Dash's Cyst-er

In March of 2011, I was sent home from my mission for surgery on a 9 cm cyst on my right ovary. It was painful, it was traumatic, and it was something I never wanted to repeat again.

So I was less than thrilled when they discovered another 9 cm cyst on my right ovary during the gender check ultrasound for Dash. Since I was pregnant, they didn't want to operate if it wasn't necessary, so we waited it out. The hope was that the cyst would pop on its own or that they could drain it with a needle later on so I wouldn't have to have surgery again. Thankfully, I didn't have any pain or problems with the cyst during the pregnancy. We planned on revisiting the matter with my doctor at my 6 week postpartum checkup. 

Unfortunately, on the night of February 4, our plans changed as we packed our hospital bags and rushed to the emergency room.  Dash was excited to come along and see the birth of his cyst-er, with whom he had shared the womb for nine months. It was even more special for him because it was his one month birthday!

Tender mercies that night:

• The OB who delivered Dash was on-call at the hospital that night, and I was able to contact him for advice before we left.
• I recognized the pain symptoms from my prior experience, so we didn't have to waste the doctor's time trying to figure out what the problem was.
• Although all the booths in the emergency room were filled, the receptionist took pity on a frazzled father, moaning mother, and bawling baby and arranged for us to be in a little-used room in the corner of the hospital, instead of having us wait in the lobby.
• I had been pumping milk for the past month, so we had a good storage supply for Dash during my stay at the hospital.
• My parents live close enough that they were able to meet us at the hospital shortly after we arrived to take care of Dash.

Drawbacks that night:

• The pain. My pain quickly escalated from a 4 (Tolerable) to an 8 (Very Intense) within an hour. When we checked in initially at the ER, I refused pain meds because I was worried about how it would affect my ability to breastfeed. However, within another hour it got up to a 10 (Unimaginable), and I decided I didn't care about the consequences of pain meds. Unfortunately, even after 3 shots of morphine, I was still in incredible pain. (As an aside, if I were to choose between the pain of contractions prior to delivery and the pain I had that night, I would pick delivery. At least you get a break from the pain in-between contractions.) 

• The surgery. As much as I didn't want to have surgery, it had to happen. This time, not only did they remove the cyst, but they had to take my right ovary as well.
• The recovery. I felt like I had just recovered from giving birth, only to be back at square one. Walking, sitting, and going to the bathroom were all a challenge again. I was back on pain meds and had the added restriction of not lifting anything heavier than 10 lbs for two weeks. And I still had to take care of a newborn. To quote Jim Gaffigan: "You want to know what it's like? Imagine you're drowning, and someone hands you a baby."

My parents, Matt, and the baby stayed the night at the hospital as I went in for emergency surgery at 4am. Matt dozed on a bench while my dad slept in a sitting position, holding the baby. My mom was wide awake, which is how we have pictures to document this. It was a rough night for all of us. 

For the medically inclined:

• What happened that night was ovarian torsion, which is when a cyst becomes so large that it causes the ovary to move out of its usual position in the pelvis, causing painful twisting and cutting off blood supply. My ovary had been able to maintain its position during the pregnancy, as the baby kept the cyst from moving around. Even postpartum, my uterus was still swollen enough to keep the cyst in check. But once my uterus shrunk down, the cyst had free range of my abdomen. 
• In order to remove the cyst, the doctor performed laparoscopic surgery, which is a minimally invasive surgery that uses several small incisions rather than one large one to enter the abdomen. This means the recovery time is 2 weeks instead of 6, and I was able to leave the hospital the same day the surgery was performed. 
• Because the blood supply had been cut off to my ovary for several hours, the ovary had died. Therefore, along with the ovarian cystectomy, the doctor performed a unilateral oophorectomy (try pronouncing that one). According to my doctor, fertility is decreased by only 5% when one ovary is removed and menopause will occur around the same time as it would if I had two ovaries. 
• As it turns out, the cyst was a mucinous cystadenoma, which is a benign cystic tumor. However, the doctor told us that this type of cyst did have the potential to be malignant later on. 

The good news is, I'll never have to have surgery on my right ovary again.

