So I've been suffering from ridiculous, incapacitating back
and neck pain for the past week and a half. It started on Monday, and Tuesday
it was still so bad that I skipped gym to nap and see if that would make a
difference. I was sleeping on a top bunk without a ladder, and when I jumped
off the top, I felt this like bolt of lightning run up my spine. I had to be in
bed the rest of the day because I couldn't turn my neck or anything, it hurt so
bad. Wednesday I went to the doctor, a Frampton who's from Hawaii and knows all
the Hawaii McQuiveys. He told me the muscle running from my mid back to my neck
was having severe spasms, and told me to take 2 tylenol, 4 advil, and a muscle
relaxer every 6 hours. I was very relieved. I took the drugs and went to bed,
and then woke up the next morning pretty much paralyzed. I could blink and
sometimes open my mouth, but other than that I couldn't make my body move. It
was a tad bit terrifying. My companion and roommates had to carry me back to
the doctors, where they told me I was having a rare side effect from the muscle
relaxer. Evidently, it had caused a disconnect between my brain and my body.
Like, I would be thinking, 'reach up and get that, reach up and get that', but
my arm wouldn't respond. Super weird and frustrating. They told me it should go
away once the drug had been out of my system 24 hours. So I went back to my
room and laid down and just waited until I could move again. That was
Thursday-Friday.
The next few days I was in
excruciating pain. I was still taking the Tylenol and advil nonstop, but
without the muscle relaxer, I couldn't do much. Sunday it was so bad I had to
leave during sacrament meeting. That night I got a blessing from my zone leader
and district leader, then drugged up and went to bed. Monday morning I woke up
with no pain, and I haven't had to take a single painkiller since. I'm so
grateful for priesthood power and that the Elders in my district were obedient
so they could communicate with the spirit and call upon their priesthood power.
Three friends came in this past
week and it has been a joy and a half to see them around the MTC. Trevor Alder,
Chris Neu, and Casey Ball all got in last Wednesday. Along with those familiar
faces, 2 whole new districts of Thais came in to our zone. This is a big deal,
we've got 5 Thais that came in the same day we did and they have had class next
to us and sleep on the floor below us and we're all on the same schedule, so we
do everything together. In the new group, there's close to 20, so they've
pretty much doubled the size of our branch. We've been trying to remember how
uncomfortable we felt the first few weeks when the older group of Cambodians
would show up in our room at night and tell us they loved us, and we were like,
'I'm sorry, who are you again?' But being in this position now, we totally
understand. We're just part of an amazing branch and an incredible MTC
experience, and we're so excited for them to be a part of it that we have to
restrain ourselves from grabbing their arms and jumping up and down yelling,
"I love you! I love you! I love you!" Restraint is not my strong
suit, but I'm proud to say I've only done that once. So far.
I'm not sure that I've ever told you about my district
really, so I'm going to try to get quick bios in of the girls, at least one a
week. We all room together, and all have very different, very strong
personalities. So it's clear that the Lord is helping us big-time, because when
does it ever happen that 6 female strangers are thrown together in a room for 9
weeks and all still love each other at week 7? I guarantee if we met each other
in any other circumstance, there would be fighting, crying, and possible cannibalism.
In fact, scratch that, definite cannibalism. Here's the beautiful daughters of
God that I spend 24 hours a day with- I'll let you decide who would eat and who
would be eaten:
*Mikalyn Orton- my dear companion, who has a love for hair
that almost rivals her love for the gospel. She recently (just before the
mission) cut her 30-inch long hair down to 8 inches, and it is her biggest life
regret. She's pledged to dedicate her life post-mission to standing outside
hair salons chanting and holding signs, so that "no more girls will be
lied to that short hair is better". She brought a small tape measure with
her and regularly measures her hair to see if it has grown. Yesterday we
measured the whole room's hair. I'm at 19 inches. She is a legitamite hair whisperer,
not because she's good with hair, but because she whispers to it. My companion
regularly whispers to my hair that it is beautiful.
Stay tuned for a new girl-bio next week!
I've been in the MTC 7 weeks, and the church is true here
too!
-Sis McQuiv
No comments:
Post a Comment