Surgery

5/23/11
So, I need to apologize in advance for how long this post is going to be, but I feel I need to share my adventures of this past week.
Saturday night, we had stopped by a BBQ for some friends, and then we met up with some other friends at Jack and Jill's Bowling in American Fork. They have the best french fries in existance! So, Caleb and I ordered some and split it, because I hadn't been eating as much greasy food lately. Shortly after eating them, I started to feel some pain. It started out dull, but as the night went on and we started watching a movie, the pain woulldn't go away. Since we were in American Fork already, I stopped by my parents house to ask my dad for a blessing.
After the blessing, I kept having the feeling that I would need to go to the hospital. For those of you who don't know, we don't have medical insurance, so on the whole drive there, I kept thinking "How on earth are we going to pay for this?"
We were admitted to the ER quickly, and got into my room. I had a fabulous doctor, who had acutally admitted my dad to the hospital once. As Dr. Shelton started to poke my stomach to see if there was isolated pain anywhere, he poked up near my right rib, and I yelped out in pain I had never felt in my life. He sent me in for an ultra sound, ("Oh no! More Money!" was my first thought.) and was dizzily wheeled over for it. When they turned on the sound, I was almost hoping to hear a little extra heart beat with mine, but there wasn't one.
Once my results came in, Dr. Shelton informed me that I had gall bladder disease. I started crying I was so emotional. He also told me they would be admitting me to the hospital. (CRAP!! These bills are really going to be high.) I stayed at the hospital with my mom, while Caleb and my dad went to the Ellison house to sleep. I was calling people about it by 6am, and had been slowly letting everyone know via Facebook, that I would most likely be looking at surgery. The surgeon called me about 8am, talking to me about my options.
My gall bladder needed to come out either way, it was just a matter of when. I kept thinking and feeling like the sooner the better, because I don't want to have to pay for an extra day in the hospital. I went in for surgery around 9am, and was back in my room about 11am. I had some great friends stop by, and I was trying to get some more sleep, but this machine kept beeping at me, saying I wasn't breathing deep enough. I was being checked out of the hospital by 3pm, and as soon as I got to my parents bed, I was out until 6:30. It was just so nice to sleep. Caleb was able to run home and grab us some clothes so that we could stay at my parents house for that first night.
I really have felt better since they removed my gall bladder, and it's just my surgery scars that hurt now. I won't be back to work until Monday, so it's a mandatory vacation, because I need to heal. I am so grateful for my bosses and my employees who are picking up the slack while I am gone.
I also need to give the biggest shout out to my mom, who has been by my side through all of this, along with my husband. I am so blessed to have such a caring family, who is helping me heal and get better. My favorite thing about today was that I got to finally shower! It felt so good!
6/1/11
Recovery has been hard for me. I am a very independent creature by nature, so having to so completely rely on someone has been hard for me. I can't lift anything heavier than a milk jug for the next 5 weeks, which also means that I can't do my Curves workout now that I am back to work! I am going nuts! I feel myself getting fatter, because I haven't been active. I haven't been eating too terribly, because I don't want to upset my stomach, so I have been trying to stay low fat as the doctor has ordered, but also trying to keep my portion sizes small, but enough that I am filling myself. I feel like my stomach a shrunk since surgery. I'm just not nearly as hungry as I was before.
The great thing is that because I have babied myself until yesterday, I don't really hurt anymore! :) I only hurt when I have been sitting a long time, and my pants have pushed on my belly button, then it will twinge a little, but nothing severe.
I am a lucky and blessed person to be recovering as well as I have! We will see what my surgeon says today when I go to see him!