Sunday, April 15, 2012
Easter
I know Easter was a week ago but I still wanted to share pictures with everyone :)
Easter kind of started a week early for us. Family had come up to visit and we had an Easter egg hunt. Eli of course chose to hunt for eggs with his favorite person (you know, besides me *wink*) which is his Uncle Christopher!
He was actually really good at finding the eggs!
I didn't get many pictures of Gabriel hunting because he ran ahead and I wasn't feeling well so I couldn't really keep up.
The kids with all their eggs! They were so excited!
My men with their treasures!
Then the next weekend we got to color eggs! Gabriel was super excited!
Daddy and Eli! Eli wasn't sure what was going on at first but after he discovered what happened he was really into it.
He also liked to balance eggs on his spoon :)
Then the next morning was Easter and the boys got to find their Easter baskets.
If you haven't noticed from pictures of Gabriel isn't a big fan of pictures and Eli is a ham!
Fun lights!
And Eli passed out in the late afternoon after trying to skip his afternoon nap... his plan didn't work!
And that night we had a campfire which the boys loved!
And Eli with his BFF ;)
Gabriel literally carried this whole tree up the hill from the woods all by himself! What a strong man!
We had such a fun Easter!
Saturday, April 14, 2012
Pain: Part Three
I know I'm a little behind one part three of my little story. I had literally spent my entire break in between quarters at school at the hospital and recovering from surgery. Now school started again and I was done for before it even started... and it doesn't help that I'm taking five hard classes. So, in other words, blogging kinda got pushed to the back burner. But to finish the story I started...
I got back from the hospital that Wednesday late in the evening and thought there was nothing else wrong. Then Sunday came along and half way through the day my stomach started to not feel right. It felt swollen and it was painful. Not any kind of painful either, it felt like like a lesser version of what sent me into the hospital the first time. I thought maybe it was indigestion (because, you know, after one has surgery they usually struggle with that kind of thing.... ahem) and decided to wait it out because, in the beginning, it really wasn't that bad.
The day went on and things started to get worse. I stopped eating any form of food mid-afternoon and only drank water. After everyone else ate supper things just got worse and worse. My stomach was really starting to hurt. I managed to get my kids in bed and went to sit on the couch.
From there, whatever prompted me to get up and go to the kitchen did not end up being good for me. I got to the kitchen and in the 10 feet or so that I walked I got very faint and was short of breath. I stood at the edge of the kitchen with the world spinning and before I knew it I was on the floor. I had half passed out.
I say half passed out because I knew what was going on but had absolutely no control over it. I guess I always think that you have to black out to completely pass out, everything else is just a half pass out... you know?
Anyway. I called the ER and asked them what I should do. The nurse asked me a few questions and I told her my symptoms and that I had recently had surgery. She told me that I needed to be seen immediately and to hang up the phone and call 911. I told her I would probably just have my dad drive me since we live so far out and she told me not to do that and to call 911 immediately and that this was an emergency.
Have I ever told you I'm really bad at listening to doctors orders?
I had my dad drive me to the ER :)
We got to the hospital in Moose Lake and I could barely walk in and got back to the ER. They asked me 101 questions and put an IV in and took blood for labs. The doctor came and looked at me and decided that it wasn't as big of an emergency as the nurse on the phone had thought but I still needed to be transferred up to Duluth to St. Mary's where I had my first surgery. They gave me pain meds in my IV and then, of course, the world gets a little happier after that... if you know what I mean :)
My dad drove me up to the St. Mary's and they took more labs and it turned out that my liver and pancreas were extremely infected. A stone had escaped in my first surgery and was clogged in my bile duct and it was causing everything to back up and my body was not responding well to that. Surgery was needed... again. Frick!
So my dad went home and I fell asleep and they scheduled my surgery for the next day.
Unfortunately they couldn't fit me in early in the day because they were overbooked for surgeries or something like that, so I had to wait until 6PM to have my surgery. All I was allowed was ice chips... I was starving!!!!!
The surgery went well. They stuck tubes down my throat to get to the stone instead of slicing me open again so when I woke up my throat was extremely sore. I had kind of freaked out at the beginning of my surgery because when I had my first one I was out of it by the time I got to the surgical room so I didn't remember a thing. So going in, fully awake, to have surgery was a whole knew deal for me and I was super nervous, especially because they were going to stick so many tubes down my throat *shudder*. Alas, I survived, and I don't remember a darn thing except everyone in the room sound like robots right before I was officially out of it. And I ain't lyin'. It kinda made me think they were all aliens... or robots... believe me, when you are laying there on a table and there are 6 people standing over you in scrubs and masks and they have machine like voices all the sudden it kinda freaks you out.