Rhetorically,
Rebekah

Restaurant Review: El Tropical

There's a Dominican Restaurant that just opened up in Provo! "El Tropical" is at 40 W 400 N, Provo, UT. Matt and I decided to try it out yesterday. We ordered mostly fried food, since that was the most common for missionaries to have (and the food I most enjoyed on my mission).

I give them an A+ on empanadas. They were so good we ate them before I remembered to take a picture. The drinks were also great, although I'll have to go back when they have chinola juice (they were out at the time). The quipe was a lot bigger than I expected, so if you're planning on sampling it, one will probably suffice.  We ordered one platter of pica pollo con tostones, which was more than enough for the two of us. So for main dishes, expect big portion sizes. Overall, it was a good dining experience. They offer San Cocho on Wednesdays and Fridays, so we'll be going back sometime to try that out as well.

The best part was using my Spanish to order food! Our waitress was Dominican, and she was very attentive. I'm so glad I still understood the accent and slang words after being back for over 2 years.

For all you RMs from the Dominican, I'd recommend you try this place out. Then you can tell me what dishes you really enjoyed.

Rhetorically,
Rebekah

She's Back!!

No one does a welcome home quite like my mom

Angela had been traveling for over 24 hours and was a little hazy

We did a batman family theme so she could easily identify us out of the crowds of families waiting for their missionaries

It seems like she's been gone forever! We're so happy to have her home again.

Rhetorically,
Rebekah

Provident Living

I gave a talk today about Provident Living. One of the things Matt and I have been working on over the past year is building our food storage based on this easy list:

We modified it to fit our needs (for example, as grad students in a tiny apartment, we really don't have room for all the flour and sugar it recommends) but it's been great to get into the habit of buying something extra with every shopping trip and building our own food storage. We've also worked on our own 72 hour emergency kits, which are also almost complete.

My first real-life encounters with emergency preparedness came when I was on my mission. In the Dominican, you don't have electricity all the time, you may not have running water all of the time, and there is a higher likelihood of emergencies and natural disasters. Through experience, I learned to always have candles, water, food, and extra money on hand. You never know when the mission president would call and tell you about a hurricane warning, where you have to stay inside for several days and survive off of what you already have. I hope that even though I'm living in a 1st world country, I can still remember that sometimes disaster can leave us living in 3rd world conditions, and that it's important to store up what we can to be self-reliant.

Rhetorically,
Rebekah

Sweeney and Me

Now: 2014

Dear Sweeney,

We had a great three months together in the Dominican Republic. It's been over two years since I've seen you in person, and I'm glad we got to relive some of the memories today. Since then, I've been pondering about some of our other experiences:

• Knocking on EVERY SINGLE door in our area. Not home, you say? We'll come back tomorrow. And the next day. And the next. Until we find you or we decide that the house is abandoned.
• Walking up and down the same street looking for the 10/20 store, not realizing that 10/20 was a phrase meaning "dollar store" so that wasn't actually the name of the store--just the type. 
• Having the tallest dominican man as our 'golden investigator.'
• Having an investigator open up to us because we spoke English. 
• The earthquake.
• Karaoke.
• Working with the most awesome youth.

Just to name a few.

But you know what memory means the most to me? The day I got in the Brown's car and they drove me to the capital so I could go home. As I buckled myself in and was waving goodbye, you cried. I probably would have cried, too, if I hadn't been so excited to go home. But I did miss you. And it was a fabulous surprise to see you only a day later when you came down to pick up your new companion.

Then: 2012

Rhetorically,
Rebekah

Mother's Day

You know what's the best part of Mother's Day? Talking to your missionary via skype! (Okay, there are probably many things that qualify as "best parts" but this was my answer this year). Angela is loving her mission and hasn't lost any of her sass or spunk. I'm so excited for her to come home in 4.5 months!!

We also celebrated Robby's birthday a week early, so he wouldn't have to make the extra trip from Idaho. The party was batman themed (naturally) and there was an ice cream cake per tradition.

Oh yeah, and we also celebrated Mother's Day. Happy day, Mom! Thanks for supporting us, even after we move out of the house.

Rhetorically,
Rebekah

Easter Appreciation Post 1

Welcome to the "spiritual" Easter post!

