My First Surgery

Well, it's official. I made it 27 years without having to be hospitalized (with the exception of childbirth!!) or have surgery on anything. I've now added a little info to my medical history :o)

My gallbladder was removed on Thursday, and I had an upper GI scope done. It was a pretty simple procedure, considering how serious some surgeries can be. My gallbladder came out as planned, and the scope revealed I also had an ulcer. They ran some tests on it and I'm waiting to hear back on what the plan is with that.

We arrived at UMC (outpatient surgery to be exact) at 5:30am. They took me to a room, got me all situated in a lovely gown on a luxurious hospital bed (hehe), and talked to Jason and I about all the details. Before too long, I was being wheeled down the hall headed to surgery. We stopped outside the operating room while they were finishing up getting everything ready and the nurses and anesthesiologist were cutting up with me being silly, trying to keep me relaxed. One of them said something funny as they wheeled me through the doors, then the next thing I know I was waking up in a recovery room a few hours later! I was very impressed with how well and fast the drugs worked, considering my only experience with anesthesia was my epidural that failed miserably :o) After a little nausea, upset stomach, and a nap, they finally let me go home at about 1:00pm when I was able to keep some crackers down and pee successfully :o)

So I now have four tiny holes in my abdomen and a little extra room where a gallbladder used to be. The first two days were quite rough. I don't care how small they say the incisions are; holes in your belly just hurt!! I couldn't laugh, cough, sneeze, or really even move without flinching in pain. After lots of resting, though, I'm seeing much improvement and am getting around much better today. I'm still having to be very careful, and P90X is obviously on hold for a bit, but I'm getting better. The hardest part is that I'm not really able to lift Mollie! They told me not to lift more that 10 lbs for about 2 weeks...well I made it through the weekend but all my extra help had to go back to work :o( So we're just being careful.

I am super-duper thankful for all the help over the weekend. Jason was able to take off work to be with me at the hospital and take care of me on Thursday and Friday. Mary Ann brought dinner to us and lunch to Jason at the hospital. Mom also was able to come down and be on Mollie duty! She was AWESOME with her and successfully kept her from climbing all over me and freaking out when I wasn't able to pick her up. Mollie had so so so much fun with her Momma Shelly and was a bit disappointed when she woke up this morning and her friend wasn't here :o( I didn't have to cook a meal, change a diaper, give a bath, or anything all weekend. It sure was nice!! THANK YOU FOR HELPING!!!

I'll leave with you with some pics of Mollie. The nice folks from Bodyworks sent me some flowers and some balloons especially for Mollie! Needless to say, she was thrilled and thoroughly entertained. We also received some pretty flowers from the City Bank crew! Thanks everybody!!