Nickie's Surgery

Monday afternoon Jonathan came home and told me about our assignment to Minot. I was devistated. I spent most of the afternoon/evening on the phone with my Nana crying and complaining. When it was time for dinner I didnt really want to eat and didnt eat much. Soon after dinner I began to feel very ill, it was horrible. Jonathan and I both agreeded that it was probably just my stomach upset from all the stress. I have had several bout of this kind of pain since Isabella has been born, but it has been a very stressful time. In the past I have always taken something for upset stomach and felt better in a few hours. Well I took some medicine and almost immediately began throwing up. When I was doing a little better Jonathan put me to bed. I couldnt sleep, I was dying from the pain. At 3:30 I got up to feed Isabella and I couldnt stand it anymore. I knew something was WRONG. I was puking again, my abdomen was swollen and tender, I felt confused and dizzy. Jonathan rushed me to the ER and MAGICALLY I was the only one there. I got in immediately, Thank God. I was there about 30 minutes and they had me hooked up to IV pain medication. That was the beggining of my first day of sedation. I found out later that I was going to be admitted to the hospital with severe acute pancreatitis. I had an ultrasound and they found a huge gallstone blocking my duct and gallbladder full of stones. When my labs came back my enzyme numbers were off the chart, so high in fact they sent my blood off to another facility because they thought there machine was broken. They even called a tech in to work on the machine and have it recalibrated. Turns out the machine wasnt broken, I was just that sick! My lipase reading was 79,000! (We later learned that this is a number commonly found when people are already dead or beyond repair). Later Tuesday afternoon jujst for fun I started my period, thanks for that cruel joke. Wednesday came and I was sedated again most of the day, again my Lipase was so high (21,000) that my blood had to be sent to another facility to be tested. Wednesday was when they made the decision for sure to take my gallbladder when I was well enough. Wednesday came and went, I dont remember much. Thursday morning my bloodwork was much better, my lipase was down to 500! But I didnt get surgery because I was on "supportive care" and a bunch of emergency surgeries kicked me off the schedule. Friday I FINALLY got my surgery and 1 pm. The surgery went well but they had a hard time getting me to wake up. I dont remember much from Friday night except Jonathan holding Isabella close to me so I could kiss be before he left to take her home, it was well past her bedtime. Friday night my oxygen sat was low so I had to be put back on oxygen all night which worried the nurses. Saturday morning I was working three different kind of pain meds and walking the halls because I wanted to come home. They had me doing breathing treatments and exercises before the doctor got there in hopes that I would be able to go home. The doctor came and I got the all clear and I couldnt get out of there fast enough! Being so sick sucked for a number of reasons, but the thing that was the hardest was being away from Isabella. I know that Jonathan is a wonderful competent father, but I hated not being there for her! I cried every day because I missed her so much. Nights were especially hard. It really had got me thinking about how important life is. I was really sick, way sicker than we originally thought, and it has scared the hell out of me. I'm not going to take another second for granted! This has had a lot to do with my big shift in attitude about our assignment to Minot. Im so glad to be home now and on the road to recovery. I can't wait until I can hold Isabella again and love her to death! YAY Hug your kids, you never know what tomorrow is going to bring.

Its been almost a week since my surgery and I am doing really well. I thought I would feel better than this by now, but Im not complaining. The doctor said they were inside of me twice as long as it should have taken so some lingering pain was to be expected. Im just happy to be alive and healthy. Some wonderful friends have been making us dinner every night and that was such a blessing. Tonight we're on our own and I think we are going to be just fine. =)