No, I don't have mental issues... why do you ask?
They put me back in my room. I asked for liquids. They said no. At this point I was beyond frustrated because I had 3 different nurses during the day telling me what they thought was going on and how things were going to go, then two different doctors telling me their treatment plans but both the plans were different. No two persons stories about how things were going to go were the same. The doctors would tell me I could have liquids and then the nurses told me the doctors told them I couldn't. I was so irritated. Partly because I hadn't had any food and was on ice chips for 36 hours by that point, and partly because I kept being told a hundred different things.
By the next morning I felt fine but I was starting to have major hunger pains and I hadn't slept half the night because of them. The doctor told me at 6AM that I could have liquids and if those went down fine and my labs came back fine after that then I could have regular food and then go home... the nurses told me at 8AM that I couldn't do any of that. I. was. pissed. off!!!! I think I exploded on the nurse at that point telling them that they were not to doctors and telling them exactly what the doctor had said that morning and that they sure as hell better do what he said and not whatever they wanted to do because I had had enough!
I think they were scared of me.
The gave me liquids.
I was a happy woman.
Then like 2 hours later they tried to play the same game with me again.
I told them off again.
Then they let me go home after I made them follow the doctors orders.
I was so happy to leave and be done with the hospital thing and the nurses with a hundred different stories.
I'm sure they were happy to be done with me too :)
I spent the next few days recovering again. I felt so much better. Like I felt like there had been something crappy in my body making me feel off for months and it was gone. I know, that is really what happened, but it's hard to explain how that really feels. It's not just in your mind, you really do feel different.
No. I don't have psychological issues... why do you ask?
So things are a lot better now. I'm still really exhausted some days but that is also contributed to school and kids. But I can do most of what I used to be able to do. I'm not supposed to lift my kids but they don't get that and I have to sometimes so I do and it doesn't hurt or anything and I'm close to the end of my timeline restrictions so I figured it's all good. I carry them on my left side though, away from the incisions on the right side :)
Here are some pictures from my hospital stays:
I got back from the hospital that Wednesday late in the evening and thought there was nothing else wrong. Then Sunday came along and half way through the day my stomach started to not feel right. It felt swollen and it was painful. Not any kind of painful either, it felt like like a lesser version of what sent me into the hospital the first time. I thought maybe it was indigestion (because, you know, after one has surgery they usually struggle with that kind of thing.... ahem) and decided to wait it out because, in the beginning, it really wasn't that bad.
The day went on and things started to get worse. I stopped eating any form of food mid-afternoon and only drank water. After everyone else ate supper things just got worse and worse. My stomach was really starting to hurt. I managed to get my kids in bed and went to sit on the couch.
From there, whatever prompted me to get up and go to the kitchen did not end up being good for me. I got to the kitchen and in the 10 feet or so that I walked I got very faint and was short of breath. I stood at the edge of the kitchen with the world spinning and before I knew it I was on the floor. I had half passed out.
I say half passed out because I knew what was going on but had absolutely no control over it. I guess I always think that you have to black out to completely pass out, everything else is just a half pass out... you know?
Anyway. I called the ER and asked them what I should do. The nurse asked me a few questions and I told her my symptoms and that I had recently had surgery. She told me that I needed to be seen immediately and to hang up the phone and call 911. I told her I would probably just have my dad drive me since we live so far out and she told me not to do that and to call 911 immediately and that this was an emergency.
Have I ever told you I'm really bad at listening to doctors orders?
I had my dad drive me to the ER :)
We got to the hospital in Moose Lake and I could barely walk in and got back to the ER. They asked me 101 questions and put an IV in and took blood for labs. The doctor came and looked at me and decided that it wasn't as big of an emergency as the nurse on the phone had thought but I still needed to be transferred up to Duluth to St. Mary's where I had my first surgery. They gave me pain meds in my IV and then, of course, the world gets a little happier after that... if you know what I mean :)
My dad drove me up to the St. Mary's and they took more labs and it turned out that my liver and pancreas were extremely infected. A stone had escaped in my first surgery and was clogged in my bile duct and it was causing everything to back up and my body was not responding well to that. Surgery was needed... again. Frick!
So my dad went home and I fell asleep and they scheduled my surgery for the next day.
Unfortunately they couldn't fit me in early in the day because they were overbooked for surgeries or something like that, so I had to wait until 6PM to have my surgery. All I was allowed was ice chips... I was starving!!!!!
