So, what was the Surprise!

Well, most of you heard about the surprise, but in case some of you have not I thought I would update. Robert never let you know what the surprise was! Well originally he said the surprise would be on that Thursday. So I had assumed it would be something just on that day. The Sunday before that Thursday, Robert said something that made me realize it was not just that day, but that we were going somewhere for the weekend! I will say my first thought was New York, but I couldn't figure out most of the clues. Robert continued for the next several days to completely throw me off. He made me think we were going camping somewhere. He had out his sleeping bag, blow up bed and even bought us thermal wear, hats, gloves, fleece jacket and new shoes. He said we were driving and going west - what??? First, that meant we would have to take the Maxima which is about 10 years old and I know Robert well enough that he wouldn't take that car on a long road trip. West, where would that be? The night before, I honestly had no idea where we were going, would we be driving, what did I need to pack? He gave me a carry on size bag to pack in and was trying to help me, but honestly I was a little frustrated b/c I didn't know what I needed - nice clothes, just clothes to stay warm and it really didn't matter what I looked like, just tennis shoes - ahh! I finally got packed and off to bed to get up at 5:30! The next morning, he threw those sleeping bags, blow up beds in the trunk and even asked what I wanted to put in the cooler for the road trip! Off we drove, heading west - would we continue or stop at the airport? He drove past the airport but quickly made a U turn back to the airport!


So we fly to Atlanta and then on a plane to NJ. Robert is still trying to throw me off although I'm thinking NY at this time. Half way through the flight, he said we needed to plan some things and pulled out his NY books! Yeah!


So, here is how the trip went! We got there Thurs early afternoon and went to where we were staying. Thanks to MetLife, we got to stay in some apartments they own which made it much cheaper. We got settled in and ready to go to the Marketing Firm that Robert works with for Caffco. It was fun to see Robert at work! After the meeting, one of the owners took us out to eat at an Italian restaurant which was very good and we walked around Little Italy a bit. We got a little sleep and woke up at 4:30 our time to go to the Today Show. It was quite cold, but we had our Starbucks and were bundled up so it was fun. We stood around waiting to get on TV and met some people around us. Finally, the last part of the show, the segment we were in front of made it on TV. We really were on quite a bit so that was fun. We then walked to Central Park and rode the carousel, went ice skating and rode a horse and buggy ride. It was all a lot of fun! We walked around a bit more and grabbed something to eat. By this time the front of my lower left side was hurting a little bit. It wasn't too bad, just a little annoying. We went to the Rockette's that night, which was amazing!!!, and during the show my back hurt for about an hour (around the kidney area). Shortly after the show we headed back to the apartment were the pain in front was still bothering me. I went on to sleep, but was awake again by 1:30. With the pain still bothering me, we called my doctor and the nurse on call said to go to the ER. So here we are in NYC and need to go to a hospital. The pain quickly began to get worse so we called 911 for an ambulance.

The ambulance and hospital experience:

The lady and guy from the ambulance got to the apartment (typical NY people), got all my info and were ready to take me out. I told them I felt nauseated so they would be aware. When they got me up, she asked if I needed to go into the bathroom if I was going to be sick. No, didn't need to at that point. But we got into the hall, go the chair set up for me and I felt it coming on. I told them I thought I was going to be sick. Poor guy was trying to get a bag out so fast and couldn't find one and after not being able to hold it in any more, I threw up right in front of me. Well, the lady was like great and says, "that's why I asked if you needed to go to the bathroom before we walked out". To which I replied, "I didn't need to then". The guy finally gets his bag out and off to the ambulance we go. I threw up a few more times along the way. As we drive across the street to the hospital (yes, I really mean across the street), the bag begins to leak from a hole. The guy says "wait, hold on, don't move". I had no idea what the problem was and then he grabs another bag and informs me there is a hole. So we get out and he tells the lady they have a code something b/c the bagged leaked, which meant they would have to wash down the ambulance. Hello, is throw up really that bad compared to someone being shot and bleeding all over the place!

The people in the hospital were all very nice! They got me some pain medicine in which I began to feel better. We did some ultrasounds and saw nothing and then they mentioned it could be kidney stones. So after a couple hours of waiting, we got a CAT scan done to confirm it was a kidney stone. It's now around 8:30 AM on Sat. and Robert has said we just need to get home. So he calls to change our flights. We leave the hospital around 9, walk back across the street to the apartment where I quickly pack our things back in our bag while Robert goes to get my meds. We grab a cab and head off to NJ to catch our 11:30 flight back home. Thankfully the flight was uneventful and I had no pain. Robert's dad picked us up in Atlanta so we wouldn't have to get on another flight. Thank goodness b/c I started having pain again right after we got in the car. So back home we went after leaving about 36 hrs previously and I waited for the kidney stone to pass. Thankfully, it passed Monday morning and I was feeling much better.

I've gone to a urologist in town and found out I have 3 more stones in the kidney, so I look forward to going through this again. I was sad we had to leave NY and sad Robert had spent the last 6 months planning the trip and we only made it through a little over a day. But it was fun while we were there! We can always go again sometime! Thanks Robert for the great surprise! It sure was fun wondering what you had planned and NY was great! I love you!!