Three Weeks Later

Three weeks ago at this very time, I was calling James letting him to know to get Hudson to our sweet church member/neighbor's home so he could be with me at the hospital as I was going to have surgery in three hours.  Crazy, huh?

Wednesday, May 21st I awoke at 1:00 am with intense pain in my lower right abdomen.  A bathroom trip and two tylenol later and I was asleep.  Fast forward to 8:00 when Hudson woke up, and I was immediately in severe pain.  Nothing I did made it any better - bathroom trips, laying still, walking around, a warm bath, so three unsuccessful doses of tylenol later I finally called my doctor at noon.  Two hours later when they finally returned my call, I found out they couldn't fit me in and said I could wait until the morning or go to the ER.  I chose the ER.

I have a super high pain tolerance.  No joke.  I really dislike going to the doctor and other than my own birth and delivering Hudson, have never been in the hospital.  But I readily told James to get ready to take me in to the hospital, a not-so-quick 45 minute drive. Three days in the hospital later, and they finally decide I have something on my right ovary which they feel is causing torsion and they need to do somewhat exploratory surgery to see what it is and if it can be fixed.  There was a lot of talk of worse-case-scenarios like cancer.  At that point, I was simply tired of the pain and was giddy at the prospect of surgery to get rid of the pain. By 7:00 pm Friday, I was in recovery with no pain in the side, only at the incision and a severe anesthesia hangover.  Saturday afternoon, I was home.

So much happened during those three days in the hospital that I'm still processing some of it.  Some good and some bad.

Good
- So many facebook messages, emails, texts, phone calls, and visits from dear friends.
- Kind nurses who tried their best to keep me comfortable and stay on top of the doctors who were apparently taking their sweet time.
- The opportunity to encourage my first hospital roommate (I had two during my stay) and pray for her as she discovered the cause of her abdomen pain was an unplanned pregnancy.
- So many "God moments" where the Lord did something so intentional and obvious that his presence in the situation was undeniable.

Bad
- Miscommunication between the doctors. Frustrating.
- A chaplain who attempted to encourage me, not with Scripture, but with the words of Norman Vincent Peale.  Really? Hello chaplain, meet my Pastor Husband.
- Waiting and waiting some more.  I am not a patient person.
- Pain.  I learned pain makes me irrational.  It got ugly, as in many tears and crazy thoughts/fears, when I'd let the pain get ahead of the medicine.

But overall, the one thing I learned most of all during this process has been that the Lord is in control. You'd think I'd know this by now.  This sickness took me completely by surprise, but it didn't Him.  I was so afraid while in the hospital and sadly didn't always exhibit the faith I proclaim to have.  It's a good thing I didn't have a roommate Thursday evening because the Lord and I got to have quite the conversation. Thankfully the Lord is kind and gentle in reminding me that He is God and I am not. I must trust Him.

Three weeks later, I am fine.  No pain whatsoever.  My energy level has finally returned.  I must praise Jesus that all my labs returned as benign - no cancer.  I'm down an ovary, but have a new appreciation for life, my sweet family, and my wonderful Savior.