Matt and I went on a walk to the local cemetery on Easter afternoon. The sunny weather was appropriate for the holiday- representing joy in the Resurrection. Did you know that in Russia, during the Easter season, they great each other by saying "Christ is Risen!" and respond with, "Indeed, He is Risen!" How cool is that? What a great way to remember the purpose of the season.

complimentary bunny picture from cemetery

I remember in the Dominican Republic, Easter would be a full-week celebration. Schools usually timed their spring vacations around it. It was a time for traditional Easter foods, such as "habituelas con dulce" (sweet bean soup), a time to spend with family, and especially a time to remember the crucifixion and resurrection of Jesus Christ. Good Friday was almost as big as Easter Sunday. One of the best experiences on my mission was having dinner with a family and seeing "The Testaments" come on their Television- in Spanish!

I sang this song in Spanish when I gave my missionary report in church two years ago. It is one of my favorite Easter hymns:

What do you do to remember the purpose of the Easter Season?
Rhetorically,
Rebekah

Dominican Drinks and Desserts

I loved how much fruit there was in the Dominican. Just take a look:

While there, I tasted and enjoyed a lot of fruits I had never even heard of: guava, starfruit, noni, tamarindo, zapote, and red bananas (to name a few).

Also, I learned about the many varieties of mango. For the record, the best are the reddish green ones. They are not too stringy and not too small. 

Besides eating them plain, I loved fruit shakes and drinks. My favorite shakes were made from either papaya or zapote:

Many people would have literal "lemonade stands" where they would sell freshly squeezed fruit juice (with lots of sugar) in the street. While they usually sold juices such as lemon, lime, or orange, I also liked the more exotic juices, such as passionfruit and tamarindo:

Another common drink is Morir Sonando. Think Orange Julius, Dominican style.

Dominicans often blended dry oatmeal in their drinks, to give it a milky flavor and a thicker texture. They even sold dry mixes with oatmeal:

It sounds weird, but it actually tastes pretty good. 

The other great thing is that people would sell ice cream (either store bought or home made) from their homes. A unique but surprisingly delicious flavor was helado de batata (sweet potato ice cream):

They would divide them into little plastic bags and then sell them for 10 to 15 pesos (less than 50 cents). You always felt like you hit the jackpot when you found out someone made these in the area you were working in. 

When we had time on P-days, sometimes we would go out to eat. One of my favorite dessert shops was Yogen Fruz, which sold frozen yogurt mixed with whatever toppings you wanted: from the  waffle cones to tropical fruit.

Also, since it is technically a fruit- the avocados in the Dominican are HUGE, cheap, and delicious.

Rhetorically,
Rebekah

Una Noche a la Dominicana

Happy Dominican Independence Day!!

To celebrate, Matt and I will be attending a fiesta hosted by the BYU Student Association for Latin American Studies. I have high hopes for this event--there will be dominican food, music and dancing. 

Speaking of food, I recently found this awesome site: http://www.dominicancooking.com/recipes. Which, as you can see, has authentic dominican recipes. I'd just like to highlight those dishes that I ate most frequently on my mission:

La Bandera ("the banner") as they call it, is the most basic of dominican meals: rice, beans, and meat, occasionally with a modest green salad on the side.  This is what we would get if we were going out for "fast food." I think I ate this meal at least once a week in my second area.

I did not like plain white rice on my mission. Because of this, I either covered the rice with beans, or I would get Moro de habichuelas (Rice cooked with Beans), Moro de guandules con coco (Rice cooked with pigeon peas and coconut), or even Arroz con maiz (rice with corn):

Anything I could do to flavor it.

Either way, rice was served as a part of every meal. Even with spaghetti: 

Yup. To be honest, while I ate these meals and appreciated them at the time, they aren't ones that I would ever choose to make again.

The following recipies, however, ARE foods I would make again. Mostly because they are delicious and fattening. Up first: fried plantains. Best eaten with ketchup.

Second: empanadas. 

This is like a fried pastry. Dominican empanada dough is generally made with flour, and filled with meat, cheese, eggs, or vegetables. In my first area, I had two empanadas every Monday morning for breakfast. 

Third: Quipes

Quipes are made with whole grains and stuffed full of ground beef.  I was not able to eat these too often, however, because they were more of a party food, like for Christmas.

I'll stop for now, since I'm getting hungry (and this post is getting long), but stay tuned for a follow up post about dominican drinks and desserts!

Rhetorically,
Rebekah