The Texas Incident

... Continued

Once  I began vomiting in the early morning on Saturday, December 27th my stomach kept telling me I had to poop every hour, but I could not find relief.  I sat on the toilet and vomited in the trash can. That's how I spent most of the day on Saturday when I wasn't lying in bed with a heat pad on my belly. Veronica convinced me to call my parents and tell them what was going on. I didn't want to freak them out, so I tried to down play how horrible I really felt. My mom immediately offered to drive to come pick me up, but I thought I could wait it out and be better by my flight Monday morning. I was wrong!

Saturday night came around and the vomiting had stopped, but I still couldn't poop. I decided to take three pills of Veronica's mom's laxatives in hopes that my belly could find some relief. Sunday morning around 7am I began vomiting again. At this point, I hadn't eaten anything since Friday night, so it was just liquid coming up. I didn't sleep for more than an hour at a time before my body was waking me up because it thought I had to go to the bathroom, but I couldn't get anything out. Around 9am on Sunday I was finally able to poop. At first, beautiful turds filled the toilet; however, each time I went running to the bathroom my bowel movements became looser and looser until I could no longer control them. I pooped my pants twice because I couldn't make it to the bathroom fast enough. I wasn't even embarrassed. Just disappointed with my body. I called my parents at 11:45am Texas time to ask my mom to come get me because I knew I couldn't fly on a plane while having uncontrollable diarrhea and vomiting my brains out.

My mom and Kim left to come get me and I tried to gain some control of my pipes. I spent most of the day sitting on the toilet to avoid more messes.  We had family friends visiting Houston that were kind enough to meet my friend Veronica halfway between Houston and Austin to pick me up so that my mom would have a shorter drive. Veronica was a life saver. She packed my bags and got me ready for the car ride. We left Veronica's house at 4pm and I arrived at the Tous' hotel in Houston by 8pm. The car ride was extremely uncomfortable. Thankfully, I didn't vomit nor poo my pants. I was grateful the Tous had a suite and they gave me my own bathroom close to a bed. The last time I vomited was at Veronica's house. At this point, I was still shitting every few hours, but I hadn't had a mess since Veronica's house.

At 3am, mom and Kim arrived at the hotel. I put on the depends my mom brought as well as some comfy clothes. We thanked the Tous and left. While walking out of the hotel I could smell the staff cooking the continental breakfast, which made me dry heave and gag once I got outside. I slept in the car the best I could even though bumpy roads made my stomach uneasy. We stopped at most of the rest stops along I-10 East (when the GPS said I-10 East, I swear she was saying "I titties."). Mom and Kim alternated driving and resting. We made a pit stop at the Russo's, our friends in Alabama.  We got there around 11:30am. They fed me crackers and ginger ale. I showered and took bath, which I followed with a two hour nap.  It was nice to finally see them after 20 years. I want to visit them again when I'm healthy because they are so much fun! We left the Russo's around 4pm.

After leaving the Russo's, we went through a Chick-fil-a drive-thru. We pulled over in a Bed Bath & Beyond parking lot to eat. I took two bites of soup and then I shit myself in the backseat of the car. Thankfully, the adult diaper did its job and contained the mess. Mom went in with me to BB&B to help me clean up my mess and put on a clean diaper. My mom is a trooper! Once that was cleaned up we hit the road because I gave up on eating anything until I got home. Mom and Kim drove through the night making a few pit stops for me before we finally made it home early morning on Tuesday, December 30th.

I'm so very thankful to everyone that helped to get me home and everyone that took care of me when I struggled to care for myself. I'm grateful for all my friends that prayed for me. I'm crying just thinking about how much I am loved and cared for. Although I grieve for my independence during times like this, time has proven that I will get back up and find it again.

I lost 18 pounds during this whole ordeal. I dropped to 132lbs and I seem to be stuck there. When I look at my naked body in the mirror I see an extremely thin and toned physique that most women would envy. However, I feel very weak. I want to regain my strength and weight because this body image to me is one of illness, not health. While I'm stuck listening to how lucky I am that I can lose weight so easily and listening to everyone's new year's resolution to lose weight I am secretly fuming inside.

Christmas with Veronica

I arrived in Austin at lunch time on Christmas Eve. As soon as Veronica and her mom picked me up from the airport we headed to get some amazing Texas BBQ for lunch. We shared a delicious portion of tender brisket, smoked chicken, and juicy sausage links. It was absolutely wonderful! Following lunch we explored a gas station called Buckees. It had over 30 gas pumps and inside it was like an enormous Wawa. We walked around tried a sample of pecan pie. YUM!  On the way to Veroncia's house, we stopped at a little pecan store on the side of the road because there was a huge squirrel outside that I wanted my picture with. Inside I bought underpants bandages. "Dress your wounds with tighty-whities!"


A pic of the three of us after we filled up on BBQ!

Squirrel!

Once we got home, we got ready to go celebrate Christmas with Veronica's extended family.  I think I met over 30 people at her cousin's house. The food was awesome! Plus, it was great to meet so many people in her family. On the way home, we stopped by a huge Christmas tree made of lights. We twirled under tree at midnight,  which was magical! By the time we got back home, I was exhausted, but I gave Veronica her gifts before we went to bed.

On Christmas, we went to Ihop for breakfast and then we explored Austin. It was perfect because the streets were empty! We had the city to ourselves. We even went on a little hike.

Austin, Texas

The view from our hike

After we finished exploring, we stopped by a family friend's house to drop off gifts and celebrate Christmas. When we returned home, we watched my favorite Christmas movie 'Surviving Christmas' before going to bed.

The day after Christmas, we relaxed at the house in the morning before getting some more Texas BBQ for lunch. After lunch, we went wine tasting at a place called Water 2 Wine. We bought some wine of our own and a bottle to share at our painting with a twist later that night. After wine tasting we went back home to relax before going to paint. The painting with a twist was so much fun! The instructor was great and funny. "If you make a mistake, drink some more wine until you like it."

We went to In-N-Out on our way home, which was fun because Veronica had never been before.  By the time we got home, I was tired and went to bed.

3am Saturday, December 27th I woke up vomiting.... to be continued.










Texas for Christmas

I decided to use my Southwest Airline voucher before it expired in May 2015 to visit Veronica for Christmas. I knew I better use the voucher during my winter break because  I was not likely to use it during my spring semester.  I got the voucher when I cancelled my trip to Texas so that I could attend my grandpa's funeral. I debated on traveling to another city for an adventure of exploring it on my own, but I missed my friend Veronica too much to pass up an opportunity to see her! The last time I saw her was for only about 15 minutes when I had a layover in Austin in July of 2013 and she came to the Airport just to see me for that short amount of time. I felt bad when I had to cancel my trip to see her earlier this year when I lost my grandpa, but she was so understanding and comforting during that difficult time. Veronica was right on board with my idea to visit her for Christmas! We are both super excited!

Have you ever seen one of those awful Christmas movies on Hallmark Channel? The only reason I have is because my mom used to be obsessed with those movies. She no longer has the Hallmark Channel, praise Jesus! Anyways, I felt like the out of touch character from one of those movies when I first told my mom I wasn't going to be home for Christmas. She was overly disappointed.  I see my family all year round, so it's not like we only gather and see each other on Christmas. I don't think it's a big deal that I won't be home for Christmas. After some talking, my mom seemed to be coping with it better. I've never traveled during Christmas time before, but I think I'm up for the chaos. I booked nonstop flights so hopefully that helps me get to where I'm going on time. I also can't tell you the last time I had a 5 day long vacation. No school, no work, no family... it's going to be great!