The surgery went well. They stuck tubes down my throat to get to the stone instead of slicing me open again so when I woke up my throat was extremely sore. I had kind of freaked out at the beginning of my surgery because when I had my first one I was out of it by the time I got to the surgical room so I didn't remember a thing. So going in, fully awake, to have surgery was a whole knew deal for me and I was super nervous, especially because they were going to stick so many tubes down my throat *shudder*. Alas, I survived, and I don't remember a darn thing except everyone in the room sound like robots right before I was officially out of it. And I ain't lyin'. It kinda made me think they were all aliens... or robots... believe me, when you are laying there on a table and there are 6 people standing over you in scrubs and masks and they have machine like voices all the sudden it kinda freaks you out.
No, I don't have mental issues... why do you ask?
They put me back in my room. I asked for liquids. They said no. At this point I was beyond frustrated because I had 3 different nurses during the day telling me what they thought was going on and how things were going to go, then two different doctors telling me their treatment plans but both the plans were different. No two persons stories about how things were going to go were the same. The doctors would tell me I could have liquids and then the nurses told me the doctors told them I couldn't. I was so irritated. Partly because I hadn't had any food and was on ice chips for 36 hours by that point, and partly because I kept being told a hundred different things.
By the next morning I felt fine but I was starting to have major hunger pains and I hadn't slept half the night because of them. The doctor told me at 6AM that I could have liquids and if those went down fine and my labs came back fine after that then I could have regular food and then go home... the nurses told me at 8AM that I couldn't do any of that. I. was. pissed. off!!!! I think I exploded on the nurse at that point telling them that they were not to doctors and telling them exactly what the doctor had said that morning and that they sure as hell better do what he said and not whatever they wanted to do because I had had enough!
I think they were scared of me.
The gave me liquids.
I was a happy woman.
Then like 2 hours later they tried to play the same game with me again.
I told them off again.
Then they let me go home after I made them follow the doctors orders.
I was so happy to leave and be done with the hospital thing and the nurses with a hundred different stories.
I'm sure they were happy to be done with me too :)
I spent the next few days recovering again. I felt so much better. Like I felt like there had been something crappy in my body making me feel off for months and it was gone. I know, that is really what happened, but it's hard to explain how that really feels. It's not just in your mind, you really do feel different.
No. I don't have psychological issues... why do you ask?
So things are a lot better now. I'm still really exhausted some days but that is also contributed to school and kids. But I can do most of what I used to be able to do. I'm not supposed to lift my kids but they don't get that and I have to sometimes so I do and it doesn't hurt or anything and I'm close to the end of my timeline restrictions so I figured it's all good. I carry them on my left side though, away from the incisions on the right side :)
Here are some pictures from my hospital stays:
This would be me. On pain meds. Completely high saying 'Look! I'm like a Korean!!!'
Stop it! I do not have mental issues! The answer is still no :)
My kids came to visit me the first time I was in the hospital.
And the drew me a card! It was so sweet!
And when I got home the second time Eli wouldn't let me go!
Thursday, March 29, 2012
Pain: Part Two
So the next morning we found out exactly what time my surgery was going to be at (10AM) and I called Josh and he left my parents house immediately to make it on time (it's an hour drive).
I was pretty nervous. They were telling me what was going to happen and then they said something about a breathing tube being placed down my throat and then I can say that at that point I started to freak out inside. I asked multiple times if I was going to be asleep for the breathing tube part. I did not want to be awake when it went in or when it came out! They assured me I would be out and very few people actually remember it being taken out even though you are starting to wake up when they do remove it. I still wasn't too excited about it. Most people may be nervous that their stomach is going to be cut in to, that complications may arise, or so on... I was nervous about a tube in my throat!
They took me down to prep me for surgery and Josh still hadn't arrived. The anesthesiologist went to look for him a couple of times and some of the nurses but no one ever found him. It turned out that he was there, but they had put him in the wrong waiting room so he didn't know when I was going in or when I was done. Anyway, so I was in the prep room and I was nervous so they gave me something to relax me and it made me fall asleep before I even got to the surgical room. Therefore, I don't remember anything about the surgery at all, even being put to sleep, so when I woke up almost three hours later I at first thought I didn't have the surgery yet. Then the cold hard truth hit me in the face, well, more like the stomach, as I felt all sorts of pain in my abdomen. And, I itched, everywhere!
