All month long I have been having some stomach pain, it wasn't nearly as bad at the beginning of the month and then it slowly started getting worse and worse. By Thursday of last week, the pain had localised into my right lower abdomen, and then it started wrapping around my back. By Saturday I was afraid that I had a kidney infection. On Sunday I was in lots of pain, we went to church and by the time Relief Society had come around the pain was starting to escalate. My visiting teacher came over and sat next to me and held onto Duncan for the whole lesson, which I was very grateful for, because I was feeling pretty bad. About ten minutes before church was over, I took the baby and left. Jon had been teaching that day and he had gotten done early, I carried the baby to him and handing him over and told him that we needed to go. I got to the car and just started crying because of how much pain was emanating from my side.
Jon got me home and put me in bed with another Motrin, and I slept until 5 pm. When I woke up, I had the dull aching, but it was nothing compared to how it was earlier. We went down to Salt Lake to go to my cousins viewing and on the way home I was starting to feel sick again. By 10 pm, I was in a lot of pain- so much so that we called my mom and had her come to sit with the children and Jon took me to the ER. I went in and they started doing a bunch of tests, they did two ultrasounds and then the pain started getting worse and so they gave me some Morphine. Then they took me in for a CT scan and determined that I had gall stones, but the doctor said that where I was describing the pain wasn't a normal cause for gall bladder problems. So the ER sent me home basically telling me it was in my head.
The next morning I woke up and I had the worst headache and I felt horrible. I had a doctor appointment with my OB later that day, so I was just waiting until I could go there. My mother came over and cleaned the kitchen and then she took me to the doctor. My OB asked how I was doing so I told him about the pain and whatnot and he took note that I felt a bit warm, so the nurse came in with the thermometer. I registered a 101.4 fever and so he did another ultrasound and had my blood drawn, while they were waiting for the test results of the blood they had me wait. I was texting my mum who was out in the parking lot with my children, my husband who was at school, and my brother giving them updates on what was going on. Dr. Johnson told me that they were waiting for the white blood count to see if it was elevated and if so then they would send me to the surgeon to talk about getting my appendix out. My brother was texting me quotes from Spies Like Us from the scene where they are doing the appendectomy. My WBC came back normal but my doctor felt uneasy about it, so he sent me to the surgeon anyway. This entire time I was getting more and more nervous and just wishing that Jon were there with me.
My dad had been called and came to the clinic and so we went over to the general surgeons office together and then I went back to visit with the surgeon. After the surgeon came in there was a knock at the door and he opened it and it was my sweet husband. I almost started crying! I was so happy to see Jon! The surgeon had me get on the table and felt my stomach and did some things that hurt and then he said that he felt it was my gall bladder and that it would be best to get it taken out. So we planned for the next day for me to go in and have surgery. I was instructed not to eat after midnight and that they would either call me or for me to call in the morning to see when they wanted me to come in. I had a bowl of cereal that night and then Jon and I went to sleep, at 6:30 Duncan woke up and nursed and then at 8:30 my mother woke us up so I could call the hospital. No sooner had I come up the stairs my phone started ringing and it was the hospital asking if I could go in right then! I told them I would be there in fifteen minutes. Mum rushed and got my dad who was half shaven and he and Jon gave me a blessing before Jon and I left.
We got to the hospital and signed in and they rushed me back to get me prepped for surgery, the nurse asked a bunch of questions and then had me get dressed into the gown. They then put in my IV in my wrist- a new place for me! And they put these massaging things on my calves so that it would push the blood back up to my heart, let me tell you, those were wonderful! It was a fantastic leg massage! Then Jon and I were just waiting for a little bit and the anesthesiologist came and talked to me about what would happen when they took me back. Soon a nurse came and it was time to take me back into surgery. I remember saying goodbye to Jon and telling him I loved him and then the next thing I remember was becoming coherent and two nurses were talking, one of them said that they could go get the husband so I told them ok, she then said that I got to stay there and someone else would do it so I told her ok again. Jon came in and held my hand and then I proceeded to become more aware of what was going on. He told me that the surgeon had taken out my gall bladder and that it looked pretty diseased, he then said that he went and looked at my appendix and said that it looked inflamed, so he took it out so that I didn't have to come back in a month after it had burst. I could hear burping from all around me and I was so confused as to what type of surgery they all got to cause burping. It did not occur to me that that was them vomiting coming out of the anesthesia until Jon told me that I took anesthesia like a champ and thanked me for not throwing up. I don't know how long I was in and out of it for, but I went in around nine in the morning and didn't get home til 5:30. When it was time to go home the nurse asked Jon if he could help me get dressed which he could, so she left and then I took off the apron so that I could put on my clothes and I heard Jon say, "ew". I looked down and saw that I had truly been worked on, I have five incisions: three right down the center of my belly and two on my right side. I finished getting dressed with help and then was helped to a wheelchair. Jon went ahead of us to bring the car around and the nurse wheeled me out. Jon helped me into the car and then we drove to my mothers house. It is amazing just how many bumps are in the road when they are trying to be avoided.
We got home and I was helped inside and just as I sat down Duncan saw me and he just lunged for me. You see, Duncan was quite hungry because he absolutely refused a bottle while I was undergoing surgery. My mother tried to get him to eat and he would just scream and kick his little legs and she just could not get him to eat. So when I got home he knew just who I was and that I was the one to have the food. Thankfully, the anesthesiologist said that as long as I was able to hold the baby I was able to nurse him. So I fed my baby and then I went and slept.
It's been four days since having surgery and things are going well! I can walk unassisted now and am getting better every day. It used to be that I could walk from the couch to the bed, from the bed to the bathroom, but I had to get a break. Now I can walk all over the house, although I still haven't tried-nor am I going to- the stairs. I feel really good and I feel like I am recovering.
There is so many things to be grateful for within this week! The first being my family: when we went to the ER, my wonderful mother came and sat at my house while we went. I'm also grateful for Jon's dad and stepmom, they took Liam for three days so that my mom could focus on Duncan and me. I am grateful for Dr. Johnson for going the extra mile in my care and double checking everything and I'm grateful for the Surgeon for being able to squeeze me in and get me taken care of. And I'm so grateful for the wonderful nurses who took care of me while I was in the hospital.
So to the question what instruments can skeletons NOT play? The answer is organs.... which I am down two from now- my gall bladder and appendix.
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| Jon got me to smile |
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