Gosh, I am thinking about November as I get ready to write this entry. It was probably the roughest month in all of my journey. So here is my account of it....
The first week was great! I was able to work, I felt good after a month of being so sick. Life. Was. Good! On a Friday I said Good Bye to my work friends, and told them I would be back in a few weeks. They all laughed and said yea sure! GAME. ON!
The night of the 11th was probably the worst and best night. Remember my experience in the hospital with medicine that cleaned you out for a procedure? yea...multiply that by about 10 and there you have my pre-surgery experience. My mom ended up coming over and stayed with me all night (well, until she knew I was asleep she said). It was so important to get this right because if not, I could have ended up with a bag instead of the successful surgery I did. I am so thankful for my mom coming to my rescue that night. It was a strangely sweet time of bonding.
The next day was surgery. That part was a piece of cake! They gave me medicine, I went to sleep, The last thing I remember was them saying they were going to give me an epidural injection for pain, but I would not even know what was going on. It's true! They said, here comes to happy juice but we need you to lean forward....and that's it! The next thing I knew I was being told all went well (can't remember if I was in recovery at that point or up in a room). The next little bit of life is a blur with a few highlights I remember...1) I remember thinking why is a nurse asking me questions knowing i'm on drugs? 2) I remember trying to jump out of bed in the middle of the night, because "I have to stand!" - never you worry I wasn't moving fast! 3) The room was really really hot <-- this scored me a suite because they had no way to fix the air and no other rooms! we didn't complain!
How long I stayed in the hospital was basically up to me.at this point. The faster I got up and walking and moving, the faster I could go home. I have never wanted to be home so badly! So I spent my days sitting up as much as I could, walking as much as I could, and going without pain meds as much as I could. My sweet nurses would come and walk with me, or whoever happened to be at the hospital would walk with me as well. We would pack up all the junk they had attached to me and take off down the hall. Slow and steady.....I would run into my surgeon and he would come and say I was just coming to see if you were up but I see you are. HAHA! Towards the end, they started to discontinue my "stuff".....I had some sort of pain deal that put medicine in my lower stomach, a pump that kept things clean, and my IV...getting comfortable in bed was uh...a task! I had a pain pump with morphine, but it would put me to sleep for maybe an hour but not help with pain. My last night there I was introduced to duladid (I think I butchered that spelling). ummm, I still don't think I have slept that good again! I slept so hard and literally didn't move a muscle. I asked where that had been the whole time, evidently it's a last resort type medicine because it is highly addictive.....uh with that sort of sleep I get it!
So Saturday comes and they clear me to go home! 4 days later and I'm busting out of there! Before we left I left with new information about what we were dealing with....it turned out to be cancer, stage 2A. That basically means nothing had spread (which is best case)! When I healed from the surgery I would need to see a medical oncologist but for the time I could just go home and heal.
You know, most people wonder and predict how they would react to the big bad C word....I remember just thinking ok. Well, we will do what we have to do but most of all God has me wrapped up so it's all ok! The important thing was the thing that was causing so much sickness was out of my body and we can deal with next steps as they come.
The next few weeks were spent healing and resting and working on my goal of getting back to work ASAP. I was so fortunate to have my parents let me stay with them. My mom was the best uber driver, she drove me to every single appointment and would even take me on rides just to get out of the house. At my 2 week post op appointment, I was cleared to go back to work after Thanksgiving!!! This was music to my ears! I was so excited to get back to what made me, me....work!
God is so faithful y'all! So so faithful...I prayed I wouldn't be out of work more than necessary, and being the Ultimate Healer that He is...it happened! Every day I grew(and still grow) a bit stronger, and I am currently even back to running now! How faithful He is the biggest part of this story! I mean, at every turn....he was absolutely there!
I will leave you with a never before seen picture of my sister and I when she stayed with me one night in the hospital....
XOXO!
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