News From Erika:
I'm still alive...They took my gallbladder out a couple days ago…and I haven’t been feeling very stable since then. Don’t read this letter if you are eating dinner…
You know I thought I was going to be fine afterwards. I would give myself one or two days to heal and sleep around, then I should be better, right?
Apparently, that’s not how it works. I went in for surgery on Thursday morning at 6 am and the next thing I remember was feeling excruciating pain and I couldn’t talk. It was like torture. A few seconds later I heard mom’s voice saying that it was over and everything was ok.
Whenever I just get out of surgery they always try to feed me. Why? You would think that is the last thing they would want to do. Since I like to eat a lot, I had three jello cups, a sandwich that my aunt brought, crackers, cookies, and some other stuff that I honestly can’t remember. I felt fine for an hour. I was talking to all the nurses and my mom, when suddenly I felt extremely nauseous.
I hate throwing up, it hurts your stomach muscles. Throwing up after they just cut me open, made me wish I was dead. Apparently, I was allergic the anesthesia they gave me and the sandwich I ate was spicy (I’m only supposed to eat bland foods). So I kept throwing up. I felt bad for my mom, she had to be there every time. Sometimes I think I would rather feel pain than feel extremely nauseous. I can never eat jello cups again; just thinking about them makes me feel sick.
My nurse was so nice;) I got very lucky. She took me on walks around the hospital and talked to me about my New York internship. The rest of what we talked about…I don’t remember…because I was drugged. My mom said I stayed longer than any other patient. Whenever I got feeling better they would give me pain medicine, I would get nauseous, then throw it up.
It got to the point where all my pain medicine was completely wearing off. So then they got me another drug that prevents nausea. What I don’t understand, is that the bottle says “caution, may cause dizziness…” Ummm, isn’t that what we were trying to prevent? Anyway, it worked for my last pain pill, so they sent me home.
Guess what I did at home? I threw up my last pain pill in front of all my siblings. I look up, and they are all staring at me. Jacob said, “ahhh, Erika is sick!” Yep.
My stomach hurt so bad. I didn’t know how I was going to sleep. Dad called the emergency room and they got me this new medicine that just barely came out on the market…so I’ve pretty much tried everything by now. uncle nate brought me the movie Twilight, have you heard of it? And I watched that until I dosed off.
Day 2- I woke up at 10am. Tried to eat my first meal in 24 hours and got it to stay down. It was oatmeal. I felt better. When my mom and her companion left to go visiting teaching, I took a shower. I needed a shower, I smelled like I had been throwing up. It was a very slow and careful shower.
When mom get back she said, “oh good you’re better. What should we do today?” She suddenly opened up the newspaper to the comics and started reading them to me. That was sooo mean of her. When I laugh it feels like my stitches are going to burst and the muscles are extremely sore. Plus, I’m drugged, so everything seems funny to me. I couldn’t stop, I was almost crying. I kept telling mom to stop, but she said, “It’s not even that funny” I told her she was abusing me;)
We went out to lunch at Kneaders and I ate an entire sandwich. It’s true, I don’t know if I was allowed to eat an entire sandwich. But I did. Mom could only eat half a sandwich, that’s how big it was. I don’t remember what happened after that. I was drugged.
I hate that feeling of not really being there. Your body is, but you don’t exactly feel connected to it. That’s what this medicine does to me, I hate it! I just want to feel normal again. I want to eat normal food and not feel like I’m going to explode! I want to be able to read my textbook with out getting dizzy. Ahhh, surgery sucks.
That night, mom wanted to have a movie night. SO…she has this favorite pizza place that she ordered pizza from. The doctors told me not to eat fatty/ greasy foods, but since I ate a whole sandwich my mom told me I would be fine. I am an adult; I can make choices for myself. But I’m so used to trusting mom, that I believed her and ate the pizza.
As you probably already guessed, that was a bad idea. I was in so much pain, I thought I was going to die. I kind of wanted to die actually, and then I wouldn’t have to finish homework assignments. It was sharp pain, with pressure on my stitches, plus nausea, but never throwing up. The worst combination. My mom said a prayer for me, and I survived the night.;)
Day 3- MOM TOOK ME TO THE ZOO WITH AUNT JILL AND HER KIDS! I definitely think I was drugged when I agreed to this one, but next thing I know I am slowly maneuvering through little kids and monkey cages. Aunt Jill would look over every once in a while and say, “Is she ok?” mom would say, “yeah she’s fine. (Then turn to me)You ok honey?” I felt like I was part of a caravan. Aunt Jill and Uncle Nate brought their eight kids, plus Jordin’s girlfriend, and Olivia’s best friend. I could not walk fast, I hadn’t been walking in three days, better yet all over the zoo. So in order to not get lost, I walked with whoever was the slowest person. Sometimes it was my Jordin and his girlfriend, because they wanted to stay and flirt with each other, sometimes it was my uncle because he was pushing a double stroller, sometimes it was mom because she could tell I was falling apart, and one time it was my aunt. She told me she had to get her gallbladder taken out to and I should be fine soon. I wish I was fine right now.
I’m not going to lie, I partly hated all of them. One, because I was in a lot of pain and they dragged me all over the zoo, and two because they were all healthy and happy, and I was definitely not. Afterwards I felt horrible. I was mean to mom. I really had no right to be mad, I told her I would go to the zoo, she didn’t make me. But it’s kind of like the pizza thing, she told me it would be ok, even though it doesn’t logically make sense and I believed her because she’s mom.
I think that through all of this, I realize how much mom means to me. Out of all the people that were there for me when I needed them most, mom was always there. She had to take off work to watch me throw up countless times, she had to baby me and give me medicine every hour, she had to be yelled at by dad, when the pizza thing didn’t work out;) I feel bad for her. I don’t think I could have gotten through my surgery with out her… I was born very lucky. We have a great mom.

