day...

When I went to talk to the doctor all of my tests came out normal, and they told me to wait for the results of my blood test. I already had started to feel better and thought it was just a fluke and would be able to go back to Maureen's apartment that night. But when my results came back they told me I needed to stay for a few tests because the results were similar to those of a heart attack (Ah!). Everything is a blur from there, I had people poking me from all angles with an IV, another blood test and some other injections, while they were asking me questions about my health history and my activities of the night. Then they took me to the ICU, but Maureen couldn't come with me, and that's when I started to freak out and cry. They put all of my belongings in a bag and handed them to Maureen, telling her she could come visit for 30 minutes the next day. When I got to the ICU the doctor immediately did an ultrasound of my heart and concluded that it was working perfectly, so I still thought it wasn't serious and would be able to leave the next day.

But that wasn't the case. I spent 2 days in the ICU hooked up to machines to monitor my heart and an IV. I could only get up to go to the bathroom accompanied by a nurse. The ICU was dark and lonely, and I felt really out of place being 22 years old and surrounded by people who were seriously ill. I felt completely fine by the next morning, and the nurses kept the curtain closed around me because they said it was too sad for me to be seeing the other older and sicker people there. I also became well know as la nina americana, and one of the nurses called me la reina (queen).

Then I started to hear rumors about "the planta" which seemed like a magical place that I never would actually get to go to. The planta was the normal cardiac wing of the hospital, where the patients can get up, walk around, have visitors, eat real food and not be attached to an IV. I learned that the doctors really enjoying saying, "just one more day". For six days everyone told me "just one more day, then you can go to the planta", or "just one more test tomorrow and you can leave". 

My bed was the only place big enough for the puzzle...

I eventually got to the planta and Maureen came to visit as much as she could. We did a 1000 piece puzzle, played alot of rummy and went for walks around the hospital and courtyard. I really can't express how grateful I am to her for keeping me company, but more importantly dealing with all of my insurance issues between the hospital and the insurance company.  She did absolutely everything for me.

Finally Free

It was certainly an experience talking with doctors and nurses only in Spanish. I found myself paying more attention to understanding the words they were saying than actually being able to internalize and analyze what they were telling me. It didn't help that I don't know anything about medicine or the heart. I also had some medical students do some of my tests. For an ECO two students worked together to figure out how to do it correctly, and it was actually amusing to observe. I met most of my roomate's family, who was a women in her 40's. Her nephews helped Maureen and I finish our puzzle, and I taught them the English words for the things in the puzzle. I also met another 22 year old boy who was there for the same condition as me. He came into my room one morning, handed me a piece of paper and said, "I drew you a picture. I'm in the room down the hall if you want to talk." It was pretty funny at the time and we ended up hanging out in the courtyard for a while. Many of the teachers from school also called me to check in and see how I was feeling. It was really nice to know that so many people were thinking of me.


This entry is getting quite long, so I will just conclude with my diagnosis. I had mioperiocarditis. I'm not exactly sure of the English translation, but it was an inflammation of a small part of the heart called the pericardium, caused by a virus, and is apparently fairly common in people my age. I am completely fine now, and just need to rest for a couple weeks. I am SO excited to go home and relax with my family after such a stressful and strange week.

Improptu Ice Skating

Last weekend I was on my way to the Feria Hispano-Portuguesa, a fair that celebrates the relation ship between Spain and Portugal, when some friends and I were distracted by an ice skating rink that popped up over the weekend. The rink and some other kids rides were there to celebrate winter and the Christmas season and will be up for a few weeks. 

I haven't been ice skating in years, and I'm definitely not a very talented skater. However, the Spanish proved to be worse. There were quite a few people who would stand up, and immediately fall again, over and over. It was entertaining to watch, but looked pretty painful! Morgan and I were the only two who actualy went skating, and we had fun...for a short time. The skates were super uncomfortable, so we had to stop after only about 15 minutes. It felt so good to have normal shoes on after that though!!