Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Follow up appt

I had my week after surgery follow up appt today. Of course me and the girls left our house late and was rushing to my mom's house to drop off the kids with Erin. She offered to watch them for me while I went to my appt. :) I am glad I called ahead to find out exactly where to go. I was dropping them off right about the time I was supposed to be arriving at my appt, so I got there right before my scheduled time. The receptionist looks at me and asks, "Do you have your paperwork with you?" NOOOOO!!!!! I totally forgot that when I made the appt she asked me to print out the paperwork online and fill them out before I come. I have so much going on these days with moving and my divorce that I totally forgot. I felt horrible. I told her I didn't fill them out and she got on the phone and told someone that I didn't fill out my paperwork. Feeling even worse now. She said that someone was getting ready to go into surgery and it would take me atleast 20 mins to fill out the paperwork. They said I would have to wait about 45 mins before I could be seen. I said that's fine. I'm not going to complain when I was my fault anyways.

Turns out I only had to wait 5 mins after I was finished with my paperwork to be called back. The doctor looked at me and said that I am healing nicely. :) He said it's common to be sore and it will feel less and less sore until it's all better. I went back to my mom's house after my appt. I went to check my mail that was on the diningroom table and guess what was there. The dr office sent me the paperwork. lol If only I had seen it before my appt.

The girls and I spent the rest of the day at my mom's house. We watched some tv, played on Erin's computer and went to Target. After everyone got off of work, we celebrated Erin's bday with a yummy dinner, cake and then presents.

Thursday, August 20, 2009

Gallbladder no more.

It's been an unexpected week. I was supposed to have a nice relaxing Monday up in Anacortes but instead i was sitting in a hospital bed awaiting my surgery the following day. It all started about a month ago. It was about 10pm, I was getting ready for bed. All of a sudden I had this horrible pain in my stomach and about a min later the pain went to my entire back. I was in tears from the pain. The kids were sleeping so I tried to control how loud I was. I called my mom and she told me to either call 911 or Denise, my MIL. Luckily Denise lives 2 mins away so she was able to come over. The pain was pretty much gone by the time she got there but she brought me a heating pad and helped me get into bed.

I thought it was a one time thing since I hadn't had any more attacks until this last Sunday. Kim and Pedro got back from Peru, they were gone for 3 weeks. So i packed up the kids and I went down to my mom's house to see them. Everything was going well. I was sitting on the futon feeding Jordyn and i got the pain again in my stomach. I got very nervous. Soon after the pain went to my back again. It got so bad I couldn't hold Jordyn anymore. I tried to find a position that would be ok until the pain went away. But no position helped. Laying on my back made it worse. I just tried to deal with it praying it would go away. When i had the first attack the pain lasted about 30 mins.

My mom suggested Kim take me to the ER. I knew something had to be wrong for the pain to come back but I had no idea what was wrong. My mom said she thought it was my gallbladder. So after about 25 mins, Kim and I left for the ER. I left Camryn and Jordyn with my mom. I was hoping she would be ok. Her ribs still hurt. When we got to the ER i was relieved that there was only one other person ahead of me. I was screaming in pain. I couldn't lay down on my side or my back and I couldn't stand. I was dizzy and worn out from being in pain. It felt like forever but i think about after 40 mins they took me back. Luckily the pain was better by now.

After several hours, they took me back for an ultrasound. Soon after I got back to my room, Cori arrived. Kim had left before i went in for my ultrasound to get dinner and make sure everything was ok with the kids. Cori knew i was alone so she offered to come keep me company. I really appreciated that. Erin was up in Anacortes so she was too far away. After about an hour the doctor came in and said i have lots of gallstones. I needed to have my gallbladder taken out. For some reason i never thought that would happen. I knew something was wrong, but i didn't think i needed surgery. I got a little emotional when i heard that. Surgery is scary.

They admitted me that evening. She said that my gallbladder was inflamed so they wanted to give me antibiotics and wait until either Monday or Tues. I would find out from the surgeon the next morning. My surgery was at 1:30 on Tues. I got my pain meds and got discharged that night. I was ready to go to my mom's house to rest for a couple days. I am feeling really tired, sore and dizzy but I am just happy to have no more attacks.

I am so blessed to have amazing family and friends. I have no idea what i would have done without the help of Cori, Erin, my mom and Kim. Cori: Thank you soooo much for keeping me company in the ER and the hospital. You really cheered me up and it helped to have someone to talk to and walk with. Also thank you for taking care of my kids for a couple days. I never worried once knowing they were with you. Erin: Thank you for taking over and watching the kids for a couple days as well. There is no way i could go straight home after leaving the hospital. I really appreciate all the help.