Happy and healing...

Well I am upright and lucid and that’s all I can ask for right now. My surgery went well, I am having minimal pain…really only discomfort and as long as I stay on this side of the dirt I am doing ok. There are some personal parts to this blog entry so you might want to remove small children before reading and limit your liquids as you might find yourself laughing and spewing…..

The night before I go into the hospital I get a message from a friend of mine. Let me preface this message by saying what NOT to do before someone you love goes into the hospital for her 3rd major surgery. Ok…my friend leaves me a message stating she is having a rough day. She was downsized a few weeks ago; she did get a severance and has not been able to get a job. Now, while I empathize with her…I snapped. I told her to stop her silly whining…suck it up and flip burgers if she had to. My hubby has been out of work for 8 months, I’ve got unopened medical bills, preparing for my 3rd surgery and 3 kids in private school…do your sniveling on somebody else’s time. Now, we are old college buddies and I can say this to her, but this should be a lesson to not let your personal problems seep into a person who is about to go under the knife in less than 24 hours. I could have talked behind her back, but I would rather tell it how it is. Keep in mind….negativity is a sure fire way to stop getting invited to events…..

So, I show up bright eyed and bushy tailed for my surgery and even drove myself…keeping that control until the last minute. Check in was a breeze and I was on the gurney within 30 minutes of arrival. By the way, I went to a different hospital because I was given the choice to. Because I owe the other hospital I decided not to make waves and go to a different hospital. Sounds trifling, but it was actually very methodical. By the time I need to pay my copay to the new hospital I will have paid the balance at the old hospital. Yup, thought out well in my mind….

The nurse comes in and hooks me up to the IV, the anesthesiologist comes in and my only request to both of them was to not give me the same s*&t that killed MJ. They laughed but I was serious. I told my nurse if you see my anesthesia guy walking the halls after I have been hooked up…call security.

I was awakened in the recovery room by a screaming baby who had just received tubes in her ears. Not the best way to wake up but hell….I WOKE UP….my stomach was queasy and they gave me some stale crackers and warm 7up. The nurse asked me how I felt and I must have mouthed I wanna go home 3 or 4 times till she got it. My throat hurt from the dang tube and that baby was still screaming after what seemed like a really long time!! My mom helped me get dressed, and we noticed a towel between my legs. There was no visible liquid so we brushed it off. My hubby got the car and off I went. Upon further examination of where the towel was situated, when I got home I noticed my undies were wet…yup I peed on myself on the operating table. Am I embarrassed?…nope, they have seen worse I’m sure. Am I mad? yup and I’ll tell ya why.

Now, I blame myself because I should have went before they wheeled me in…the last 2 times I did and I guess I just forgot this time. What really ticked me off was that the nurses sent me home like that!! The least they could have done was pin a note to my gown so the ones I love would have been prepared, but all I was left with was a towel between my legs. Very cruel indeed….I will be including that on my comment card….

My doctor wanted me to be as active as I could and I have been doing a fair share of resting and staying upright. I am wrapped tight like Beyonce in a Versace gown and I get 2 hour intervals of sleep. I received Vicodin this time but just like the Percocet it makes me see strange things and certain parts of my body feel numb so I only take it at night.

Ephesians 5:15-17 tells me that we are to live purposefully using wisdom as sensible and intelligent people. This means to make the most of the time we are given on this earth and not brood over trivial things or things we cannot change. My mission going forward is to make time alone for GOD to know how to use my time while SAVING MY LIFE….