101 Hours

Monday, July 15th, dawned wet.  The smell of rain coming in through my windows and the lovely feel of humidity were wonderful.  I got up, had breakfast, and soon found myself crawling back in bed to read and enjoy the sound of the rain.

 

At almost 9am exactly, I felt a sharp pain on my lower right side.  I put my book down, took deep breaths, and prayed.  After ten minutes, I knew from the pain my body was trying to pass a kidney stone.  I had my first back in June 2007.  Not an experience I care to repeat, but here it was, happening again.  The pain of a kidney stone is beyond anything describable.  I could barely move and it took me almost an hour to crawl from my room to the kitchen where the phone is to call our park dispatch.  A law enforcement ranger found me and rushed me to the ER in town.

 

Finally, somewhere between 11:30 and noon, I was given something for the pain and it worked instantly.  It was heaven.  I was pumped full of fluids and we waited.  By late evening, the stone hadn't passed and I was admitted to the hospital.  Tuesday I was sent home with a prescription for pain meds and instructions to drink, drink, drink.

 

No stone Tuesday.

 

No stone Wednesday.

 

No stone Thursday. 

 

Thursday night the pain flared up again and I had to go back to the ER.  I got another scan of my insides and found the stone hadn't moved since the scan I had Tuesday.  HADN'T MOVED!

 

I was given another prescription for a strong narcotic and sent home again.  Finally, at 2pm on Friday, after 101 hours of labor, I became the parent of a 3mm baby kidney stone. 

 

It's amazing how something so small can wreck so much havoc.  (That's my index finger.)

For perspective, however, the tube from the kidney to the bladder this thing was trying to pass through is about the size of a pencil led.  Yup.

Regardless of still being in rather rough shape, I was at work bright and early Saturday at 5:30am for our annual Bat Flight Breakfast.  Someone had to dress up as Carl S. Bat and I wasn't passing up the opportunity.  Later that day, flowers were delivered to the visitor center for me and it absolutely made my day.

What is scary is that I have another stone in my right kidney and two in my left.  One in the left is 5mm.  When these stones decide to pass is totally unpredictable.  However, for right now, I'm feeling much better, almost 100%, and am thankful to my roommates and my co-workers for all they did during this whole ordeal.

Wonderland

Where has Kate been all month?  Wonderland, of course!  Wonderland, where else. 

 

True to form, as soon as I moved to Carlsbad, I threw myself into the community theater.  The show, "Wonderland", an adaptation of Lewis Carroll's Through the Looking Glass, with an all child/youth cast was gearing up.  Since I was a bit above the age limit, I volunteered to help with choreography.  I got handed a script, the music, and told to have fun.

 

And I did.  The first two rehearsals I attended the cast was singing through the score.  When they split into parts...what?  Carlsbad, New Mexico?  Middle and high school students going SATB?!  I knew this was a talented group. 

 

I ended up choreographing nine of the numbers in the musical.  It was hard.  I'm not going to lie.  But I loved it and I loved working with the youth.  They pulled it all together and put on a dang good show.  I am so immensely proud of all of them.  I hate when the curtain closes.

 

The opening scene.  Alice sits in the chair with the chess board, and the rest of the cast create a garden (trees, fountain, arbor) around her.

The Tweedles Dee and Dum.  Possibly my personal favorite number to choreograph.  The music is old time jazz/swing and I had a lot of fun with it.

My 'shadoo-bee-doo' boys.  This was rehearsal but somewhere backstage they found the bow ties.  I miss them already.

Since this is Through the Looking Glass, instead of playing cards, the cast is chess pieces, red and white.  Through most of the show, the Red King, is asleep.  In one song, he (played by a very talented she) sings in his/her sleep.  Hilarious!  Our music director was absolutely amazing.  What a woman.  I wish I could play the piano like she can!  And get those kids to sing in parts, and, and, and... How grateful we all were she was willing to share her talent with us.

When Alice makes it to the fifth square on the chess board, she meets the current resident, Humpty Dumpty.

I have many more pictures, but I thought this should suffice.  I believe this is one of those posts more for me than for those who occasionally troll through.  I love the theater!