Still in Shock...

This morning I received a call from one of my closest friends (Caitlin). At the time of the call she was in the emergency room in Boulder, CO. Last night she was in excruciating pain and had trouble breathing. After a trip to the ER, she learned that she had a pulmonary embolism-blockage of the pulmonary artery, which caries blood from the heart to the lungs, or one of its branches, usually occurring when a blood clot from a vein becomes dislodged from its site of formation and migrates to the arterial blood supply of one of the lungs. Symptoms include difficulty breathing, pain in the chest, or in severe cases collapse, circulatory instability or sudden death. (Wikipedia.) This caused half of a lung to stop functioning.

If Rob would not have taken her to the hospital, I'm worried that Caitlin would have tried to tough it out. (She's that kind of girl.) I feel so grateful for him and that she is doing better. She is still going to be in the hospital for further testing this week, and the doctors told her that she will have to take blood thinners. This means she needs to avoid any possible damage to her head (aka no soccer, no skiing). She told me for forever, but I hope that changes. If you're like me, you are wondering what caused this? The answer: birth control. Isn't that crazy?! For awhile she did smoke too, which I guess increases chances of clotting.

So yeah. I'm still in shock about hearing this news. I wish Colorado was more accessible so that I could visit her. It definitely made me open my eyes to what's important in life/what I want to do and accomplish. I think I need to write some of that stuff down. (I will keep you posted on what I come up with, but off the top of my head, I know that being certified as a yoga instructor and traveling to Africa, Australia and Spain are high up there.)

Today was not the most eventful day for me, but I did get stuff accomplished, which is always nice. I am babysitting early tomorrow morning and then plan to see Dave, Cristy and Parker.

Back to my week: Tuesday night I went over to Lindsay and Ema's apartment after work. It's kind of embarrassing how close they live; yet, I had not been over there yet. Lindsay and I exchanged Christmas gifts: she made me a cd of photos and videos from our European adventures and these cute reusable hand warmers. How could have thought of a better Chicago gift?

Wednesday night was dinner with Lindsay Rathert. (I had not seen her since before graduation.) We met at Hai Yen, a Vietnamese restaurant. We shared delicious Goi Cuon Chay: rolls filled with seasoned tofu, shitake mushroom, vermicelli noodles, lettuce, fresh herbs, and bean sprouts; served with a homemade peanut sauce. The peanut sauce was so flavorful, and they were filling. For an entree I ordered Ca Tim: fresh Japanese eggplant stir fried with tofu, garlic and onions in a mild spicy sauce. It had just enough spice and addicting flavor. I think I will definitely crave it in the future.

On Thursday night I finally stepped out of my comfort zone and went to Dahn Yoga Center for YEHA: Young Earth Human Alliance. It's hard to explain the class because it changes every week. This week focused on creativity, and we did some great exercises: drawing to music, making pictures out of typical shapes, having to rename standard household objects and giving them a new function and lastly, making a poem out of our meditation. In my group, we came up with:

Enjoy Life Together
Stillness Here Birds Quietness
Water Peace Love Laughter
Warmth Friends & Family Sunshine
Cloudy Cool Breeze Rain
Warmth Lush green meadow
Happiness

Shoot... I need to get to bed. Tomorrow morning will come soon.