It turns out I was allergic to something in the anesthesia and it was making me itchy. As in I kinda wanted to rip my skin off! They quickly gave me more pain meds and some Benadryl in my IV. I fell asleep again and my doctor came by to explain to me how the surgery went. He told me I probably wouldn't remember much of what he said and he couldn't find Josh yet (since he had been in the wrong waiting room). From what I remember, he told me it went well, something or other about another surgery the next morning being possible, and then I asked if I could see my gallbladder... he said no.
The next thing I remember is when I woke up in my room and Josh was finally there. I pretty much slept the rest of the day it seemed like. Every time I woke up I still was itchy and begged for more Benadryl and then fell back asleep.
The next day they drew blood, in the morning and tests came back that my liver was going back to normal so I didn't need to have another surgery. My kids came to visit me that morning. I was so excited to see them! They were a little overwhelmed by the whole hospital thing but it was so wonderful that they were there! We read books together and watched cartoons. I started to get really tired so Josh took the kids down to the gift shop to pick something out for me. They came back with a little curious george for me, it was so cute! The boys went home with my mom and Josh stayed with me in hopes that I would be able to go home.
I finally was able to get up and about and take a shower that day and my friend Melissa came to visit me from school. We were supposed to have our final exam that night, there was no way I was going to be able to make it though. I was so thankful for visitors!
I finally got to go home that night after I was able to hold down regular food without any pain. For the next few days at home I slept all the time. If I took pain meds, which I needed, I was usually out within 30 minutes of taking them. I was lucky to have stretches of being up for more then 2 hours. To me, it felt absolutely ridiculous. But at the same time I couldn't help it.
I thought my troubles were over. I had been home for three and a half days and things were getting better... or so I thought. And then Sunday afternoon came along...
I was pretty nervous. They were telling me what was going to happen and then they said something about a breathing tube being placed down my throat and then I can say that at that point I started to freak out inside. I asked multiple times if I was going to be asleep for the breathing tube part. I did not want to be awake when it went in or when it came out! They assured me I would be out and very few people actually remember it being taken out even though you are starting to wake up when they do remove it. I still wasn't too excited about it. Most people may be nervous that their stomach is going to be cut in to, that complications may arise, or so on... I was nervous about a tube in my throat!
They took me down to prep me for surgery and Josh still hadn't arrived. The anesthesiologist went to look for him a couple of times and some of the nurses but no one ever found him. It turned out that he was there, but they had put him in the wrong waiting room so he didn't know when I was going in or when I was done. Anyway, so I was in the prep room and I was nervous so they gave me something to relax me and it made me fall asleep before I even got to the surgical room. Therefore, I don't remember anything about the surgery at all, even being put to sleep, so when I woke up almost three hours later I at first thought I didn't have the surgery yet. Then the cold hard truth hit me in the face, well, more like the stomach, as I felt all sorts of pain in my abdomen. And, I itched, everywhere!
It turns out I was allergic to something in the anesthesia and it was making me itchy. As in I kinda wanted to rip my skin off! They quickly gave me more pain meds and some Benadryl in my IV. I fell asleep again and my doctor came by to explain to me how the surgery went. He told me I probably wouldn't remember much of what he said and he couldn't find Josh yet (since he had been in the wrong waiting room). From what I remember, he told me it went well, something or other about another surgery the next morning being possible, and then I asked if I could see my gallbladder... he said no.
The next thing I remember is when I woke up in my room and Josh was finally there. I pretty much slept the rest of the day it seemed like. Every time I woke up I still was itchy and begged for more Benadryl and then fell back asleep.
The next day they drew blood, in the morning and tests came back that my liver was going back to normal so I didn't need to have another surgery. My kids came to visit me that morning. I was so excited to see them! They were a little overwhelmed by the whole hospital thing but it was so wonderful that they were there! We read books together and watched cartoons. I started to get really tired so Josh took the kids down to the gift shop to pick something out for me. They came back with a little curious george for me, it was so cute! The boys went home with my mom and Josh stayed with me in hopes that I would be able to go home.
I finally was able to get up and about and take a shower that day and my friend Melissa came to visit me from school. We were supposed to have our final exam that night, there was no way I was going to be able to make it though. I was so thankful for visitors!
I finally got to go home that night after I was able to hold down regular food without any pain. For the next few days at home I slept all the time. If I took pain meds, which I needed, I was usually out within 30 minutes of taking them. I was lucky to have stretches of being up for more then 2 hours. To me, it felt absolutely ridiculous. But at the same time I couldn't help it.
I thought my troubles were over. I had been home for three and a half days and things were getting better... or so I thought. And then Sunday afternoon came along...
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