Kyle Hepp

August 14, 2007

I have been so sick lately. Winter in Santiago just kills me. It’s impossible to stay warm because central heating doesn’t exist. And riding the metro…well you might as well just insert the flu virus intravenously because after touching the handles and doors and seats and breathing the same air as a gazillion people all in one small space, you’re definitely going to get sick. Oh yeah, and then walk outside and breathe in massive amounts of smog as an added bonus. That will make you feel just peachy!

Here are some photos I took at the park the day before I got sick…they’re from last weekend but I just now got around to editing them.

I tried some fun new things in Photoshop, let me know if you like the weirdo colors.

Anyways, aside from being sick I haven’t been sleeping well either. The problem is that I have a hard time falling asleep to begin with…which has been a struggle for me ever since I was little. My brain just won’t turn off no matter what I do. I’ll be laying in bed trying trying to stop thinking and I’ll catch myself with clenched fists, a furrowed brow, every muscle in my body tense. I have to conscienciously go through and relax each muscle. And then by the time I’m done doing that, I’ve started thinking again and by the time I’ve gotten my mind more or less blank, my muscles are all hunched up again. When I finally manage to fall asleep I never get more than an hour or two of shut eye before I have to get up to go to the bathroom…

AND HERE IS WHERE YOU STOP READING OR ELSE YOU WILL BE BOMBARDED WITH TOO MUCH INFORMATION. CARRY ON AT YOUR OWN RISK.

I had a UTI (Urinary Tract Infection) last year. I got it while I was living in Chile with no medical insurance (oh wait…nothing has changed, I still am uninsured in Chile, ANYWAYS). But, the good thing about this country is that pharmacists will give you pretty much any medicine you want without a prescription if you’ll describe your illness to them. So Seba took me to a pharmacy that’s inside the supermarket closest to our house. And the damn pharmacist woman wouldn’t give me any medicine without a prescription…that had NEVER happened to me before. Anyways, after begging and pleading with her to no avail, I just broke down in tears….and not just like silent, eyes welling up tears…I was sobbing like a little kid whose mommy just told her that she was not going to get a pony for her birthday. People were staring and I was making a huge scene and S. was getting angry with me because I wouldn’t stop crying. But, if you have ever had a UTI I’m sure you understand. I have a really high pain tolerance and even this was too much for me. I couldn’t handle it. Anyways, to get to the point, we just ended up buying massive amounts of cranberry juice and that cured me within hours of drinking it. Seriously, never bother going to the doctor for a UTI again, just drink the red stuff. When I got back to the States I did go to the doctor to make sure I was completely cured, and sure enough, I was. But the reason I’m writing this, is because ever since then I am like ultra tuned in to my pea sized bladder. Which makes me get up to go to the bathroom like 10 times a night. And after every time I go to the bathroom, I have to go through my whole tossing and turning and clenching and unclenching fists and trying to clear my mind thing again.

I feel like I never get a good night’s sleep and I don’t know how much longer I can handle this. I’m a woman who needs her sleep. Give me a good solid 10 hours or I’m as cranky as a Walmart cashier.

ARGH…it’s so frustrating to never feel well rested. If anybody has any suggestions, please feel free to comment. Unless that comment says, “K. stop talking about your bladder on your blog,” then please do not feel free…I warned you.