I want to go there...today;)

of course I know who she is! Even though I write letters like I am, I'm not from 1770:). Glad you liked the letter... It's real sealing wax...limited edition so you're pretty special. I also love the new york times. Read the print copy every day. My favorite part, though it's not too classy, are the ads from places like currier and ives, gucci, saks fifth avenue, bergdof goodman and all those great places. I like to think of myself in a pencil skirt with a $200 dollar pair of black high heels, a professional haircut, glasses with smart black plastic frames, a steaming cup of starbucks caramel apple spice in one hand and that morning's paper (NY Times of course) in the other briskly walking to the office in the morning. I'll be an editor or writer you know. That is what that paper makes me feel like.
You're so great eri, a regular inspiration. I really want you to come up for my birthday. It would mean the word to me, please oh please oh please? Mommy daddy, mommy daddy and all that crap. Please come!
Also, did you watch obama's innauguration speech? THere was a way funny part. He said...we are a nation of Christians, muslems, hindu and budists...then he paused awkwardly and said...and nonbelievers. It was so funny and random, hope you saw it, because it was possibly his first foux pau in office. Well love ya sis, maybe see ya soon.
love,
Jeka

JEKA!!! Thank you for the letter. How do you seal it with wax like that? I felt like I was opening a letter from 1770. Ashley was way jealous, but she thought it was amazing. I think I'm just going to have to save the envelope and the letter...
So interviewed Carol Mikita the other day...do you know who that is? She is a news anchor and reporter for KSL TV. She usually is the one that comes on right after general conference with documentaries on the prophets. This is what she told me...At first she gave me answers that I would expect from a journalist currently in the field. She told me to learn how to write well, ask questions that people want answers to, study hard, and be able to talk to people.
But then she told me something I guess I should have found more obvious, but instead it still surprised me. Being a journalist herself, she told me to want it more than I want anything else. She told me that when I go to bed at night I should wake up wondering what happened while I was sleeping. I began to see how journalism can be more than just a job. For some people it can become a way of life, a way of thinking about information different from everyone else.

Ok Jessika...
Its been a while. Did you like the treats I sent you? Honestly I had no idea that BYU bookstore even had a valentine mix. Apparently they do and the clerk was way excited about it. So I'm taking a lot of journalism classes, and because of that I've become a huge fan of the NY Times. Did you know that the most educated people read the newspaper every day? Its true, Pres. Hinkley did. Ashley told me that everthing in the news is depressing and she hates knowing anything about what's going on in our world. I beg to differ. I found these pictures on the front page of the NY Times. Does this look depressing to you? No, it's hillarious. "The green man" is on Broadway! Anyway Apple is making old itunes songs 69 cents and newer songs $1.20. Take that for what it's worth. I read that too. Did you know that an old woman got stuck in her heater vent, upside down for THREE days! Crazy, she's still alive, I saw the vent, that would be horrible. I'm worried about financing for the New York internship, so pray really hard for me. Guess what my new calling is....sunday school teacher...ahhh.
loves
;)

Sooooo...I changed my hair color...true story. Mom hates it. What do you think? Oh yeah these are my pals...

Oh Jess...I'm sorry. That really sucks. But just think...every night...I pray for you to be happy:)SO of course you will be soon! I miss you. Wasn't Courtney supposed to be on a mission? Or is she in the process of leaving. Do you miss her or is she still being a brat?
Loves
Me:)

Dearest Erika, That is really neat. What a special experience. My life has been very...well we'll say interesting lately. As you probably know, nikole, kate and Courtney came up to visit. It was really great to spend time with some of the people I love most in the world. Also, it was really difficult because I got the distinct impression that this would be the last time we and my heart has been hurting ever since they left. Also, Robyn has really been struggling. I love her more than anyone, but she has really bad depression and it hurts to watch her struggle to accept her life. Sorry I don't have anything great to write, I wish that I was great and exciting and had interesting, important things to report on. But, sometimes life is difficult and sometimes you feel like it's crumbling around you. I feel kind of like for everything i love I have to pay a price, and that's a difficult thing to realize. I love you sis. I'm proud of you for being political-like ( ;) ) and figuring things out. I'll have to tell you what I think when I'm less depressed. How's school going? How are boys? Roommates? Sure love you, and I miss you like crazy.