Pneumonia Scare

Hello Family,

Well I am out of the hospital!  I got out yesterday at about 10:30 am.  But wow, has it been quite the week.  So apparently, I have had pneumonia for over 2 months.  A word of advice to anyone who ever gets pneumonia, dont wait 2 months to get it taken care of!  If you saw the x rays, you would probably have a heart attack mom.  My left lung looked almost all the way fine, but then my right lung... Well needless to day the area of white that took up the space of my lung was pretty big to say the least.  

It all started on Tuesday evening.  I got home with Elder Estuaria in Solano Zone and felt like I had a fever.  I really just wanted to sleep it off, but I kind of messed up.  Instead of taking off clothes, I put on more clothes, which is not what you do in the Philippines.  To break a fever in the Philippines you have to get cold.  So when I put on clothes I made my fever go up to 38.5 degrees Celsius.  Then I finally did the right way and went to sleep, on and off sleep anyways.  Then at 3:40 I woke up and the fever was gone.  I felt good, except there was a little pain on my right side.  Well in the next hour the pain in my right side kept getting worse and worse to the point where I could hardly breathe.  

Now, I REALLYYY didn't want to go back to a hospital because it is no fun here in the Philippines, so I procrastinated calling Sister Hiatt until 4:50.  I called twice and got no answer so I called President and he answered.  I got to talk to Sister Hiatt and she told me to just go get a check up at the hospital.  We went and got a check up and then came back home around 6:30 am.  I felt great by that point.  I was gonna just go back to the hospital after getting ready for the day, pick up the medicine I needed and go wait for my new companion and all will be well right???  WRONG.  I went to the hospital and they gave me the death sentence, "You need to be admitted sir."  The first thing they did was put a gas mask on me.  (They made me look like Bane and sound like him) So while I had the mask on, of course I did Bane impressions to Elder Estuaria.  The doctor in charge of me was looking at me in shock.  I didn't know why he looked like that until about an hour later, when I couldn't breathe.  Long story short the first 2 days were painful.  It was like having a cramp in your lung that will not go away and it makes it very difficult to breathe.  

My new companion was very good about the whole thing though.  He came in and we just had fun talking, listening to my bane impressions, watching the nurses try to speak English to me because they never expect me to know tagalog, and watching church movies.  I can't complain though, besides not being able to really breathe those first 2 days, the rest were pretty good.  I just did what they told me to do, and made sure I rested a lot.  When I was transferred to Cauayan they put me on antihistamines and until now I feel like I have caffeine in my veins.  I forgot what those did to me but now I remember.  My heart rate elevates and I get pretty hyper, which is a super downer because how can I rest when I have that much energy in me?!?  

Anyways, this week I took the time to really focus on prayer, and to be honest it really helped me to calm down.  It also helped me to feel at peace and feel the love that the Savior has for me.  I also really enjoyed some of the church videos.  The struggles that the first prophets went through were so great, but they persevered through them without faltering at all.  I remember one scene, where they literally buried the entire foundation of a temple so that the army wouldn't destroy it.  Then they re-dug up the foundation only to find that it had cracked.  And yet they still continued to build the temple in that area.  Our church had great trials in the beginning but look at where we are today??  We are a strong church that builds itself through the work of its own members.  Through the love and support we give each other, we help to continue the growth of this church.  

Although this mission will not always be easy, like last week,  I know that other members have seen harder still so I just need to keep working hard, besides now because I need to rest.  Well enjoy this last bit of summer and know that I am getting better.  I am on 5 different medications so as long as I continue to take them and eat a lot of food, drink lots of liquids (except for soda), and rest I will be back to normal soon!  

I love you all and thank you for your love and support,

Elder Warren

Pic of me in Cauayan hospital